We are thrilled to announce that Leonor Ribeiro-Rodrigues, a PhD student from the NeurULisboa Integrated Neurosciences PhD Programme, has successfully defended her thesis on the “Role of TrkB-FL Receptor Cleavage in Epileptogenesis.” Leonor was supervised by Prof. Maria José Diógenes, co-supervised by Sara Xapelli (Ana Sebastião Lab) and Michele Simonato (Università degli Studi di Ferrara).

Her research provided important insights into how the BDNF/TrkB neurotrophic system interacts with status epilepticus and established epilepsy, highlighting the potential benefits of preserving this neuroprotective pathway as a therapeutic strategy in epilepsy.

Leonor’s work has already led to multiple high-impact publications:

• 10.1016/j.phrs.2025.107707

• 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105281

• 10.1111/bph.17319

• 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.08.022

• 10.3390/ijms21197309

We congratulate Leonor on this outstanding achievement and wish her the very best in the next steps of her scientific career. Her dedication, insight, and contributions to our understanding of TrkB signaling in epilepsy have been exceptional, and we are excited to see where her research journey leads next.

#NeurotrophicFactor #BDNF #Epilepsy #PhDViva #Thesis