About Me
I am a neuroscientist interested in the effect of neuromodulators on sensory perception. Currently my main focus is serotonin, in vivo recordings with high-density probes (Neuropixel) and neural decoding. I have experience using: Python (pandas, multiprocessing, xarray, numpy, HoloViz), Matlab, Tensorflow, Max/MSP, Pure Data, Hugging Faceand git.
Experience
Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics, Seattle
Visiting scientist
November 2024
https://alleninstitute.org/division/neural-dynamics/
Focusing on the effect of psilocybin on neuronal activity
Psychedelics, large scale recordings, predictive coding in rodents. In collaboration with the Allen Institute via Openscope.
Analysis of large-scale open access datasets.
Analysing large open-access datasets, focusing on hippocampal ripples propagation.
Schmitz lab, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin
PhD student
January 2016 - 2021
https://schmitz.neurocure.de/
My PhD project is focused on serotonergic modulation of slow oscillations in entorhinal cortex, it led to the publication “Somatostatin interneurons activated by 5-HT2A receptor suppress slow oscillations in medial entorhinal cortex (Elife, 2021)”. We identified a novel mechanism by which serotonin is able to alter cortical network activity. During the course of this project I employed the following techniques: in vitro patch clamp, silicone probe recording in anesthetized mice, optogenetics, pharmacology, immunohistochemistry and confocal imaging. I also became proficient with Matlab and Python for data analysis.
Poulet lab, Max Delbrück Center (MDC)
PhD student
February 2015 - December 2015
https://www.mdc-berlin.de/poulet
I worked under the supervision of Nevena Milenkovic investigating temperature perception in mice, a follow-up to her work “A somatosensory circuit for cooling perception in mice (Nature Neuroscience, 2014)”. I have performed in vivo whole cell patch clamp recording from anesthetized mice, thalamic drug injections and behavioral training.
Brecht lab, Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (BCCN)
Lab rotation
October 2014 - January 2015
https://www.activetouch.de/
During my lab rotation in the Brecht lab I assisted Dr. Shimpei Ishiyama in his project later published as “Neural correlates of ticklishness in the rat somatosensory cortex (Science, 2016)”. The aim of his project was to understand the neurophysiological basis of ticklishness. My work was to assess if rats, like humans, have body areas more susceptible to tickling compared to others. A Matlab-based system was used to record 50-kHz USVs (ultra-sonic vocalization). USVs emission rate was used as a measure of ticklishness. In addition to this psychophysics experiment I assisted to in vivo tetrodes recording and electrical microstimulation in S1.
Cherubini lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA).
Master student
July 2012 - October 2013
https://www.sissa.it/
I did my internship in Professor Enrico Cherubini’s lab working as an in vitro electrophysiologist. My thesis focused on the cis-trans isomerase Pin1 role in excitatory synaptic signaling. I recorded, using the whole-cell configuration of the patch clamp technique, CA1 pyramidal cells in mouse brain slices while stimulating the Schaffer collaterals and applying selective blockers of GABAA, AMPA and NMDA receptors. I performed post-hoc morphological reconstruction on a subset of neurons using biocytin and confocal microscopy. My experiments contributed to the publication of “Pin1 Modulates the Synaptic Content of NMDA Receptors via Prolyl-Isomerization of PSD-95 (Journal of Neuroscience, 2016)”
Education
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Doctor of Philosophy in Medical Neurosciences (PhD)
summa cum laude
University of Trieste
Master's degree in Neuroscience
110/110 cum laude
University of Milan
Bachelor's degree in Biology
103/110
Publications
Patterns 2024 Aug 29. doi: 10.1016/j.patter.2024.101048.
De Filippo R*, Schmitz D
* = Lead contact & corresponding author
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2024 Jan 12. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105538. PMID: 38220035.
De Filippo R*, Schmitz D
* = corresponding author
Elife 2023 Apr 13. doi: 10.7554/eLife.85488. PMID: 37052307.
De Filippo R*, Schmitz D*
* = corresponding authors
Elife 2021 Mar 31. doi: 10.7554/eLife.66960. PMID: 33789079.
De Filippo R*, Rost BR, Stumpf A, Cooper C, Tukker JJ, Harms C, Beed P, Schmitz D
* = corresponding authors
Cell Reports 2020 Dec 8. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108470. PMID: 33296656.
Beed P*, De Filippo R*, Holman C*, Johenning FW, Leibold C, Caputi A, Monyer H, Schmitz D
* = equal contribution
Journal of Neuroscience 2016 May 18. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3124-15.2016. PMID: 27194325; PMCID: PMC6601765.
Antonelli R, De Filippo R, Middei S, Stancheva S, Pastore B, Ammassari-Teule M, Barberis A, Cherubini E, Zacchi P.
Conferences
- 2024 CSHL Neuronal Circuits, Cold Spring Harbor. Poster ‘Transcriptomic Mapping of the 5-HT Receptor Landscape’
- 2024 COSYNE, Lisbon.
- 2018 FENS, Berlin. Poster ‘Serotonergic modulation of slow oscillations’
- 2019 INSIGHT, Berlin. Poster ‘Serotonergic modulation of slow oscillations’
- 2018 FENS, Berlin. Poster ‘Serotonergic modulation of slow oscillations’
Awards
- 2024 Allen Institute Openscope
- 2015 Neurocure fellowship
Various interests
