Baggio Evangelista

Baggio studied in the Cohen Lab and received his Ph.D. from the Department of Cell Biology and Physiology in 2023. Before coming to UNC for graduate studies, Baggio received a B.S. in Molecular and Microbiology at the University of Central Florida (UCF). There he studied epigenetic regulation of alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s disease in the laboratory of Dr. Yoon-Seong Kim. From there, Baggio collaborated with Dr. Dmitri Kolpashchikov in the UCF Department of Chemistry where he designed a biosensor for pathological alpha-synuclein. After graduating in May 2017, Baggio joined the lab of Dr. Kenneth Teter where he investigated the biochemical properties of a molecular chaperone, Protein Disulfide Isomerase, and its ability to disaggregate alpha-synuclein and amyloid beta fibrils as a pan-therapeutic for neurodegenerative proteinopathies. In his graduate studies and now as a post-doc, Baggio is investigating 1) a gene therapy strategy for eliminating ALS-associated TDP-43 proteinopathy in vivo using Protein Disulfide Isomerase and 2) T-cell-mediated neuroinflammation in ALS.