Francesca Bartolini

I am a cell biologist with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from NYU, a recipient of the 2013 Schaefer Research Scholar Award for distinguished achievement in human physiology and a Fulbright Specialist. My scientific career has been dedicated for the most part to elucidating the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie human disease. After my post-doctoral studies at Columbia University, I realized that I had acquired a unique knowledge of the microtubule cytoskeleton, the most abundant type of cytoskeleton in neurons, and I possessed the necessary expertise to analyze its regulation in health and disease. For that, in 2013 I established an independent laboratory that works at the interface of cell biology and neuroscience to decipher the role of microtubule dynamics and tubulin modifications in synaptic activity and neurological disease.

My laboratory is in the Pathology & Cell Biology Department at Columbia University and I am actively involved in teaching and training PhD students, international master students and undergraduate students. I have affiliation and access to all common facilities in the Pathology & Cell Biology Department, the Medical Center, the Zuckerman Institute and the Taub Institute for Research in Alzheimer’s disease and the Aging Brain, all at Columbia University.