Massimo Avoli, MD, PhD

Massimo Avoli is Professor at McGill University in the Departments of Neurology & Neurosurgery and of Physiology. He received his Medical Degree (1975) and Neurology training (1979) from the Sapienza University of Rome, and his PhD (1982) from McGill University. In 1983, he worked in Dr. Per Andersen’s laboratory at University of Oslo analyzing the mechanisms underlying long-term potentiation of synaptic transmission. Dr. Avoli’s laboratory employs electrophysiological, pharmacological and molecular approaches to analyze the excitability of the rodent forebrain in experimental preparations both in vivo and in vitro. These studies focus on the interplay of inhibitory and excitatory mechanisms, especially as they relate to the genesis of synchronicity in neuronal networks. These neuronal processes are fundamental for understanding the mechanisms causing the generation of seizures in epileptic patients thus leading to develop new antiepileptic strategies. Dr. Avoli is particularly interested in the pathophysiology of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, one of the most common forms of focal epilepsy in adulthood. Ongoing studies center on the role of GABAA receptor signaling in epileptogenesis and ictogenesis in this focal epileptic disorder. Dr. Avoli also employs optogenetic protocols to test the hypothesis that activation of specific cell types causes  specific seizure onset patterns in in vitro and in vivo preparations; such  experimental procedures seek to identify whether and how these processes influence and halt epileptogenesis. Several of Dr. Avoli's studies originate from collaborations with colleagues at the Neuro (Drs. S. Baillet, J. Gotman, T. Kennedy, P. McPherson, and Y. Zhou), McGill University (Drs. N. Sonenberg and S. Williams), and Université de Montréal (Dr.G. Di Cristo, , and) as well as in Germany (Dr. R. Köhling), Italy (Drs. G. Biagini, and M. de Curtis), and USA (Drs. M. Bazhenov, M. Rogawski and S. Vicini).