Massimo Pandolfo obtained his medical degree form the University of Milan, Italy, where he also completed his residency in Neurology. He has been Assistant Professor of Neurology at the National Neurological Institute C. Besta in Milan, and at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He has been Associate Professor at the Université de Montréal, and he is currently Chief of Neurology at Erasme Hospital and Professor of Neurology at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in Brussels, Belgium.
His research interests focus on neurogenetics. In the field of ataxia, he contributed to the genetic and clinical study of several inherited ataxias. The Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA) gene was identified in 1996 by an international collaboration led by M. Pandolfo, who has since contributed to the study of the molecular pathogenesis of the disease, to the development of therapeutics, and to its clinical characterization. Currently, M. Pandolfo is currently the coordinator of EFACTS (European Friedreich’s Ataxia Consortium for Translational Studies). He contributed to the study of several monogenic epilepsies and participated in genetic studies on common epilepsies and on epilepsy pharmacogenetics. He was also involved in genetic studies on brain degeneration with iron accumulation, paroxysmal non-kinesogenic dyskinesia, aceruloplasminemia, and on the predisposition to stroke.
