Maria Fasolino, Ph.D.

Maria Fasolino, Ph.D., is the Program Director for ASPE. She obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania under the mentorship of Zhaolan (Joe) Zhou, Ph.D., where she studied the molecular consequences of patient-associated mutations in MECP2 that cause Rett Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder with autistic-like features. Maria continued her training as a postdoc in the laboratory of Golnaz Vahedi, Ph.D., at the University of Pennsylvania, where she investigated the etiology and pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes, a complex autoimmune disease. Prior to joining ASPE, Maria was a preclinical and clinical product manager for a neuromodulation device company. Maria applies her training and experience to coordinate the various aspects of ASPE to ensure that program objectives are met.