Gustavo Della Flora Nunes is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Colorado. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences and a master’s degree in neuroscience from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. His research in Carmen Gottfried’s laboratory investigated behavioral alterations and therapeutic interventions in an animal model of autism induced by valproate. He then completed a Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University at Buffalo in Laura Feltri’s laboratory, examining how mitochondrial dysfunction in Schwann cells disrupts myelin maintenance and peripheral nerve homeostasis.

As a postdoctoral fellow in Ethan Hughes’ laboratory, Della Flora Nunes is using in vivo two-photon imaging and systems neuroscience approaches to determine how myelin loss alters cortical circuit activity to impact motor and visual function in models of multiple sclerosis. He is also assessing whether myelin repair can normalize neuronal function and behavior. His future research will investigate the causes and consequences of underdeveloped myelin in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a widespread finding in patients with ASD and animal models. By defining how impaired myelination influences developing neural circuits and contributes to ASD-related phenotypes, his work aims to identify strategies that harness myelin plasticity to improve circuit function and behavior.