FUMAGALLI Francesca

 

Dr. Fumagalli started her clinical and scientific career as MD student in the Department of Neurology of San Raffaele Hospital, where she obtained her specialization in Neurology in 2009. 

Since 2003 she acquired experience in adult general neurology and showing since the beginning a particular interest in inherited neurodegenerative collaborating with the outpatient service for Rare Neurological Disorders and San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-TIGET). 
In 2004, she graduated at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan with a thesis entitled "Molecular, Neurophysiological and MRI study for the definition of nervous system damage caused by MLD. Prognostic and therapeutic implications”. 

During the specialization, she cultivated her interest on the natural history of MLD taking care of affected patients and studying instrumental prognostic biomarkers, quantitative tools for monitoring disease progression and evaluating efficacy of innovative therapies. In 2016 she became the principal investigator of the prospective study on MLD Natural history ongoing at SR-TIGET resulting in two main publications (Biffi et al 2008 and Fumagalli et al 2021).

She dedicated her PhD (2010-2013) training in Paediatric Neurology at the Paediatric Unit of San Raffaele Hospital and collaborating to the phase I/II HSC Gene Therapy trial for MLD since 2010. Her responsibility was evaluating eligibility of MLD patients to gene therapy and monitoring neurological outcomes of patients enrolled in the clinical trial, resulting in her PhD thesis: “Preliminary demonstration of efficacy of lentiviral hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy in metachromatic leukodystrophy: analysis of neurological end-points” presented in the paper Biffi, Fumagalli et al. Science 2013 .

Between 2004 and 2013, she also learned skills in the field of Epilepsy as resident at the Neurophysiology Service of the Regional Centre for Epilepsy of San Raffaele Hospital (reading EEG recording and working at the outpatient service for Childhood Epilepsy).

Since 2013, she became Consultant Neurologist and then Staff Neurologist of the Department of Neurology and Paediatric Immunohematology Unit of San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, working as co-investigator of the gene therapy clinical trials on MLD and consultant Paediatric Neurologist of the Paediatric Unit. Moreover she collaborates to other Gene Therapy projects ongoing at SR-TIGET taking care of neurological aspects of other paediatric disorders (in particular ADA-SCID and MPS-IH). 
Starting from February 2020, she also acted as an ad hoc consultant of Orchard Therapeutics and Takeda Advisory Boards.