Michele Fornaro

Michele Fornaro, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair of Anatomy at Midwestern University, holding concurrent appointments in the College of Graduate Studies (Illinois), College of Health Sciences-Downers Grove, and College of Dental Medicine-Illinois. He joined Midwestern in 2011 as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2014, and became a full Professor in 2020. His teaching focuses on Neuroscience across medical, dental, physician assistant, and master's programs.

Dr. Fornaro's research explores neural plasticity in the central and peripheral nervous systems, peripheral nerve repair using biomaterials and bioengineering, and neurovirology (focusing on herpesviruses). Notable contributions include work on dorsal root ganglia models, axon regeneration using topographic substrates, and viral entry mechanisms involving heparan sulfate. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Turin (Italy) and conducted postdoctoral research at the NIH (USA).

He leads the MWU Intramural Grant project 'Understanding Mitochondria Activity to Counteract Ageing and Alzheimer's Related Dementia.' His lab investigates neuroregeneration, viral-neuronal interactions, and developmental neurobiology. He has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles and actively collaborates on interdisciplinary projects bridging basic science and clinical applications.