Marisa Roberto is an Italian-American neuroscientist and professor in the Department of Molecular Medicine and Neuroscience at

The Scripps Research Institute Scripps Research is a nonprofit American medical research facility that focuses on research and education in the biomedical sciences. Headquartered in San Diego, California, the institute has over 170 laboratories employing 2,100 scientists, tec ...

in La Jolla, California. Roberto is recognized for her contributions to the understanding of alcohol addiction, specifically for her research on the effects of alcohol and neuromodulators (e.g., neuropeptides and neuroimmune mediators) on synaptic transmission in the central amygdala, a critical addiction-related brain region.

Early life and education

Marisa Roberto was born in Volterra, Italy in 1971. Her parents Maria Gemma and Immacolato Roberto own agricultural land for farming. She is one of four siblings and is the middle child of her two living brothers. She was the only one to pursue higher education and is a first generation high school, college, and doctoral graduate. Roberto pursued a B.A. in biology from the University of Pisa. She completed her experimental thesis titled "Mechanisms of modulation of the Na+/K+-ATPasic pump in the T neurons of the leech Hirudo medicinalis by a sea-weed biotoxin," and graduated with distinction in 1996. She went on to complete her Ph.D. in Basic Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Marcello Brunelli from the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

in 2001. Her graduate worked focused on the effects of the neuropeptide, PACAP-38, on synaptic transmission and

long-term potentiation In neuroscience, long-term potentiation (LTP) is a persistent strengthening of synapses based on recent patterns of activity. These are patterns of synaptic activity that produce a long-lasting increase in signal transmission between two neuron ...

, a neural correlate of learning and memory, in the rodent

hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...

. In 1999 during her graduate studies, Roberto joined the Department of Neuropharmacology at

as a visiting student to study the effects of alcohol on synaptic transmission in the amygdala and

in the

under the mentorship of Drs. George Siggins and Donna Gruol, respectively. After completing her Ph.D. in 2001, Roberto returned to Scripps as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. George Siggins to study the neuroadaptations in synaptic transmission induced by acute and chronic alcohol in the central amygdala, a brain region critical in mediating the behavioral effects of alcohol consumption.

Career and research

In 2005, Roberto became an assistant professor in the Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department at the Scripps Research Institute and then the Committee on Neurobiology of Addictive Disorders in 2006. Roberto's research demonstrated the role of pro- and anti-stress neuropeptidergic (e.g.

corticotropin-releasing factor Corticotropin-releasing factor family, CRF family is a family of related neuropeptides in vertebrates. This family includes corticotropin-releasing hormone (also known as CRF), urotensin-I, urocortin, and sauvagine. The family can be grouped i ...

, nociceptin, and

neuropeptide Y Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino-acid neuropeptide that is involved in various physiological and homeostatic processes in both the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is secreted alongside other neurotransmitters such as GABA and glu ...

) signaling on GABAergic transmission in the central amygdala following excessive drinking and alcohol dependence. In 2015, Roberto was promoted to a tenured professor position and became an adjunct professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the

University of California San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

. In 2016, Roberto received a merit award from the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to study the effects of the brain stress peptide,

and

endocannabinoids Cannabinoids () are several structural classes of compounds found primarily in the ''Cannabis'' plant or as synthetic compounds. The most notable cannabinoid is the phytocannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) (delta-9-THC), the primary psychoact ...

, on stress-induced alcohol seeking and anxiety-like behaviors in Alcohol Preferring msP rats - to assess gene-environment interactions. Roberto is the scientific director of the Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism (INIA) Neuroimmune consortium, the scientific director of The Scripps Research Institute's Alcohol Research Institute, and a researcher in The Pearson Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research. She serves as a senior editor on the editorial board for '' Neuropharmaology'' since 2016 and organizes the triennial international meeting on 'Alcoholism and Stress: A Framework for Future Treatment Strategies' in her hometown Volterra, Italy (2008, 2011, 2014, 2017, and 2020).

Awards and honors

Roberto won the Young Investigator Award from the Research on Alcoholism in 2005 and from the European Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism in 2007. She was a recipient of the

Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States federal government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers. Th ...

from President Barack Obama in the United States in 2009. Roberto was awarded the Cavaliere (knight) degree of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy, the nation's highest honor, for her research contributions to the neurobiology of addictive behavior in 2011. Roberto also received the Jacob P. Waletzky Award, recognizing innovative research in drug addiction and alcoholism, from the Society of Neuroscience in 2016.

Selected publications

* Varodayan FP, de Guglielmo G, Logrip ML, George O, Roberto M. (2017) Alcohol dependence disrupts amygdalar L-type voltage-gated calcium channel mechanisms. ''Journal of Neuroscience'' * Herman M.A., Contet C., Justice N.J., Vale W. and Roberto M. (2013) Subunit-specific tonic GABA currents and differential effects of ethanol within the central amygdala circuitry of CRF1 reporter mice. ''The Journal of Neuroscience'' * Cruz M.T., Herman M., Kallupi M. and Roberto M. (2012) Nociceptin/orphanin FQ blockade of the CRF-induced GABA Release in the Central Amygdala is enhanced after chronic ethanol treatment. ''Biological Psychiatry'' * Roberto M., Cruz M.T., Gilpin N.W., Sabino V., Schweitzer P., Bajo M., Cottone P., Madamba S.M, Stouffer D.G., Zorrilla E.P., Koob G.F., Siggins G.R, Parsons L.H. (2010) Corticotropin releasing factor-induced amygdala gamma-aminobutyric Acid release plays a key role in alcohol dependence. ''Biological Psychiatry'' *Roberto M., Madamba S., Moore S.D., Tallent M.K. and Siggins G.R. (2003) Ethanol Increases GABAergic Transmission at Both Pre- and Postsynaptic Sites in Rat Central Amygdala Neurons. ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberto, Marisa 1971 births Living people American neuroscientists American women neuroscientists Researchers in alcohol abuse People from Volterra Italian emigrants to the United States Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic University of Pisa alumni Scripps Research faculty University of California, San Diego faculty Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers