DE GREGORIO DANILO

EDUCATION/TRAINING
PharmD Degree, 02/2012, School of Pharmacy, University of Naples, Italy
PhD Degree, 12/2015 Department of Experimental medicine, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Vanvitelli, Naples, Italy
Postdoctoral fellow (2015-2021) Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal (Qc), Canada.

BIBLIOMETRIC DATA
Scopus ID: 54786305300
H-index (in Scopus): 26
Total number of publications: 49


POSITIONS, Scientific APPOINTMENTS, FUNDINGS AND HONORS
Current Positions and Scientific Appointments
2024-current Associate Professor of Pharmacology. Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan (Mi), Italy.
2021-current Project Leader, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan (Mi), Italy,

Past positions

2021-2024 Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Vita Salute San Raffaele University, Milan (Mi), Italy

2016-2021 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Psychiatry, Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit, Profs. Gabriella Gobbi (primary supervisor) and Nahum Sonenberg (co-supervisor), McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada
2012-2015 PhD student, Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Campania, Naples, Italy, Prof. Sabatino Maione

Honors
2019-2021 Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) fellowship. (2 years) ($90000).
2019-2020 Faculty of Medicine Competition, McGill University. (1year) ($ 32000). Declined
2019-2020 FRSQ (Fonds pour la recherche en Santé du Québec)
Post-Doctoral Fellowship (1 year) ($45000). Declined
2018 Travel Award, Pioneers and Prodigies.
International Society for Serotonin Research Conference, July 2018, Cork,
Ireland
2017-2019 FRSQ (Fonds pour la recherche en Santé du Québec)
Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2 years) ($90000)
2016 Merit Scholarship Program for Foreign Students (PBEEE), Canada
Post-Doctoral Fellowship (6 months) ($ 12000)
2016 Travel Award, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Workshop, March 2017, Nice, France
2016-2017 McGill University Health Center Fellowship Competition, Canada Post-Doctoral Fellowship (1 year) ($ 18000)
2015 Short Term Fellowship, Italian Pharmacological Society, Italy
6 months (4200 Euros)
2015 Best Poster Presentation, Italian Pharmacological Society
37th National Conference of the Italian Pharmacological Society, October 2015, Naples, Italy
2012-2015 PhD fellowship (Ministry of Education, University and Research, Italy)
3 years (36000 Euros)
2021 Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders, and Related Disorders (RQSHA): young investigator prize ($1000).


Other Experience and Professional Memberships
2015-current: Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF)
2021- Canadian Institute for health Research (CIHR), peer review doctoral awards 2020-Member, Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS)
2018-Member, The International Society for Serotonin Research (ISSR) 2015-Member, Society for Neuroscience (SFN)
2016-Member, Canadian Sleep Society (CSS)
2017-Canadian Association for Neuroscience (CAN)
2017-Member, International Cannabinoid Research Society (ICRS)
2017-Member, Canadian Consortium for the Investigation of Cannabinoids (CCIC) 2017-Member, Quebec Network on Suicide, Mood Disorders and Related Disorders 2017Member, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)


OTHER FUNDINGS:
2019-2020, Role: Principal Applicant. Antidepressant effect of microdoses of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Funding Sources: 2019/08-2021-08. Mini-grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Total Funding-10,000 (Canadian dollar)
2016- 2021, Role: Collaborator. Analgesic mechanisms of melatonin MT2 receptor ligands. Co- investigator: Philippe Seguela; Principal Applicant: Gabriella Gobbi; Collaborators: Danilo De Gregorio and Luca Posa. Funding Sources: 2016/10 - 2021/10 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Total Funding - 459,000 (Canadian dollar)

2018-2021, Role: Collaborator. Propriétés pharmacologiques du cannabidiol dans la douleur neuropathique et symptômes anxieux-dépressifs: études préclinique et Clinique. Collaborators: Sabatino Maione (Italy) and Danilo De Gregorio (Canada); Co-investigators: Florence Noble (France); Stefano Comai (Italy); Principal Applicant: Gabriella Gobbi. Funding Sources: Programme de soutien à la recherche (PSR) · Soutien à des initiatives internationales de recherche et Innovation. Ministry of Economy and Innovation of Quebec. Total Funding - 500,000 (Canadian dollars).

2020 – 2025 role: Co-Investigator. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and social behavior. Co- investigators: Danilo De Gregorio, Francis Rodriguez Bambico; Nahum Sonenberg, Stefano Comai, Marco Leyton; Collaborator: Katrin Preller (Switzerland); Principal Applicant: Gabriella Gobbi. Funding Sources: 2019/10 - 2024/10 Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Total Funding - 784,000 (Canadian dollars)




LABORATORY TECHNIQUES AND SKILLS
Confocal microscopy: immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, spine density analysis, glia morphology; stereotaxic neurosurgery in rats and mice: intra-cannulation implant for drugs or viruses micro-infusions; in-vivo single-unit electrophysiology combined with microionthophoresis and optogenetic stimulation: single unit extracellular recordings of serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, hippocampal, cortical and spinal neurons; in-vivo Electroencephalographic and Electromyographic (EEG/EMG) recordings and analysis in rodents; behavioral psychopharmacology : animal paradigms of addiction, alcohol use disorder, anxiety, depression and cognition combined with optogenetic stimulation (two bottle choice, self administration, Elevated Plus Maze, Novelty Suppressed Feeding, Open Field, Forced Swim, Tail Suspension, Social Interaction, Three chambers Sociability, Sucrose Preference test, Light/Dark Box tests and Novel Object Recognition Test); surgical models of neuropathic pain: Spared Nerve Injury (SNI), Chronic Costriction Injury (CCI); pain behavioral tests: Von Frey, Dynamic Plantar Aestesiomether, Hot Plate and Formalin tests.



EDITORAL BOARD AND GUEST EDITOR

2021-2022. Guest editor for Frontiers in Psychiatry. Special issue: “Methods and Applications in Addiction Psychiatry Research”

2020-currently Editorial board member of Frontiers in Pharmacology
2020-currently Editorial board member of Journal of Central Nervous System Disease 2020-2021 Guest editor for Frontiers in Psychiatry. Special issue “The
Endocannabinoid System: Filling the Translational Gap between Neuroscience and
Psychiatry”.
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/13909/the-endocannabinoid-system- filling-the-translational-gap-between-neuroscience-and-psychiatry - overview


PATENTS AND REPORT OF INVENTION (ROI)

Report of Invention (ROI): “LSD as a treatment for social behaviour disorders and autism”. Submitted on 16th January 2020. Inventors: Danilo De Gregorio, Gabriella Gobbi. ROI # 2020-91. Organization: McGill University, Montreal (QC), Canada.
Provisional Patent: “Administration of modulators of 5-HT and/or AMPA receptors for treating neurological conditions”. Inventors: Danilo De Gregorio, Gabriella Gobbi. Assignee: The Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning/McGill University, Montreal (QC), Canada. Submitted on 29th July 2020. EFS ID: 40143804; application number: US 63058374 (confidential); confirmation number: 2278.


TALKS AND CHAIRMAN AT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES

• Invited speaker. Paris Brain Institute, Seminar Lecture titles “Circuitries and Psychiatric Therapeutics: Bridging the gap between psychedelics interventions and electroconvulsive therapy”. Paris, France, 30 June 2025.

• Chair Panel Organizer: Symposium titled “From Molecular Mechanism to Brain Circuitries: How psychedelics are reshaping our understanding of neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorder treatments”. Melbourne, Australia, 15th-18th June 2025.

• Invited speaker. Fibromyalgia2025. Seminar titled “The role of psychedelics in the management of chronic pain”. Vienna, Austria, 3rd March 2025.

• Chair and speaker. 42nd National Congress of the Italian Society of Pharmacology, Sorrento, 13-16 November 2024. Symposium title: “New Frontiers in Treating Mental and Addictive Disorders: Unveiling the Therapeutic Potential and Mechanism of Hallucinogens”.

• Invited speaker, Conference “5HT2A, The Thin Red Line”, Conference Hall of the Chamber of Commerce, Bari. Seminar titled: “Psychedelics in psychiatry”. 25 October 2024.

• Invited speaker, Seminar “Innovation and Future of Mental Health: New Frontiers and Global Challenges”. Presentation title: “From neuronal circuitry to receptor modulation: the role of psychedelics in psychiatry”. IRCCS San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia (BS), Italy, 11 October 2024.

• Invited speaker, The Swiss Academic Conference on Psychedelic Research and Therapy, 11 - 12 October 2024. Aarau, Switzerland. “Understanding the neuronal circuitry involved in the ability of psychedelics to modulate social behavior, anxiety and addiction”.

• Invited speaker, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Foggia. “Interplay Between Cognitive Functions, Metabolism and Circadian Rhythms: from Molecular Characterization to Dietary Modulation”. 11 July 2024.

• Invited speaker, Paris Brain Institute, Paris. “Role of psychedelics in psychiatry”. 30 June - 2 July 2024.

• Invited speaker, 51st National Congress of the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIP), Verona, 29 May - 1 June 2024. “Psychopharmacology of psychedelic therapies: from neuronal circuitry to receptor modulation”.

• Invited speaker, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) World Congress 2024, Tokyo, Japan. 23-26 May 2024. “Psychedelics in psychiatry: Pharmacology and mechanism of action”.

• Invited speaker, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) World Congress 2024, Tokyo, Japan. 23-26 May 2024. “LSD reduces alcohol consumption in rodents”.

• Invited speaker, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) World Congress 2024, Tokyo, Japan. 23-26 May 2024. “Psilocybin reduces chronic pain”.

• Invited speaker, Workshop “Psychedelic Medicine”, Psychedelic Research Centre at the National Institute of Mental Health, Prague. “Role of LSD in addiction”. 16-17 May, 2024.

• Invited speaker, Mediterranean Neuroscience Society: MNS 2023, Carthage, Tunisia, 14-18 October 2023. Presentation title: “Impact of the psychedelic lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in alcohol use disorder", 14-10-2023.

• Invited speaker, 36th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Congress, Barcelona, Spain, 7-10 October 2023. Presentation title: “Unveiling the prosocial and anxiolytic effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD)”, 07-10-2023.

• Invited speaker, 5th Central European Biomedical Congress Future trends in health interventions, 29 May - 1 June, Kraków, Poland. Presentation title: “Therapeutic use of psychedelics in mental health”, 29-05-2023 to 01-06-2023.

• Invited speaker, 49th National Congress of the Italian Society of Psychiatry, Genoa: 12-15 October 2022. Presentation title: “Psychedelics in psychiatry: mechanism of action and potential therapeutic effects”, 12-10-2022 to 15-10-2022.

• Invited speaker, International Society for Neurochemistry ISN biennial meeting, 28 August - 1 September 2022, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Presentation title: “Mechanism of action of LSD in mental disorders”, 28-08-2022.

• Invited speaker, XXIV National Congress of the Italian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology (SINPF), 25-27 January 2023, Venice. Neuroscience and new frontiers in neuropsychopharmacology. Presentation title: “Psychoactive substances: from pharmacology to translational models”, 25-01-2022.

• Invited speaker, 50th Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, 2021 virtual meeting. November 2021. Presentation title: “Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) promotes sociability through a dorsal raphe-cortical circuit involving mTOR complex 1 in excitatory neurons”, 08-11-2021.

• Invited speaker, 40th National Congress of the Italian Society of Pharmacology (SIF), virtual meeting, March 2021. Presentation title: “Effects of chronic exposure to low doses of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol in adolescence and adulthood on serotonin/norepinephrine neurotransmission and emotional behaviors”, 10-03-2021.

• Organizer and co-chair of a symposium titled “Biological markers in depression: From animals to humans”, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) World Congress 2020, converted into a virtual conference and postponed to 2021, 25-02-2021.

• Invited speaker, European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2019. Presentation title: “Low doses of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) exert antidepressant-like effect and modulate serotonergic neurotransmission in a chronic stress model in mice”, 07-09-2019.

• Invited speaker, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), Hollywood (FL), USA, December 2018. Presentation title: “Role of N-Palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) and Phytocannabinoids in the Molecular and Neuronal Mechanism of Neuropathic pain”, 09-12-2018.

• Invited speaker, International Society for Serotonin Research Conference (ISSR), Cork, Ireland. July 2018. Presentation title: “D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) reverses depressive-like behavior and serotonergic (5-HT) neurotransmission impairments in a murine model of chronic stress”, 15-07-2018.

• Invited speaker, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) World Congress, June 2018, Vienna, Austria. Presentation title: “Low doses of d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) exerts antidepressant-like effect and modulates serotonergic neurotransmission”, 16-06-2018.

• Invited speaker at a symposium titled "Classical and Novel Molecular Pathways of Sleep Regulation", 8th Conference of the Canadian Sleep Society Conference, Calgary (AB), Canada. Presentation title: “Distinct and opposite roles of melatonin MT1 and MT2 receptors in sleep”, 28-04-2017.


INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC COLLABORATIONS
Collaboration with distinguished scientists including Prof Gabriella Gobbi (McGill University, Canada), Prof Nahum Sonenberg (McGill University, Canada), Prof Sabatino Maione (University of Campania, Italy), Dr Francis Rodriguez Bambico (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada), Dr Argel Aguilar-Valles (Carleton University, Canada), Dr Ryan J. McLaughlin (Washington State University, USA), Dr Comai Stefano (University of Padua, Italy).

PARTNERSHIP WITH PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES
Consultant at Diamond Therapeutics Inc, Toronto (ON), Canada. https://www.diamondthera.com/

Consultant at Otsuka Pharmaceutical

Complete List of Published Work in MyBibliography:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/12YX7lHJAh1kw6/bibliography/public/


Media and press releases
Il Manifesto. Rinascimento psichedelico, forse. 20 Agosto 2022. Link https://ilmanifesto.it/rinascimento-psichedelico-forse
Le Scienze. Meccanismi neurobiologici dell'LSD. 29 Marzo 2022. Link. https://www.lescienze.it/news/2022/03/29/news/meccanismi_neurobiologici_lsd-9062225/
L’indipendente. Microdosi di Lsd per combattere l’ansia e lo stress. Aprile 2022. Link https://www.lindipendente.online/2022/04/13/micro-dosi-di-lsd-aiutano-contro-lansia-e-lo-stress/
Elle. La rivincita delle sostanze psichedeliche per la cura della depressione. Agosto 2022. Link https://www.elle.com/it/salute/benessere/a40729543/sostanze-psichedeliche-depressione/


La Repubblica. Micro-dosi di LSD per curare l'ansia, 30 marzo 2022. Link https://www.repubblica.it/salute/2022/03/30/news/lsd_cura_ansia_e_depressione-343400266/
Documentary interview: Série : Couple de nerds, Les drogues, une solution? Télé-Québec. October 2019. Link: https://savoir.media/couple-de-nerds-saison-2/clip/le-lsd-pour-traiter-la-depression
Forbes. CBD From Marijuana may affect pain and anxiety in different ways than previously thought. 29 October 2018. Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2018/10/29/study-cbd-may-provide-pain-and- anxiety-relief-in-different-ways-than-previously-thought/#734038a57f1d
La Presse. Soulager la douleur avec du cannabis sans «high». 25 October 2018. https://www.lapresse.ca/sciences/medecine/201810/25/01-5201650-soulager-la-douleur-avec-du-cannabis- sans-high.php