Saviana Antonella Barbati

Academic background

Dr Saviana Antonella Barbati trained at Sapienza University of Rome, where she obtained a Master’s degree in Neurobiology in 2011. In the same year, she qualified to practise as a biologist at the University of L’Aquila. She subsequently continued her training at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, completing a PhD in Biophysics in 2015 with a thesis on the modulation of adult neurogenesis, from epigenetic regulation to behavioural effects.

Professional and academic experience

Since July 2025, she has been a Tenure-Track Researcher (RTT) in Physiology at UniCamillus, where she began working in 2023 as a Fixed-Term Researcher, Type A. Her research focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate brain plasticity, with particular attention to synaptic weakening in Alzheimer’s disease. Alongside this work, she studies adult neurogenesis and strategies to promote functional recovery after ischaemic stroke through non-invasive neuromodulation and neuroprotective approaches.

A significant part of her research experience was gained at the Institute of Human Physiology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, where she worked on neurogenesis, synaptic plasticity and recovery following ischaemia. From 2018 to 2021, she was a Research Associate at the UK Dementia Research Institute at King’s College London. In this setting, she investigated the mechanisms of synaptic dysfunction associated with Tau protein and Alzheimer’s pathology, combining molecular, electrophysiological and imaging approaches.

Alongside her research, she maintains an active commitment to teaching and student training. At UniCamillus, she teaches in Italian and English on degree programmes in Medicine and Surgery, Dentistry and Dental Prosthetics, Human Nutrition Sciences and Nursing. She also coordinates the courses in Physiology II, Physiology, and Physiology of Digestion, Absorption and Human Nutrition. Within the Master’s degree programme in Human Nutrition Sciences, she serves as a subject tutor and Erasmus+ coordinator. Her teaching experience also includes previous appointments at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, as well as student mentoring and dissertation supervision.

Collaborations and notable activities

Her career includes experience and collaborations with national and international research institutions. Following her time as a Research Associate, she continued her collaboration with King’s College London as a Visiting Research Associate. Since 2024, she has held the same role at the University of Birmingham, where she contributes to a study of microRNA expression and its involvement in the mechanisms of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration associated with traumatic brain injury and stroke. Her international experience also includes the participation at the RIKEN BSI Summer Program in Japan in 2017 and a research placement in 2025 at the University of Kansas and KU Medical Center, within an institutional research project (Ricerca Corrente) at IRCCS San Camillo.