Clinical centers

Clinical centers involved in TAP-GRIN

Center 02

Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)

Partner information

Hospices Civils de Lyon is a public center of excellence and the second largest university hospital network in France. It brings together 14 multidisciplinary or specialized establishments and is ranked among the 25 best hospitals in the world.

Country and location: Lyon, France. Organisation type: public hospital. Website: chu-lyon.fr.

Project work & role

HCL is partner in WP1 and WP2 for data acquisition including neurophysiology, WP3 for clinical variants, and WP5 to WP7 for biomarker integration, management, dissemination, exploitation and communication.

The Lyon team will act as an investigational center for French patients, with planned inclusion of 15 participants. The center contributes randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled N-of-1 trial activities together with EEG, TMS, behavioral, cognitive and seizure-related assessments.

Team profiles
Portrait of Dr Eleni Panagiotakaki Dr. Eleni Panagiotakaki Principal investigator for France
Pediatric neurologist and epileptologist, Deputy Director of the ESEFNP Department at HCL since July 2023. She trained in Greece and has worked in Paris and Lyon, with broad experience as principal investigator in childhood epilepsy and rare disorder studies.
Portrait of Dr Matthildi Papathanasiou Dr. Matthildi Papathanasiou Co-investigator in France
Pediatric neurologist at the ESEFNP department since 2021. Her work focuses on rare and complex epilepsies associated with neurodevelopmental disorders and research collaborations that support families with rare diseases.
Portrait of Dr Joseph Toulouse Dr. Joseph Toulouse Co-investigator in France
Senior clinician in pediatric clinical epileptology, sleep disorders and functional neurology, and member of ERN EpiCARE. He contributes to research projects as principal investigator and co-investigator.
Portrait of Dr Maria Papadopoulou Dr. Maria Papadopoulou Co-investigator in France
Hospital practitioner in the Department of Pediatric Clinical Epileptology, Sleep Disorders and Functional Neurology since 2019, active in European and local pediatric neurology societies and research projects.
Portrait of Professor Gaetan Lesca Dr. Gaëtan Lesca Co-investigator in France
Professor and hospital practitioner in medical genetics at HCL, specialized in neurogenetics. He has contributed to the identification of monogenic epilepsy genes and to the development of advanced diagnostic genetic testing in epilepsy.
Portrait of Flora Dubras Dr. Flora Dubras Neuropsychologist
Psychologist specializing in neuropsychology and neurodevelopmental disorders. She contributes neuropsychological, psychomotor and Vineland-3 assessments within TAP-GRIN.
Portrait of Anais Beaumont Dr. Anaïs Beaumont Clinical Research Associate
Clinical Research Associate at HCL since 2021 with expertise spanning neuro-oncology and genetic disorders. She supports protocol writing, project development and investigative coordination.
Portrait of Lea Barbieri Dr. Léa Barbieri Clinical Research Associate
Clinical research associate in the ESEFNP department since 2022. Her work supports research activities focused on epilepsy and associated rare diseases.

Center 03

The Children’s Memorial Health Institute (CMHI)

Partner information

The Children’s Memorial Health Institute in Warsaw is the largest and best-equipped institute of pediatric healthcare in Poland. It combines clinical care, research and teaching, and collaborates with leading medical schools and non-governmental organizations.

Country and location: Warsaw, Poland. Website: czd.pl.

Project work & role

CMHI participates across all TAP-GRIN work packages, with a major role in the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter L-serine study.

The center contributes to repeated treatment cycles, safety monitoring, neurological examination and standardized periodic evaluations including CGI, CBCL or ABCL, Vineland or ABAS-3, EpiTrack, MABC-2 and PSQI.

Team profiles
Portrait of Professor Sergiusz Jozwiak Prof. Sergiusz Jóźwiak Site leader
Professor at CMHI in Warsaw. His research focuses on neurocutaneous disorders and epilepsy, especially infantile spasms. He coordinated the EPISTOP project and has authored more than 400 scientific papers.

Center 01

Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS

Partner information

Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS in Florence is the coordinating clinical center of TAP-GRIN and hosts the Department of Neuroscience and Human Genetics.

Meyer provides the overall clinical coordination of the project and supports patient recruitment, precision medicine interpretation and communication between the partner centers.

Project work & role

Meyer leads the main clinical and neurophysiological work, especially WP1 and WP2, and acts as the coordinating site for trial organization, biomarker integration and interpretation of translational results across the consortium.

Team profiles
Portrait of Professor Simona Balestrini Prof. Simona Balestrini Project coordinator
Coordinator of TAP-GRIN at Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS, with a central role in clinical study design, neurophysiology and translational integration across the consortium.
Portrait of Giulio Peroni Dr. Giulio Peroni Coordination contact
Coordination contact for website content and institutional communication at Meyer. Contact email: giulio.peroni@meyer.it.
Portrait of Dr Daniela Graziani Dr. Daniela Graziani Neuropsychological assessment
Psychologist and psychotherapist, graduated in Clinical and Health Psychology at the University of Florence in 2015. She completed advanced training in Pediatric Psychology at LUMSA University in 2019 and in Learning Psychopathology at the University of Padua in 2023. Her main clinical and research interests include neurodevelopmental disorders, especially ADHD and Specific Learning Disorders, developmental psychopathology, parent training and telerehabilitation. Within TAP-GRIN, she contributes to neuropsychological assessment, including motor and executive functions, sleep quality, adaptive functioning, learning profile and the emotion-behavioral profile through interviews and caregiver questionnaires.
Portrait of Katia Tortora Dr. Katia Tortora Project manager
PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology with more than five years of experience in preclinical research. Since 2021 she has worked as Clinical Trial Assistant at Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS, supporting protocol design, regulatory compliance and clinical monitoring for non-profit studies. In TAP-GRIN she acts as project manager.
Portrait of Alessandra Pugi Dr. Alessandra Pugi Regulatory specialist
Hospital Pharmacist and Clinical Trial Office Coordinator at Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, with more than 10 years of experience in clinical research, scientific and regulatory affairs. In TAP-GRIN, she oversees the regulatory framework and submission process to support proper study conduct and start-up.
Portrait of Dr Ilaria Galli Dr. Ilaria Galli Clinical monitoring
Child neurologist and psychiatrist specializing in rare epilepsies and neurodevelopmental disorders, currently pursuing a PhD in Pharmacy and Innovative Treatments at the University of Florence. In TAP-GRIN, she is responsible for clinical, instrumental and pharmacological monitoring, including neurological examinations, EEG evaluations and laboratory assessments.
Portrait of Dr Valerio Conti Dr. Valerio Conti Cellular neurobiology
Valerio Conti, PhD, is a geneticist and neurobiologist dedicated to understanding how genetic variants disrupt neuronal function in patients with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, working at the intersection of clinical genomics and cellular neuroscience. Dr. Conti earned his PhD at the University of Pisa, where he studied ataxic mouse models, and subsequently trained as a visiting scientist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and INMED in Marseille, experiences that shaped his integrative and cross-disciplinary approach. Since 2007, he has been based at Meyer Children’s Hospital IRCCS in Florence, where he leads the Cellular and Morphofunctional Neurobiology Research Unit and the Laboratory of Neurobiology. His research combines confocal immunofluorescence, electrophysiological techniques and multiomics analyses in patient-derived neuronal models and surgical brain specimens. Within TAP-GRIN, Dr. Conti contributes to the preparation of patient-derived samples for iPSC generation and to the functional analysis of the resulting human neural cells.
Portrait of Dr Davide Mei Dr. Davide Mei Genotype-phenotype analysis
Head of the Functional and Computational Neurogenomics Unit at AOU Meyer IRCCS in Florence, Dr. Davide Mei specializes in human neurogenetics and advanced genomics, with a focus on the molecular causes of neurodevelopmental disorders, early-onset genetic epilepsies and brain malformations. He holds a PhD in Pharmacology and Innovative Treatments and has extensive research experience in the genetic and phenotypic spectrum of rare developmental and epileptic encephalopathies. Dr. Mei has authored over 130 peer-reviewed publications and leads the adoption of advanced omics technologies, including long-read sequencing and Optical Genome Mapping, at Meyer. He also has specialized expertise in bioinformatics and data analysis, supported by a postgraduate certificate in Computational Biomedicine, and certified training in Clinical Trial Methodology, Good Clinical Practice and Quality Assurance. Within TAP-GRIN, Dr. Mei performs genotype-phenotype correlation analyses by evaluating the functional effects of GRIN variants in enrolled patients and candidates undergoing molecular screening for study inclusion.