De Curtis Ivanmatteo

De Curtis Ivanmatteo is a Full Professor of Biology at San Raffaele University and Head of the Laboratory of Cell Adhesion at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milan, Italy. He holds academic appointments since 2007 in the School of Medicine and coordinates the PhD Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology since 2011. His professional journey includes postdoctoral research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (Heidelberg) and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (UCSF, USA).

Education:

• PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Milan (1987)
• Postdoctoral training at EMBL and HHMI

Research Interests: Focus on molecular mechanisms of cell migration/invasion and neuronal development. Key topics include Rho GTPase signaling, cell adhesion dynamics, and integrin regulation. His work employs cellular and animal models to study processes like GABAergic interneuron development and immune-competence regulation via Rac GTPases.

Publications: Over 30+ peer-reviewed articles since 1991, emphasizing Rac GTPase functions in neuronal and immunological contexts. Recent work highlights Liprin-α1’s role in cancer cell invasion and GTPase synergies in cortical development.

Affiliations: Member of the Italian Association of Cell Biology, American Society of Cell Biology, and Society for Neuroscience (USA). Serves as Editor for PLoS ONE.

Labs/Teams: Leads the Laboratory of Cell Adhesion, focusing on mechanistic studies of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in both physiological and pathological contexts.