Antonello Bonci


Antonello Bonci is a Neurologist and a Neuropsychopharmacologist.

Education

In 1985, Bonci went to Medical School at the Catholic University of Rome, where he graduated cum laude in 1991. In that same year, he started a Residency in Neurology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata where he graduated cum laude in 1995.

Career

Bonci became Assistant Professor in Residence at the University of California, San Francisco in 1999. He became Associate Professor in Residence in 2004, and Professor in Residence in 2007. When he left in 2010, Bonci was Professor in Residence in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco, the Howard J. Weinberg Endowed Chair in Addiction Research, and the Associate Director for Extramural Affairs at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center. In 2010, he was appointed as the Scientific Director of National Institute on Drug Abuse's. In August 2019, Bonci resigned from this position, and accepted a job as President of the Global Institutes on Addictions. Bonci has published more than 180 peer-reviewed articles in many of the most prestigious scientific journals, such as Cell, Nature, Neuron, Nature Neuroscience, and PNAS, to mention a few.

Work

Bonci is known for his studies on the long-term effects of drug exposure on the brain. Bonci's laboratory, in collaboration with Robert C. Malenka at Stanford University, was the first to demonstrate that drugs of abuse, such as cocaine, modify the strength of the connections between neurons. This finding cast a new light on the phenomenon of drug addiction, as a process where maladaptive learning plays a role. Subsequent studies have combined electrophysiological, optogenetic, molecular, and behavioral techniques to determine the long-term effects that are produced by chronic exposure to stress, cocaine or ethanol, with the goal of creating novel therapeutic avenues to decrease the devastating effects of these conditions. In 2013, a study lead by Billy T. Chen, provided rationale for the use of non-invasive brain stimulation, such as repeated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, in patients with cocaine use disorders. Clinical studies have indeed show the potential of such technology in the treatment of cocaine use disorders.

Honors

October, 2004 - Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award
December, 2009 - Daniel H. Efron Award at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
February 6, 2014 - Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy.
November, 2015 - PrimiDieci USA
July, 2016 - Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and European Journal of Neuroscience Award.
October, 2016 - Member of the National Academy of Medicine

Publications (partial list)