Francesca Pistoia MD, PhD

Dr. Francesca Pistoia is a neurologist and Associated Professor of Neurology at the Department of Biotechnological and Applied Clinical Sciences, of the University of L'Aquila, Italy. She completed her degree summa cum laude in medicine and surgery, and thereafter specialized in neurology summa cum laude, at the University of L'Aquila. She earned a Ph.D. in Internal Medicine and Applied Immunology at the same University. She also worked as a neurologist at the Post-Coma Rehabilitation Care Unit of the San Raffaele Hospital, Cassino, Italy.

Her major research interests include the evaluation of patients with disorders of consciousness (coma, vegetative state, and minimally conscious state) as a consequence of a severe brain injury: her studies in this area have been aimed at evaluating the neurobiological and behavioral factors, which may influence the recovery of consciousness, and the implementation of new therapeutical approaches; the identification of non-motor disorders and cortical changes in patients with locked-in syndrome; the epidemiology of cerebrovascular diseases and of Parkinson's disease in population-based registries; the role of comorbidities in headache pathogenesis and of behavioral therapies in patients with chronic headache.