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Dr. Daniela Tropea

Associate Professor (Psychiatry)
TRINITY CENTRE, S J H

 tropead@tcd.ie

 3531896 2424

Associate Professor (Trinity Inst. of Neurosciences (TCIN))


Research Projects

 IGF1 as treatment for Rett Syndrome and other neurodevelopmental disorders
 NexusMentis-teaching Neuroscience to Primary School students
 Molecular Markers for Rett Syndrome
 Identification of quantitative EEG parameters for prognosis and severity rating in neurodevelopmental disorders
 Biology of Brain Disorders: Frontiers in Innovation

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Representations

Details Date
Invited Plenary Speaker for Growth Hormone and IGF conference, Seattle, USA
Invited speaker for the European College NeuropsychiPharmachology Annual meeting 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark
External Reviewer PhD Thesis- University of Sidney June 2015
External Reviewers PhD Thesis-University of Trento 16 October
Invited Speaker for the meeting om Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Synaptic Plasticity, Cardiff, UK, April 2017
INVITED TALKS Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience Annual Meeting (Ireland) November 2013 Irish Rett Syndrome Association (Athlone, Ireland) September 2013 American College Neuropharmachology Annual Meeting (FL, USA) December 2012 Imperial College London (UK) October 2012 Annual Symposium IRSF (VA, USA) June 2011
Mount Sinai School of Medicine (NY, USA) February 2011 Ohio State University (OH, USA) January 2011 Kings College London (UK) December 2010 World Congress Psychiatric Genetics (Athens, Greece) October 2010 Symposium on rare genetic diseases (Viareggio, Italy) February 2010 World Congress Psychiatric Genetics (San Diego, CA) November 2009 European Conference on Rett Syndrome (Milan, Italy) June 2009
Stony Brook University (NY) April 2009 Rutgers University (NJ) December 2008 Stanford University (CA) September 2008 Ecole Normale Superieure (Paris) April 2008 University of Chicago (IL) February 2008 Center for Brain Repair Cambridge (UK) February 2008 University of California Santa Barbara (CA) April 2007 University of Rochester (NY) August 2006
Grant reviewer for Theleton Funding Agency 2009
Invited Associate Editor for Neural Plasticity
Reviewer for the Grant Agency Ontario Mental Health Foundation
Reviewer for the grant Agency Israel Science Foundation
Reviewer for the Funding Agency Wellcome Trust
Reviewer for the Funding Agency MRC
Reviewer for the following peer-reviewed scientific Journals: Neuron, Scientific Reports, Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, European Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience, Genes, Brain and Behavior, Biological Psychiatry, Neural Plasticity, PlosOne, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, Journal of Neuroscience Research, Experimental Gerontology, NeuroMolecular Medicine and Neuroinformatics.

Languages

Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Italian Fluent Fluent Fluent

Memberships

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Details Date From Date To
Associate Member-American College of Neuropshychopharmacology (ACNP) 1 Jan 2016 Present
Society for Neuroscience October 1997 December 2018
Full member of ACNP January 2021
1. K. Zade, C. Campbell, S. Bach, H. Fernandez and D. Tropea, Rett syndrome in Ireland: a demographic study., Orphanet Journal of rare diseases, 2024, Notes: [DOI: 10.1186/s13023-024-03046-8], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
2. M. Kennedy , L. Glass , D.G. Glaze , S. Kaminsky , A. K. Percy , J. L. Neul , N. E. Jones , D. Tropea , J. P. Horrigan , P. Nues , K. M. Bishop and J. M. Youakim, Development of trofinetide for the treatment of Rett syndrome: from bench to bedside, Frontiers in Pharmachology, 2024, Notes: [DOI: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1341746], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
M. DuMont, A. Agostinis, K. Singh, E. Swan, Y. Buttle, D. Tropea, Sex representation in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders"preclinical and clinical studies, Neurobiology of Disease, 2023, Notes: [doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106214.], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
7. S. Shovlin, C. Delepine, L. Swanson, S. Bach, M. Sahin, M. Sur, W.E. Kaufmann, D. Tropea, Molecular signatures of response to mecasermin in children with Rett Syndrome, Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2022, Notes: [doi: 10.3389/fnins.2022.868008], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI  URL
D.Tropea, A. Scimemi, A. Barerjee, Biology of Brain Disorders: "Cellular substrates for disrupted synaptic function and experience-dependent plasticity, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2022, Notes: [doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2022.947926.], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
8. S. Bach, S. Shovlin, M. Moriarty, B. Bardoni, D. Tropea, Rett syndrome and Fragile X: different aetiology with common molecular dysfunctions, Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2021, Notes: [DOI:10.3389/fncel.2021.764761], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
1. S. Bach, N. M. Ryan, P. Guasoni, A. Corvin, D. Tropea, Methyl-CpG2-binding protein 2 mediates overlapping mechanisms across brain disorders, Scientific Reports, 10, (1), 2020, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
3. R. Coomey, R. Stowell, A. Majewska, D. Tropea , The Role of Microglia in Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Their Therapeutics, Current Topics in Medical Chemistry, 20, (4), 2020, p272 - 276, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  URL
2. C. Keogh, G. Pini, I. Gemo, W. Kaufmann, D. Tropea , Functional network mapping reveals state-dependent response to IGF-1 treatment in Rett Syndrome, Brain Sciennces, 10, (5), 2020, p515 - 520, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  URL
Daniela Tropea, IGF1 and derivatives in the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders, European College of Neuropharmachology annual meeting, September, 2019, ECNP, Notes: [Invited speaker], Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
  

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Awards and Honours

Award Date
Travel grant for SfN. Boston Area Neuroscience Group (BANG) 2006
Innovative treatment for rare diseases_TIAMO foundation June 2014
Best Project for TTO-organized program 14 March 2014
Teaching Innovation Award-TCD 2019
Excellence in teaching award-shortlisted-TCD 2020

Research Interests

Description Of Research Interests

I study the molecular mechanisms involved in neurodevelopmental disorders with a particular interest in Schizophrenia and Rett Syndrome. I was the first to show that Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) controls brain plasticity during postnatal development. My first translational work on IGF1 and Rett syndrome stands out for its clinical relevance. Rett syndrome is a severe disorder that lacks a treatment: I showed that IGF1, a growth factor used in children with growth impairments, is able to ameliorate the symptoms of the disease in a mouse model of Rett, and therefore has the potential of leading to a treatment for Rett and other neurodevelopmental disorders (Tropea et al., 2009). Nine clinical trials derived from this study, and I participated to safety clinical trials, which showed no side-effects of IGF1 administration in Rett patients (Pini et al., 2012, Pini et al., 2014, 2016). I have access to exclusive EEG data and blood samples from patients involved in IGF1-related trials. I collaborate with MIT, Neuren Pharmaceuticals, Tuscany Rett Center and Boston Children's Hospital, to study the RNA expression in the blood of Rett patients before and after treatment with IGF1. We aim at identifying, where possible, molecular determinants of IGF1' action in the patients responsive to treatment. I plan to focus my research on the identification of measurable biomarkers and on the effects of IGF1 for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. This research has application in the design and interpretation of current and future clinical trials for assessing the efficacy of IGF1 (current active trails in Rett Syndrome, FragileX, Phelan McDermid and autism). My expertise in growth factors and IGF1 are broadly recognized and I am invited as regular and plenary speaker to international meetings to discuss the topic.