Angelo Poletti

Full Professor

Angelo Poletti is Full Professor of Experimental Biology at the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences of the University of Milan, Italy. He holds a Laurea in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies (1984), a Master’s degree in Experimental Endocrinology (1987), and a PhD in Endocrinological and Metabolic Sciences (1992). His training includes research appointments at the Institute of Endocrinology of the University of Milan and at the Department of Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.
His research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying motor neuron diseases (such as spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy, SBMA, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS) and neuromuscular disorders associated with BAG3 or HSPB8 mutations. His laboratory investigates how misfolded proteins exert neurotoxic effects in neurons and muscle cells, and how the protein quality control (PQC) system can be modulated to prevent their accumulation. A major line of his work explores therapeutic strategies for SBMA by rebalancing the ratio between the toxic polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor (ARpolyQ) and the protective AR-A isoform, which his group identified as a natural counteracting factor against ARpolyQ aggregation and toxicity.
Professor Poletti has held numerous leadership roles in national and international scientific organizations. He currently serves as President of the Steering Committee of the Association of Professors of Experimental Biology in Italy and is a member of the Steering Committee of the National Center for Gene Therapy and RNA-based Technologies. He has served on the Council of the European Society for Neurochemistry and on the steering or scientific boards of major Italian societies in neuroscience, biology, genetics, and endocrinology. Within the University of Milan, he has coordinated academic programmes, directed the PhD School in Endocrinological and Metabolic Sciences, and contributed to multiple interdepartmental initiatives.
His scientific career includes long-standing involvement in centers of excellence for neurodegenerative diseases and extensive experience in mentoring, teaching, and programme coordination. He has been a Full Professor since 2011, following earlier appointments as Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and research fellow.
Professor Poletti received the Chiodini Award for Neuroendocrinology from the Italian Society of Endocrinology in 1996.