Roberto Bellanti

I am currently undertaking my doctoral training within the Oxford Inflammatory Neuropathy group. I am also an honorary neurology registrar at Oxford University Hospitals and previously undertook my clinical training between Cambridge, London, and the East of England.

My research focuses on the immune-mediated neuropathies Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). These are conditions where the immune system, the body's natural defence against illness and infections, mistakenly attacks the nerves, causing progressive paralysis. In severe cases, people can lose their ability to walk, swallow and breathe. About 1 in 20 people with GBS die, and many are left with long-term disability. 

I am working to develop serum peripheral nerve specific biomarker assays which I validate in vitro and clinically. I use cell-based models of antibody-mediated nerve injury and serum samples from patients with inflammatory neuropathies.

I hope my work will positively impact on both clinical and research aspects of the inflammatory neuropathies. Clinically, peripheral nerve specific biomarkers will assist with diagnosis, prognostication, monitoring of disease activity and titration of treatment. On a research level, they could be used as surrogate intermediate outcome measures, improving the efficiency of clinical trials and accelerating advances in care.

• Guarantors of Brain Research Fellowship
• Vera Down Grant for research into neurological disorders, British Medical Association 
  
• GAIN UK Grant
• SPIN Award 2023