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Pietro Spitali

Also known as: Pietro Spitali

Leiden University Medical Center, University of Ferrara, University of Parma

Research areas: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Molecular Biology · Muscle Physiology and Disorders · Neurogenetic and Muscular Disorders Research · Genomics and Rare Diseases

ORCID iD 0000-0003-2783-688X
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About

Pietro Spitali received his M.Sc. at the University of Ferrara in 2007 cum laude. He received his PhD in 2010 for the work he did on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) at the University of Ferrara on the developed of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting dystrophin pre-mRNA.
In 2010 he moved to the group of prof. Annemieke Aartsma-Rus at the Human Genetics department of the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, first as post-doctoral researcher and later as 2014 as assistant professor. During this period Pietro focused on understanding the regulation of the DMD gene and on the identification of non-invasive biomarkers for patients affected by DMD and other neuromuscular disorders.
Since 2023 he leads his own research group as associate professor at the Human Genetics department of the LUMC. His lab focuses on identification of biomarkers in neuromuscular disorders in pre-clinical and clinical studies. He is also actively researching the basic mechanism of gene expression regulation in muscle by studying RNA binding proteins, pre-mRNA synthesis and gene expression at spatial resolution. He is currently co-coordinator of Fluid Biomarker workgroup of the Duchenne Regulatory Science Consortium (D-RSC) of the Critical Path Institute, member of the TREAT-NMD Neuromuscular Disease Advisory Committee (NMDAC) and founding member of the Netherlands single-cell network.
His research has been funded by patients organizations such as the Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds, the AFM-Téléthon, the Duchenne Parent Project and Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, as well as by EU and NIH grants and by companies such as Entrada Therapeutics and Edgewise Therapeutics.

Employment

Education

Projects & Funding

  • Integration of –omic biomarkers to non-invasively monitor disease progression and response to therapy Duchenne Parent Project
    2017 - 2019
  • Identification of blood derived transcriptomic biomarkers for Duchenne muscular dystrophy Association Francaise contre les Myopathies
    2016 - 2017
  • Duchenne Expert Centre Netherlands Spieren voor Spieren
    2016 - 2020
  • Aptamer-based serum biomarker profiling in DMD longitudinal samples Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy
    2015 - 2016
  • Samples coordination to validate non-invasive biomarkers Duchenne Parent Project NL
    2014 - 2015
  • Validation of serum biomarkers to monitor disease progression and response to therapy in DMD and other Muscular Dystrophies Association Francaise contre les Myopathies
    2014 - 2016
  • Elucidating mRNA-protein complexes to facilitate therapeutic approaches for DMD Prinses Beatrix Spierfonds
    2014 - 2018
  • Identification of serum biomarkers for monitoring progression and early corticosteroid effect in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Association française contre les myopathies
    2011 - 2014

Publications (139)