Decoding Neuroinflammation: Immune Mechanisms, Spatial Profiling and Systemic Implications

Invited Speaker: Danilo De Gregorio 

Project Leader, Neuropsychopharmacology Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, Italy

Associate Professor of Pharmacology, School of Medicine and Surgery, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University 

Biography of the speaker: 

Danilo De Gregorio obtained a Pharm.D. degree from the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy, followed by a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology from the University of Campania “Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy. He trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal (QC), Canada under the supervisions of Prof. Gabriella Gobbi and Prof.  Nahum Sonenberg. In March 2021, he relocated back to Italy where he has been appointed Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Project Leader of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute.  By combining cutting-edge in vivo behavioral and electrophysiological techniques in animal models, Danilo has made contributions to the understanding of the psychopharmacology of psychoactive compounds including hallucinogens and cannabinoids and their role in mental disorders.  His work has been published in relevant scientific journals (including Nature, PNAS, Nature Communications). He has received numerous awards for his work including grants from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), the Fonds pour la recherche en Santé du Québec and the Italian Ministry of the University and Research. Since March 2024, he holds the position of Associate Professor in Pharmacology at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University.

Description of the general focus of the symposium: 

This symposium will focus on emerging concepts and methodologies that frame inflammation as a dynamic and spatially organized process in the injured and diseased brain. By bringing together expertise in microglial biology, peripheral immune mechanisms, and advanced spatial profiling technologies, the session aims to explore how resident and infiltrating immune cells interact to shape local and peripheral inflammatory responses. Emphasis will be placed on ischemic stroke as a model of acute brain injury, with broader relevance to other neurological and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuroinflammation plays a fundamental role in brain injury and disease, influencing tissue damage, repair processes, and long-term neurological outcomes. Rather than representing a uniform immune response, neuroinflammation emerges from highly dynamic and spatially structured interactions between resident microglia and infiltrating peripheral immune populations. Understanding how these immune networks are initiated, regulated, and maintained within the brain and beyond is critical for identifying mechanisms that promote either recovery or disease progression, as well as to minimize secondary complications. 

A central theme of the symposium will be microglial heterogeneity and immune cell communication within and beyond the central nervous system. Speakers will discuss microglial response after brain injury, their crosstalk with peripheral innate immune cells, and the systemic immune consequences of stroke. The session will highlight how these interactions regulate neuroinflammatory responses and influence tissue remodeling, functional recovery, and even secondary immunological complications beyond the neurological consequences. 

In parallel, the symposium will emphasize methodological advances that are transforming the field of neuroimmunology. Speakers will highlight techniques such as single-cell transcriptomics, single-cell epigenomics, and high-dimensional spatial profiling approaches, including imaging mass cytometry and related spatial proteomic technologies, which enable immune responses to be analyzed in depth directly, and even within intact tissue, at single-cell–level resolution. These last approaches preserve spatial context and provide insights into cellular organization, signaling pathways, and immune cell interactions that cannot be captured using bulk or dissociative methods alone.  

By integrating mechanistic insights with innovative spatial technologies, this symposium aims to bridge biological discovery and methodological innovation. The session will foster interdisciplinary dialogue between neurobiologists, immunologists, and technology-driven researchers, while highlighting emerging directions for translational research aimed at modulating neuroinflammation for therapeutic benefit in brain injury and neurological disease. 

Brief description of the talk: