Laura Ferraiuolo studied Biotechnology at the University of Milan, Italy, where she obtained her degree with a thesis on the role of upper motor neurone degeneration in MND under the supervision of Dr Caterina Bendotti. In 2005 she started her PhD funded by the MND Association under the supervision of Prof Pamela Shaw to investigate the transcriptional changes affecting motor neurones throughout disease course in the SOD1G93A mice. In 2011 she was awarded the International Outgoing Marie Curie Fellowship that brought her to Dr Kaspar lab in Columbus, Ohio, USA. Here she spearheaded the development of new human cell models to study ALS and identified alternative routes of delivery for gene therapy approaches which are currently in use in clinical trials. She is now Professor of Translational Neuroscience at SITraN, where she leads her research team focussing on the role of glia in MND. Her contribution to MND research was recognised in 2019 with the Paulo Gontijo award.