Her research focuses on understanding the neurobiological and neuroimmune mechanisms of multiple sclerosis and to translate findings into treatments.
[1] She graduated with honors from medical school and began to pursue her residency in Neurology at Policlinico A. Gemelli in Rome.
[1] Two years into her residency, she was inspired by her Neurology professor to study in America to explore prion proteins and neurodegenerative disease.
[5] In addition to her research on oligodendrocytes, Casaccia studied neurotrophins and their role in cell survival and differentiation in the central nervous system.
[10] In 2017, Casaccia and her colleague Anne Schaefer founded, and now co-direct, the Center for Glial Biology that spans the educational spaces of both Mount Sinai and CUNY.
[2] Casaccia's research program focuses on translation in order to move basic science from her lab into therapeutic approaches in the clinic to help patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurodegenerative processes.
[11] Through analysis of epigenetic changes and transcriptional changes in glial cells, mostly oligodendrocytes, they are able to understand how certain stimuli or environmental influences may lead to disease phenotypes.
[11] While probing the basic biology of glial cells, Casaccia's lab also dissects the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in demyelinating disorders, such as MS.[11] She looks at mitochondrial activity in neurons exposed to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with various neurodegenerative disorders, and she also analyses this CSF for insight into therapeutic targets and molecular pathways.
[11] Early into her professorship at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Casaccia returned to her postdoctoral findings, exploring the role of p27 in oligodendrocyte differentiation, to understand how myelin development occurs.