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Antonino Mario Cassarà

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Antonino Mario Cassarà, PhD

PhD, Project Leader

Neurostimulation

 

Google Scholar

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3375-7440

Antonino Cassarà was born in Partinico, Italy, in February 1980. He earned a bachelor's degree in physics from the Universita’ degli Studi di Catania, Italy in 2004, defending a thesis on nuclear physics and phase transitions of nuclear matter to quark matter in heavy ion collisions and in neutron stars.

Antonino defended his PhD dissertation in physics at the Universitá di Roma ‘La Sapienza’ in 2008 on the feasibility of direct detection of neuronal currents in the brain by means of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He conducted research on neuronal current imaging (NCI) by MRI techniques at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, as visiting scientist, and as a post-doctoral fellow at the ‘Centro Studi e Ricerche E. Fermi’ in Rome and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Berlin.

Antonino joined the IT'IS Foundation in May 2014 as a post-doctoral fellow to work on projects and services related to non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS), functional neurostimulation in the context of bioelectronics medicine, electroceuticals, and safety aspects of unintended stimulation. In August 2016, he became a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) / International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES) Technical Committee (TC) 96 and Working Group (WG) 6. Since June 2017, Antonino has been the IT'IS project leader for neurostimulation and application head for neurostimulation applications.

His main research activities involve:

  • modelling of the neuroelectric response of the brain to non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) techniques, e.g., transcranial electrical stimulation (TES), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), deep brain stimulation (DBS), as well as NIBS via temporally interfering (TI) fields
  • development of neuro-functionalized head models and of procedures for optimization of electrode placement, patient personalization, investigations of mechanisms of neurostimulation at the level of a single neuron to neuronal populations
  • investigations of functional neurostimulation – e.g., vagus nerve stimulation – by electroceuticals and neuroprosthetic devices, device development, and optimization for targeted and selective peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS)
  • safety investigations related to mechanisms and contexts of unwanted stimulation by low-frequency electromagnetic fields in controlled – e.g., during MRI exposure – or uncontrolled exposures – e.g., exposure to wireless power transfer technologies (WPT), as well as the safety of medical implants during radiofrequency exposure (ISO-TS10974)
  • development and characterization of neuroelectric models of extended brain sources – based on electrophysiological models of neurons – for investigations of applied bioelectromagnetism, neuronal source imaging (NCI), and remote sensing
  • implementation, verification, and validation of electrophysiological models of nerve fibers and nerve models

Antonino serves as a scientific reviewer for a number of peer-review scientific journals – including Neuroimage, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Medical & Biological Engineering & Computing, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, etc. – as well as for conferences and funding agencies.

 

PUBLICATION LIST

Peer-reviewed articles

Brus, J., Heng, J.A., Beliaeva, V., Gonzalez Pinto, F., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Grueschow, M., Imbach, L. & Polanía, R. Causal phase-dependent control of non-spatial attention in human prefrontal cortex. Nature Human Behaviour, 2024, doi:10.1038/s41562-024-01820-z
Missey, F., Ejneby, M.S., Ngom, I., Donahue, M.J., Trajlinek, J., Acerbo, E., Botzanowski, B., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Glowacki, E.D., Shangold, L., Hanes, W.M. & Williamson, A. Obstructive sleep apnea improves with non-invasive hypoglossal nerve stimulation using temporal interference. Bioelectronic Medicine, 9(1):18, 2023, doi:10.1186/s42234-023-00120-7
Potok, W., Post, A., Beliaeva, V., Bächinger, M., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Polania, R., Kiper, D. & Wenderoth, N. Modulation of visual contrast sensitivity with tRNS across the visual system, evidence from stimulation and simulation. eNeuro, pages ENEURO.0177—22.2023, 2023, doi:10.1523/ENEURO.0177-22.2023
Violante, I.R., Alania, K., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Acerbo, E., Carron, R., Williamson, A., Kurtin, D.L., Rhodes, E., Hampshire, A., Kuster, N., Boyden, E.S., Pascual-Leone, A. & Grossman, N. Non-invasive temporal interference electrical stimulation of the human hippocampus. Nature Neuroscience, 26(2252):1994-2004, 2023, doi:10.1038/s41593-023-01517-y
Wessel, M.J., Beanato, E., Popa, T., Windel, F., Vassiliadis, P., Menoud, P., Beliaeva, V., Violante, I.R., Abderrahmane, H., Dzialecka, P., Park, C.H., Maceira-Elvira, P., Morishita, T., Cassarà, A.M., Steiner, M., Grossman, N., Neufeld, E. & Hummel, F.C. Noninvasive theta-burst stimulation of the human striatum enhances striatal activity and motor skill learning. Nature Neuroscience, 26(2252):2005-2016, 2023, doi:10.1038/s41593-023-01457-7
Acerbo, E., Jegou, A., Luff, C., Dzialecka, P., Botzanowski, B., Missey, F., Ngom, I., Lagarde, S., Bartolomei, F., Cassarà, A., Neufeld, E., Jirsa, V., Carron, R., Grossman, N. & Williamson, A. Focal non-invasive deep-brain stimulation with temporal interference for the suppression of epileptic biomarkers. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16:945221, 2022, doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.945221
Botzanowski, B., Donahue, M.J., Ejneby, M.S., Gallina, A.L., Ngom, I., Missey, F., Acerbo, E., Byun, D., Carron, R., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Jirsa, V., Olofsson, P.S., Głowacki, E.D. & Williamson, A. Noninvasive stimulation of peripheral nerves using temporally‐interfering electrical fields. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 11(17):2200075, 2022, doi:10.1002/adhm.202200075
Colella, M., Press, D.Z., Laher, R.M., McIlduff, C.E., Rutkove, S.B., Cassarà, A.M., Apollonio, F., Pascual‐Leone, A., Liberti, M. & Bonmassar, G. A study of flex miniaturized coils for focal nerve magnetic stimulation. Medical Physics, pages mp.16148, 2022, doi:10.1002/mp.16148
Rowald, A., Komi, S., Demesmaeker, R., Baaklini, E., Hernandez-Charpak, S.D., Paoles, E., Montanaro, H., Cassarà, A.M., Becce, F., Lloyd, B., Newton, T., Ravier, J., Kinany, N., D´Ercole, M., Paley, A., Hankov, N., Varescon, C., McCracken, L., Vat, M., Caban, M., Watrin, A., Jacquet, C., Bole-Feysot, L., Harte, C., Lorach, H., Galvez, A., Tschopp, M., Herrmann, N., Wacker, M., Geernaert, L., Fodor, I., Radevich, V., Keybus, K.V.D., Eberle, G., Pralong, E., Roulet, M., Ledoux, J.B., Fornari, E., Mandija, S., Mattera, L., Martuzzi, R., Nazarian, B., Benkler, S., Callegari, S., Greiner, N., Fuhrer, B., Froeling, M., Buse, N., Denison, T., Buschman, R., Wende, C., Ganty, D., Bakker, J., Delattre, V., Lambert, H., Minassian, K., van den Berg, C.A.T., Kavounoudias, A., Micera, S., Ville, D.V.D., Barraud, Q., Kurt, E., Kuster, N., Neufeld, E., Capogrosso, M., Asboth, L., Wagner, F.B., Bloch, J. & Courtine, G. Activity-dependent spinal cord neuromodulation rapidly restores trunk and leg motor functions after complete paralysis. Nature Medicine, 28:260-271, 2022, doi:10.1038/s41591-021-01663-5
Höfner, N., Storm, J.H., Hömmen, P., Cassarà, A.M. & Körber, R. Computational and Phantom-Based Feasibility Study of 3D dcNCI With Ultra-Low-Field MRI. Frontiers in Physics, 9:1-14, 2021, doi:10.3389/fphy.2021.647376
Osanlouy, M., Bandrowski, A., de Bono, B., Brooks, D., Cassarà, A.M., Christie, R., Ebrahimi, N., Gillespie, T., Grethe, J.S., Guercio, L.A., Heal, M., Lin, M., Kuster, N., Martone, M.E., Neufeld, E., Nickerson, D.P., Soltani, E.G., Tappan, S., Wagenaar, J.B., Zhuang, K. & Hunter, P.J. The SPARC DRC: Building a Resource for the Autonomic Nervous System Community. Frontiers in Physiology, 12:1-18, 2021, doi:10.3389/fphys.2021.693735
Schreglmann, S.R., Wang, D., Peach, R.L., Li, J., Zhang, X., Latorre, A., Rhodes, E., Panella, E., Cassarà, A.M., Boyden, E.S., Barahona, M., Santaniello, S., Rothwell, J., Bhatia, K.P. & Grossman, N. Non-invasive suppression of essential tremor via phase-locked disruption of its temporal coherence. Nature Communications, 12(1):363, Springer US, 2021, doi:10.1038/s41467-020-20581-7
Sunshine, M.D., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Grossman, N., Mareci, T.H., Otto, K.J., Boyden, E.S. & Fuller, D.D. Restoration of breathing after opioid overdose and spinal cord injury using temporal interference stimulation. Communications Biology, 4(1):107, Springer US, 2021, doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01604-x
Gupta, I., Cassarà, A.M., Tarotin, I., Donega, M., Miranda, J.A., Sokal, D.M., Ouchouche, S., Dopson, W., Matteucci, P., Neufeld, E., Schiefer, M.A., Rowles, A., McGill, P., Perkins, J., Dolezalova, N., Saeb-Parsy, K., Kuster, N., Yazicioglu, R.F., Witherington, J. & Chew, D.J. Quantification of clinically applicable stimulation parameters for precision near-organ neuromodulation of human splenic nerves. Communications Biology, 3:577, 2020, doi:10.1038/s42003-020-01299-0
Kaniusas, E., Kampusch, S., Tittgemeyer, M., Panetsos, F., Gines, R.F., Papa, M., Kiss, A., Podesser, B., Cassarà, A.M., Tanghe, E., Samoudi, A.M., Tarnaud, T., Joseph, W., Marozas, V., Lukosevicius, A., Istuk, N., Lechner, S., Klonowski, W., Varoneckas, G., Széles, J.C. & Sarolic, A. Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation II – An Engineering Perspective. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13:772, 2019, doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00772
Kaniusas, E., Kampusch, S., Tittgemeyer, M., Panetsos, F., Gines, R.F., Papa, M., Kiss, A., Podesser, B., Cassarà, A.M., Tanghe, E., Samoudi, A.M., Tarnaud, T., Joseph, W., Marozas, V., Lukosevicius, A., Istuk, N., Sarolic, A., Lechner, S., Klonowski, W., Varoneckas, G. & Széles, J.C. Current Directions in the Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation I – A Physiological Perspective. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 13:854, 2019, doi:10.3389/fnins.2019.00854
Grossman, N., Bono, D., Dedic, N., Kodandaramaiah, S., Rudenko, A., Suk, H.J., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Kuster, N., Tsai, L.H., Pascual-Leone, A. & Boyden, E. Noninvasive Deep Brain Stimulation via Delivery of Temporally Interfering Electric Fields. Cell, 169(6):1029—1041.e16, 2017
Kumari, K., Capstick, M., Cassarà, A.M., Herrala, M., Koivisto, H., Naarala, J., Tanila, H., Viluksela, M. & Juutilainen, J. Effects of intermediate frequency magnetic fields on male fertility indicators in mice. Environment Research, 157:64-70, 2017
Neufeld, E., Cassarà, A.M., Montanaro, H., Kuster, N. & Kainz, W. Functionalized Anatomical Models for EM-Neuron Interaction Modeling. Physics in Medicine and Biology, 61(12):4390-4401, 2016

 

Preprint articles

Cassarà, A.M., Newton, T.H., Zhuang, K., Regel, S.J., Achermann, P., Kuster, N. & Neufeld, E. Safety recommendations for temporal interference stimulation in the brain. bioRxiv, 2022, doi:10.1101/2022.12.15.520077
Wessel, M.J., Beanato, E., Popa, T., Windel, F., Vassiliadis, P., Menoud, P., Beliaeva, V., Violante, I.R., Abderrahmane, H., Dzialecka, P., Park, C.H., Maceira-Elvira, P., Morishita, T., Cassarà, A.M., Steiner, M., Grossman, N., Neufeld, E. & Hummel, F.C. LTP-like noninvasive striatal brain stimulation enhances striatal activity and motor skill learning in humans. bioRxiv, 2022, doi:10.1101/2022.10.28.514204
Botzanowski, B., Donahue, M.J., Ejneby, M.S., Gallina, A.L., Ngom, I., Missey, F., Acerbo, E., Byun, D., Carron, R., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Jirsa, V., Olofsson, P.S., Głowacki, E.D. & Williamson, A. Noninvasive Stimulation of Peripheral Nerves using Temporally-Interfering Electrical Fields. arXiv, 2021, doi:10.1101/2021.12.14.472557

 

Conference proceedings

Cassarà, A.M., Polatoglu, M.N., Neufeld, E., Lloyd, B. & Kuster, N. SPARC: Advanced Image‐Based Modelling of Neurostimulation in Support of Pre‐Clinical Investigations and Prototyping of Medical Devices. In The FASEB Journal, Proceedings of the Experimental Biology 2020 Meeting (EB2020), San Diego CA, USA, April 4–7, 2020, 34(S1):1-1, The FASEB Journal, doi:10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06605
Lloyd, B., Farcito, S., Cassarà, A.M., Zhuang, K., Neufeld, E. & Kuster, N. SPARC: Development of Human and Rodent Neuro‐Functionalized Computational Anatomical Models with Detailed Mapping of Peripheral Nervous System. In The FASEB Journal, Proceedings of the Experimental Biology 2020 Meeting (EB2020), San Diego CA, USA, April 4–7, 2020, 34(S1):1-1, The FASEB Journal, doi:10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.07492
Neufeld, E., Chavannes, N., Zhuang, K., Cassarà, A.M., Lloyd, B., Crespo-Valero, P., Guidon, M., Maiz, O., Anderegg, S., Pascual, I., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. SPARC's Open Online Simulation Platform for Computational Modeling of the ANS's Physiological Role and its Modulation by Electroceutical Devices: o2S2PARC. In The FASEB Journal, Proceedings of the Experimental Biology 2020 Meeting (EB2020), San Diego CA, USA, April 4–7, 2020, 34(S1):1-1, doi:10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.07491
Sunshine, M.D., Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Grossman, N., Otto, K.J., Boyden, E.S. & Fuller, D.D. Phrenic motor neuron activation using temporal interference stimulation. In The FASEB Journal, Proceedings of the Experimental Biology 2020 Meeting (EB2020), San Diego CA, USA, April 4–7, 2020, 34(S1):1-1, doi:10.1096/fasebj.2020.34.s1.06546
Lloyd, B., Cassarà, A.M., Farcito, S., Neufeld, E., Chung, B.S., Park, J.S., Chung, M.S. & Kuster, N. NEUROMAN: Reference Computational Human Phantoms for Evaluation of Safety Thresholds for Peripheral Nerve Stimulation. In Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 26
Cassarà, A.M., Liorni, I., Neufeld, E. & Kuster, N. Assessment of neuronal Conduction Block (CB) related to medical implants in conjunction with Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) using simplified and electrophysiologically functionalized anatomical models. In Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA), Hangzhou, China, June 5- 9, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Guidon, M., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Pulse-Shape-Related Effects in Transcranial Sub- and Suprathreshold Stimulation of Cortical Neurons using Anatomically, Morphologically, and Electrophysiologically Detailed Coupled Electromagnetic and Neuronal Modeling. In Proceedings of the 8th International IEEE EMBS Neural Engineering Conference, Shanghai, China, May 25 - 28, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Hagberg, G., Guidon, M., Scheffler, K. & Kuster, N. Peripheral Nerve Stimulation in MRI: Insights from a three level analysis and coupled EM-electrophysiological simulations in neuro-functionalized human models. In Proceedings of the 25th International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), Honolulu, USA, April 22-27, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E. & Kuster, N. Accurate Modeling of Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Selective A-, B- and C- Fibers Recruitment in Functionalized Generic and Anatomical Head Models. In Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA), Hangzhou, China, June 5- 9, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Montanaro, H. & Kuster, N. Mechanism Investigation, Device Development, and Treatment Personalization Using Anatomical Models Functionalized with Electrophysiological Neuron Models. In Proceedings of the 32nd International Union of Radio Science General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS), Montreal, Canada, August 16 - 26, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Montanaro, H. & Kuster, N. Neuro-Functionalized Anatomical Human Models For Neuromodulation Related Mechanism and Safety Investigations, Device Development, Personalized Treatment Planning, and in silico Trials. In Proceedings of the 47th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Neuroscience 2017, Washington DC, USA, November 11-15, 2017
Neufeld, E., Cassarà, A.M., Kainz, W., Angelone, L., Montanaro, H. & Kuster, N. Neuro-Functionalized Anatomical Models for Mechanism Investigation, Device Development, and Treatment Personalization.. In Proceedings of the 2017 BMES/FDA Frontiers in Medical Devices Conference, College Park MD, USA, May 16-18, 2017
Neufeld, E., Montanaro, H., Cassarà, A.M., Guidon, M. & Kuster, N. Optimization of Targeted Neurostimulation Based on Activating Functions and Validation by Coupled Electromagnetic-Neuronal Dynamics Modeling. In Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA), Hangzhou, China, June 5- 9, 2017
Cassarà, A.M., Neufeld, E., Guidon, M., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Large-Scale Multi Neuronal Simulation within an Anatomical Head Model for Transcranial Alternative Current Stimulation (tACS) Investigations. In Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA), Ghent, Belgium, June 5-10, 2016
Neufeld, E., Cassarà, A.M., Montanaro, H., Kainz, W. & Kuster, N. Investigation of Electric and Magnetic Stimulation Time Constants Through Neuronal Dynamics Functionalized Anatomical Models. In Proceedings of the Joint Meeting of the Bioelectromagnetics Society (BEMS) and the European BioElectromagnetics Association (EBEA), Ghent, Belgium, June 5-10, 2016, pages 139-142