Annamaria Morelli

Annamaria Morelli graduated in Biological Sciences in 1991 at the University of Florence. She has a Ph.D. in Functional and Neoplastic Endocrine Morphology and a Postgraduate degree in Medical Genetics at the University of Florence. She is currently Associate Professor of Human Anatomy, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, Italy. Since 2003, she has participated in national funded peer-reviewed research projects (MIUR, PRIN, FIRB, Ministry of Health Projects). She is author of 90 scientific publications in Peer Reviewed International Journals (Scopus H-index= 36; citations=3209), mainly covering the following research topics: a) Reproductive axis physiology, adipose tissue dysfunction, liver disease and cardiovascular remodeling in a high-fat diet-induced animal model of metabolic syndrome; b) In vitro studies on differentiation and activity of human gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons; c) In vitro studies of human neurogenesis in primary cultures of neuroblasts from striatal primordium and basal forebrain; d) Molecular mechanisms and hormonal regulation of erectile function in human and animal models of different pathological conditions; e) Effects of the selective FXR agonist obeticholic acid (OCA) in rat models of pulmonary hypertension; f) Pathogenic mechanisms of benign prostatic hyperplasia and overactive bladder: molecular and morpho-functional studies.