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Giuseppe Faraco, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, Brain & Mind Research Institute; Finbar and Marianne Kenny Research Scholar in Neurology; Weill Cornell Medical College

Giuseppe Faraco, M.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Research in Neuroscience at the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

Dr. Faraco obtained an M.D. from the University of Florence, Italy, in 2004. He completed a residency in Clinical Toxicology at the University of Florence, followed by a Ph.D. in neuro-pharmacology at the same University in 2010, where his early research focused on the role of histone acetylation in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia.

After joining Weill Cornell Medicine in 2008 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Dr. Faraco started to investigate the mechanisms of cerebrovascular dysfunction induced by arterial hypertension, under the mentorship of Dr. Costantino Iadecola. His research provided evidence that perivascular macrophages, innate immune cells closely associate with cerebral arterioles, are critical for impairing arteriolar function and cognitive function in hypertension.

Since joining the faculty at Weill Cornell in 2014 as Assistant Professor, Dr. Faraco’s laboratory has continued to pursue the mechanisms by which vascular risk factors lead to cognitive impairment. He recently showed that a diet rich in sodium has deleterious effects on the cerebral endothelium which lead to cognitive impairment through a novel gut-brain axis involving Th17 lymphocytes, elevated circulating levels of IL17 and inhibitory phosphorylation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase.

Related Research:

Hypertension, Tau and Neurodegeneration Costantino Iadecola Giuseppe Faraco 2024-06-28 Gut Microbiota, Endothelial Dysfunction and Tau-Mediated Cognitive Impairment Giuseppe Faraco Costantino Iadecola 2021-01-29 Dietary Salt, Tau Phosphorylation and Cognitive Impairment Giuseppe Faraco Costantino Iadecola 2018-12-18

Funded Research

These projects were made possible from Cure Alzheimer's Fund support.

Project Description Researchers Funding
Hypertension, Tau and Neurodegeneration 2024, 2025

$401,064
Gut Microbiota, Endothelial Dysfunction and Tau-Mediated Cognitive Impairment 2020, 2022

$345,500
Dietary Salt, Tau Phosphorylation and Cognitive Impairment 2018-2019

$345,000

Selected Publications

These published papers resulted from Cure Alzheimer’s Fund support.

Ahn, S. J., Goya, B., Bertomo, C., Sciortino, R., Racchumi, G., Garcia Bonilla, L., Anrather, J., Iadecola, C., & Faraco, G. Neutrophil stalling does not mediate the increase in tau phosphorylation and the cognitive impairment associated with high salt diet, Cardiovascular Research, November 10, 2025, Read More

Faraco G. Dietary salt, vascular dysfunction, and cognitive impairment, Cardiovascular Research, October 21, 2024, Read More

Faraco, G., Hochrainer, K., Segarra, S. G., Schaeffer, S., Santisteban, M. M., Menon, A., Jiang, H., Holtzman, D. M., Anrather, J., & Iadecola, C. Dietary salt promotes cognitive impairment through tau phosphorylation, Nature, October 23, 2019, Read More

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