Dr. Leonardo Pantoni, MD,
PhD
(Italy), Board of Directors
Dr. Leonardo Pantoni, MD, PhD, was born in Florence, Italy, on 15 October 1964. He studied medicine at the University of Florence and graduated in 1989. He was trained in neurology at the School of Neurology of the same University under the guidance of Domenico Inzitari and became a certified neurologist in 1993. From August 1993 to July 1995 he held a research fellowship in neuropathology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, under the tutelage of Julio H. Garcia. In 1999 he received his PhD degree in Neuroscience. He is currently staff neurologist at the Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences of the University of Florence where he is also Professor at the School of Neurology and the School of Child Neuropsychiatry.
Dr. Pantoni has always been interested in clinical neurology. He has focused his research work on vascular dementia and cerebral white matter changes of which he has explored definitions, radiological and pathological correlates, and therapeutic approaches. He also has a specific interest in experimental brain ischemia as it relates to the study of white matter lesions and cognitive changes. He is first co-editor of the book
The Matter of White Matter: Clinical and pathophysiological aspects of white matter disease related to cognitive decline and vascular
dementia, the first ever-published text entirely dedicated to the issue of age-related white matter changes.
Since 1996 he has acted as scientific secretary of the European Task Force on Age-Related White Matter Changes, a multi-national association of the most prominent European experts on the topic. Dr. Pantoni is one the two main organizers of the 2005 Congress of the International Society for Vascular Behavioural and Cognitive Disorders of which he is among the founding members. Over the last years, Dr. Pantoni has served as reviewer for the following journals: The Lancet, JAMA, Stroke, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Neurology, Neurobiology of Aging, and Journal of Neurology.
Dr. Pantoni has been actively involved in IPA activities since 2000 when he was an invited speaker at the Joint Meeting of the International Psychogeriatric Association and Royal College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Old Age held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK). He then was session moderator and member of the writing committee of the International Psychogeriatric Association Special Expert Conference “Vascular Burden of the Brain – New Therapeutic Directions” held in Madrid, Spain, on November 28-30, 2001.
Dr. Pantoni’s specific aims as member of the IPA Board of Director are to increase the awareness of the scientific community about the role of vascular factors in cognitive and behavioural disorders and to facilitate joint efforts with other scientific organizations of which he is one of the leaders.
Dr. Pantoni was elected to the IPA Board of Directors in 2003. He can be contacted
at pantoni@neuro.unifi.it.
Dr. Leonardo Pantoni, MD, PhD, was born in Florence, Italy, on 15 October 1964. He studied medicine at the University of Florence and graduated in 1989. He was trained in neurology at the School of Neurology of the same University under the guidance of Domenico Inzitari and became a certified neurologist in 1993. From August 1993 to July 1995 he held a research fellowship in neuropathology at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, under the tutelage of Julio H. Garcia. In 1999 he received his PhD degree in Neuroscience. He is currently staff neurologist at the Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences of the University of Florence where he is also Professor at the School of Neurology and the School of Child Neuropsychiatry.