The award was established by the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT) in 2023 to honor the memory of IIT researcher Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig, who sadly passed away on December 5, 2021
Marco Celotto, a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and Simone Russo, a postdoctoral researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), are the two scientists awarded the “Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig” Prize ex-aequo for the best doctoral thesis in Neuroscience conducted in Italy. The prize recognizes theses that best combine excellent scientific results with outstanding methods for data analysis, data management, and Open Science. The award ceremony was held today at IIT headquarters in Genoa, where the two researchers each received a prize of 1,500 euro.
In 2023 the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT– Italian Institute of Technology) established the “Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig” Prize for PhD theses in Neuroscience and related subjects to honor the memory of Argentine researcher Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig. Pedro was a brilliant scientist working at IIT with a deep interest in computational neuroscience, who tragically passed away in 2021. Young researchers were invited to apply if they had obtained their PhD in Neuroscience or a related subject in Italy within the XXXV or XXXVI cycles by the call deadline. This is the award’s second edition.
Celotto and Russo were awarded for their exceptional doctoral theses, which combine scientific excellence with the principles of Open Science, an approach strongly supported by Pedro Lagomarsino. Open Science emphasizes the need for research to be fully documented, shared, transparent, and reusable by all.
During the award ceremony, the winners presented the scientific value and impact of their research.
Marco Celotto is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States, under the supervision of Mriganka Sur. He earned his PhD in Data Science and Computation at the University of Bologna, under the guidance of former IIT researcher Stefano Panzeri, with a scholarship funded by IIT. Celotto conducted much of his research at IIT’s Center for Neuroscience and Cognitive Systems in Rovereto (Trento) and spent 18 months as a visiting researcher at the Institute for Neural Information Processing at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). During his PhD, he developed new algorithms to analyze how sensory and motor information is processed and represented in neural activity. His work also provided insights into the communication between different brain areas during basic cognitive functions. Using these techniques, he successfully investigated the neural mechanisms underlying decision-making and learning processes.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award of great scientific and human value. I firmly believe that Open Science is crucial for enabling researchers to work synergistically on a global scale, which is essential for achieving groundbreaking advancements in a complex field like neuroscience. This award serves as a powerful motivation for me to continue advocating for and practicing open and reproducible science,” commented Marco Celotto.
Simone Russo is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in the United States, under the supervision of Garrett B. Stanley. He completed his PhD in Mind, Brain and Reasoning at the University of Milan in collaboration with the Allen Institute, under the guidance of Mario Rosanova and Christof Koch. His doctoral thesis focused on the mechanisms of communication between the cortex and the thalamus, two brain structures essential for controlling behaviors and cognitive functions. Using advanced brain imaging techniques, he analyzed how these connections are activated in both physiological and pathological conditions. His work led to pioneering research demonstrating, in preclinical models, humans, and artificial neural networks, how brain stimulation can trigger a coordinated sequence of events between the cortex and the thalamus, crucial for information integration in the brain. This discovery represents a step forward in developing new diagnostic tools and targeted therapies for neurological and psychiatric diseases.
“I would like to thank the Lagomarsino Prize Scientific Committee for awarding me this prestigious recognition. It is a great personal satisfaction and, at the same time, an important confirmation of the value of the research I conducted during my PhD. This work was made possible thanks to my mentors Prof. Mario Rosanova, Prof. Marcello Massimini, and Dr. Christof Koch, and the collaboration of an international team involving the University of Milan, the Allen Institute, ASST Ospedale Niguarda, and the University of California, San Diego,” said Simone Russo.
The event was introduced by Tommaso Fellin, IIT’s Associate Director for LifeTech and Principal Investigator of the Optical Approaches to Brain Function Unit, where Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig worked. Valentina Pasquale, IIT’s Research Data Management Specialist, also presented the award, highlighting the current importance of the Open Science approach in research. Numerous IIT researchers attended.
“This award is meant to honor Pedro’s memory and support the values he believed in, such as a passion for science, competence, and openly sharing research results with the scientific community,” said Tommaso Fellin, who supervised Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig during his doctoral studies.
“With great satisfaction, for the second consecutive year, we have received numerous high-quality applications, as evidenced by the ex-aequo awarding of the prize. This Prize represents an important opportunity to remember our colleague Pedro, carry forward the ideals he firmly believed in, and encourage young scientists to pursue quality and reproducibility in research,” added Valentina Pasquale, who was a colleague of Pedro Lagomarsino de Leon Roig during his doctoral studies.
The establishment of the Lagomarsino Prize is part of the IIT’s initiatives in Open Science and research data management, aimed at supporting increasingly transparent science that has a meaningful impact on society.
