Sergio E. Baranzini earned his degree in clinical biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1992. He graduated from the same institution in 1997 obtaining a PhD with honors in human molecular genetics. The subject of his PhD thesis was the characterization of genetic mutations leading to Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy. Dr. Baranzini then moved to the University of California at San Francisco to specialize in the analysis of complex hereditary diseases, in particular multiple sclerosis. During his postdoctoral stay in UCSF Dr. Baranzini employed state-of-the art methods to explore MS pathogenesis, including immunology, molecular biology, genomics and bioinformatics. Since 2003 Dr. Baranzini is faculty in the Department of Neurology at UCSF, where he currently holds the title of Associate Professor In-Residence. His research involves the large throughout analysis of samples from MS patients to characterize the activity of genes during: i) different stages of the disease (i.e. remission vs. relapse), ii) differential response to treatment (i.e. good responders vs. poor responders), and iii) disease progression (i.e. benign vs. severe). In addition Dr. Baranzini is collaborating with several interdisciplinary teams worldwide to integrate all the available knowledge obtained in different research domains in an approach known as systems biology. Dr Baranzini’s current research involves immunological studies using the EAE model, sequencing of whole genomes and transcriptomes from patients with multiple sclerosis and developing bioinformatics tools to integrate this information with that coming from other high throughput technologies. Dr Baranzini uses a combination of “wet lab” methods including DNA microarrays, proteomics, and laser capture microdissection, in combination with “dry lab” analytical approaches encompassing bioinformatics, complexity theory, and mathematical modeling.
Dr. Baranzini has published his research on MS in several top-tier journals like Science, Nature, PNAS, J Immunol, and PLos Biol. He is a member of the American Association of Immunologists, and an elected member of the American Neurological Association. He also serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for many specialized journals.