In 2005,Scimemi moved to the United States to join the lab of Jeffrey S. Diamond at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,Maryland.[1] She continued to study hippocampal synapses,analyzing more specifically at the role of neuronal and astrocytic glutamate transporters in regulating inter-synaptic cross-talk.[1][3] After earning an appointment as research fellow at NIH in 2010,she studied how the spatial distribution of calcium channels in the presynaptic active zone affects glutamate release at hippocampal synapses.[9] She also started new collaborations that branched her research focus to Alzheimer's disease.[10][11]
Scimemi joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at SUNY Albany in 2013 and became an adjunct professor in the Department of Physics in 2015. She became an associate professor in 2019. In her lab,she aims to identify how neurons and astrocytes regulate encoding of spatial information and reward-based behaviors in health and disease.[12][13][14][15]
Since 2017,she has served as an instructor for the summer course,Ion Channels in Synaptic &Neural Circuit Physiology, at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[16] Her scientific interests,though rooted in synaptic physiology,branch to other fields of neuroscience including systems neuroscience,which she fueled during her sabbatical in the lab of Bernardo Sabatini at Harvard Medical School.[citation needed]
Scimemi's software "NRN-EZ" providing easy access to biophysical modeling of neurons (allowing distribution of synaptic inputs onto digitally reconstructed neurons)[18] was described in one of Scientific Reports' 100 most-downloaded research studies in 2023.[19]
Awards,honors,and service
2025:President's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities from SUNY Albany.
2023:Honorary Award for Distinguished Public Engagement from SUNY Albany.[20]
↑ Scimemi, Annalisa; Schorge, Stephanie; Kullmann, Dimitri M.; Walker, Matthew C. (February 2006). "Epileptogenesis is associated with enhanced glutamatergic transmission in the perforant path". Journal of Neurophysiology. 95 (2): 1213–1220. doi:10.1152/jn.00680.2005. ISSN0022-3077. PMID16282203.
↑ "Noteworthy: Research grants, awards and publications | University at Albany". www.albany.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-04. This work seeks to advance understanding of neuronal circuits involved in spatial map representation — how space is represented and interpreted in the brain — and will support future strategies to treat diseases associated with hippocampal neural circuit dysfunction such as epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder
↑ "Studying the Biology of Alzheimer's Disease: A Q&A with Annalisa Scimemi | University at Albany". www.albany.edu. Retrieved 2024-10-06. The project focuses on astrocytes, a type of non-neuronal cell in the brain, and a technique called optogenetics — using light to control brain activity. Dr. Scimemi's lab is at the forefront of this technology, which relies on a multidisciplinary blend of electrophysiology, imaging, computational and behavioral approaches
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