Fresco Institute Fellowships | NYU Langone Health

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Kellar Family Division of Movement Disorders Fresco Institute Fellowships

Fresco Institute Fellowships

NYU Langone’s Fresco Institute for Parkinson’s and Movement Disorders is committed to educating the next generation of physicians and researchers in the art and science of treating and studying movement disorders. We offer a movement disorders fellowship for neurologists based in the United States and both clinical and research fellowships for Italian neurologists and researchers. Our fellowships train young neurologists and scientists in the comprehensive care of Parkinson’s disease as well as in the latest clinical, translational, and basic research.

Support for our fellowship programs is provided by the Kellar Family Foundation and the Paolo and Marlene Fresco Foundation.

Clinical Fellowship for Italian Neurologists and Related Specialists

The Marlene and Paolo Fresco Clinical Fellowship award provides two years of support to Italian neurologists who are interested in developing a career in movement disorders. Successful applicants participate in the international fellowship program between NYU Langone and a funded partner institution in Italy. The fellowship includes two years of support for training, with the first year at NYU Langone and the second at a partner institution, nominated by the applicant, in Italy. Learn more about the clinical fellowship for Italian neurologists and related specialists.

Fresco Research Fellowship for Italian Researchers

Our basic research fellowship program allows Italian researchers to engage in postdoctoral work relevant to the Fresco Institute’s mission within our own institute and also the Neuroscience Institute.

To join one of our teams, you must be an Italian citizen with a PhD, MD, or equivalent advanced degree in biomedical sciences. You must also have an excellent record of research in molecular genetics, electrophysiology, cellular imaging, rodent behavior, and/or computational neuroscience.

Successful candidates benefit from state-of-the-art research facilities at NYU Langone as well as from the extensive research community in New York City. As a fellow, you receive a competitive salary and benefits. Upon completion of the fellowship, you must continue related research in Italy that is aligned with the vision of the Fresco Institute.

We anticipate publishing a new request in February 2020.

Current Fellows

American

Ling Pan, MD (2019–2020)

Dr. Pan received her undergraduate degree at Harvard University, medical degree at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and completed residency at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she served as a chief resident her final year. Dr. Pan’s interest in neurology began during her undergraduate studies in cognitive psychology, where she contributed to research on functional brain networks underlying autobiographical memory. During neurology residency, she became fascinated by the phenomenology of movement disorders. Her interests within movement disorders include task-specific dystonias and the cognitive components of Parkinson’s disease.

Claire Miller, MD, PhD (2019–2020)

Dr. Miller received a BA in psychology from Reed College, an MD–PhD from University of Illinois with a focus in neuroscience, and completed residency in pediatric neurology at NYU Langone. She was always interested in the brain and her goal is to become a pediatric movement disorders specialist. After training, Dr. Miller aims to become an advocate for children with movement disorders to advance research and improve the lives of her patients.

Italian

Marta Maltese, PhD, Fresco Basic Research Fellow (2016–2019)

Dr. Maltese received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Rome Tor Vergata, where she worked on basal ganglia neurophysiology in animal models of movement disorders, including dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, and monogenic parkinsonism. She is currently working with Nicolas Tritsch, PhD, to study the neural circuit effects of dopamine.

Giulietta Maria Riboldi, MD, Fresco Clinical Fellow (2017–2020)

Dr. Riboldi completed her medical degree and neurology residency at the University of Milan. She spent her last year of residency as a research fellow at the Motor Neuron Center at Columbia University, where she studied molecular and cellular basis of neurodegeneration.

Riccardo Melani, PhD, Fresco Basic Research Fellow (2018–2020)

Dr. Melani received his PhD in psychology from the University of Florence. He worked at the National Research Council in Pisa, where he also performed his first postdoctoral training. Under the supervision of Nicoletta Berardi, MD, and Tommaso Pizzorusso, PhD, he studied how environmental stimulation affects learning and memory, and he investigated synaptic properties that regulate behavior in health and disease. In 2017, Dr. Melani joined NYU Langone, conducting research in the laboratory of Ipe Ninan, PhD, on the mechanisms that underlie synaptic transmission and plasticity in the medial habenula–interpeduncular nucleus pathway, focusing on the role of this network in the modulation of aversive responses.

Guendalina Bastioli, PhD, Fresco Basic Research Fellow (2018–2020)

Dr. Bastioli is one of the inaugural postdoctoral researchers awarded a Marlene and Paolo Fresco Institute Research Fellowship for Italian Researchers. She works in the lab of Dr. Rice conducting a research project on the role of BDNF and Trk-B receptors in dopamine release regulation after exercise, and on nigrostriatal dopamine pathways. Dr. Bastioli received her PhD in biomedical sciences from the University Politecnica delle Marche, where she studied the role of sodium–calcium exchanger in Parkinson’s disease, in collaboration with the University of Perugia in the lab directed by Paolo Calabresi, MD. She completed her first postdoc project at the University of Perugia, in collaboration with the Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, in the lab headed by Dr. Calabresi. The focus of her research was the study of neurodegenerative damage induced by α-synuclein in animal models of Parkinson’s disease.

Previous Fellows

American

Mia Ko, MD (2016–2017)

Dr. Ko received her medical degree from Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine in New York. She completed her internship year at Cooper University Hospital in Camden, New Jersey. She is currently an attending neurologist at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia.

Andrea Lee, MD, Lily Safra Fellow (2017–2018)

Dr. Lee received her medical degree from SUNY Downstate in Brooklyn. She completed her internship year at New York-Presbyterian/Queens and completed her neurology residency at NYU Langone. She is currently an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College.

Patrick Drummond, MD (2018–2019)

Dr. Drummond joined the Fresco Institute in July 2018 as a clinical movement disorders fellow. After earning his medical degree at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine, he completed his neurology residency at NYU Langone, where he served as chief resident of medical education in his final year. During residency, he took part in research at NYU Langone identifying and addressing barriers to healthcare in homebound patients with Parkinson’s disease, which was presented at the American Academy of Neurology. His interests include resident and medical student education as well as clinical research in the use of deep brain stimulation and botulinum toxin for the treatment of various movement disorders. He is currently an assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health.

Christine Stahl, MD, Lily Safra Fellow (2018–2019)

Dr. Stahl joined the Fresco Institute in July 2018 as a Lily Safra Movement Disorders Fellow. After earning her MD at NYU School of Medicine, she completed her neurology residency at Mount Sinai Hospital. She has a passion for medical education and enjoys working with medical students and residents. Her research interests include focal task–specific dystonia, especially in musicians. Dr. Stahl is currently an assistant professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health.

Italian

Alberto Cucca, MD, Fresco Clinical Fellow (2016–2019)

Dr. Cucca graduated cum laude from the Medical School of the University of Trieste, Italy, and completed a neurology residency at the University of Udine, where he developed an interest in noninvasive brain stimulation for the treatment of movement disorders. He is currently an attending physician at Casa di Cura Villa Margherita-Fresco Parkinson Center in Arcugnano, Italy and a clinical researcher at the Fresco Parkinson Institute.

Maria Mancini, PhD, Fresco Basic Research Fellow (2016–2019)

Dr. Mancini earned her PhD in health sciences from the University of Molise in Campobasso and then completed her first postdoc at the IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation working on corticostriatal synaptic plasticity in Parkinson’s disease. She came to NYU Langone from the Foundation of the Carlo Besta Neurological Institute, where she was a visiting scholar. She is currently working with Margaret E. Rice, PhD, studying the modulation of dopamine release. Dr. Mancini is currently a senior postdoctoral fellow at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Institute of Neuroscience in Milano, Italy.