Marianna is the Head of Research and Development at NeuroTherapia; a clinical-stage Cleveland Clinic spin-off company that specializes in developing new treatments for neuroinflammatory disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, neuropathic pain, multiple sclerosis and ALS. She holds a master’s degree in bioengineering as well as a Ph.D. in neuroscience. She did her first postdoctoral training at a children’s epilepsy clinic in Milwaukee Wisconsin, then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and worked as a basic neuroscientist at Stanford University for over a decade. Currently she is still serving as a part-time consultant for Stanford’s Molecular & Cellular Physiology Department. Prior to her current leadership position, Marianna played a key role in building the neuroscience program for Switch Therapeutics, a Caltech/ City of Hope/ Harvard University spin-off gene therapy company that she joined only a few months after the startup was founded. Switch Therapeutics recently raised $52M venture funding and closed its series A financing round, as a result of the proven success of its neuroscience applications.
Marianna is passionate about innovation, mental health, drug discovery and art. The recent passing of her father and grandmother motivates her even more to fight back on neurodegenerative diseases. In her free time, she enjoys being surrounded by nature and friends, going on hikes and road trips with her dogs, and attending various art events. She is a semi-professional painter herself with regular presence at gallery exhibitions (IG: @bicucullline). Marianna likes to pursue psychology-themed surrealistic ideas, and she expresses them using combinations of unique encaustic (wax) medium-based techniques. This allows her great experimental freedom to invent novel artistic approaches such as embedding magnets and iron filings into her artwork, and achieve textured, 3D sculpture-like effects. Her dream is to have her own solo show, and to donate her art pieces to support charities (e.g., homeless shelters, animal rescue centers, orphanages, and suicide prevention).