Davide Caredio

Key facts

• PhD student at the Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich (PhD, University of Zurich) from 2020-02 to 2024-11, then postdoc there from 2024-12 to 2025-03.
• Current role (as of 2026-10): postdoc in the Immunodynamics and Cancer junior research group led by Daniel Kirschenbaum at DKFZ Heidelberg, which studies immune cells in brain tumours; ORCID lists the post from 2025-04.
• Co-investigator with Adriano Aguzzi on the 2024 CJD Foundation grant on GPNMB as a potential therapeutic target in prion diseases, run as a CRISPR activation screen in human microglia for genes that raise GPNMB, with testing of hits in disease models; ORCID lists it as running 2024 to 2026.
• Equal-contribution first author of the Nat Commun paper of 2026-05-12 showing a Gpnmb-high, lysosomal and phagocytic microglial state in regions of neuronal loss in prion-infected mice, triggered by soluble signals from dying cells rather than by aggregates; the CJD Foundation is among the funders.
• The same Gpnmb state was seen in human cell models, stroke models and sporadic CJD tissue, and the authors propose GPNMB as a marker of neurodegeneration rather than claiming a therapy.
• Second author of the PLoS Pathog paper of 2026-04-20 from the Aguzzi lab arrayed screening program, linking hnRNP K, TFAP2C and mTORC1 metabolic signaling to control of prion propagation.
• Coauthor of a 2025-11-08 bioRxiv preprint with Aguzzi and Joaquin Castilla reporting that BMP receptor activity controls prion uptake and that BMP inhibitors reduce prion spread in infected cells.
• First author of a 2024-09-11 PLoS Pathog paper finding consistent GLUL upregulation and glutamate and glutamine metabolic changes in skeletal muscle across three prion strains.
• Wider output in the last 24 months includes a 2025 Neuron paper on seeded TDP-43 aggregation and loss of function, and a 2025 PLoS One paper on 3D histochemistry of amyloid-beta reduction by netoglitazone.
• Other funding on ORCID includes a UZH grant (FK-22-026, 2022 to 2023) for single cell anatomical and transcriptional analysis of prion disease, and 2026 brain tumour imaging and immunodynamics awards from SNSF, DKFZ, Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and the European Society of Spatial Biology.

Timeline

1. 2020Started PhD at the Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital Zurich.
2. 2023Preprint on skeletal muscle metabolism in prion disease posted.
3. 2024CJD Foundation grant on GPNMB as a therapeutic target awarded with Adriano Aguzzi.
4. 2024PLoS Pathog paper on glutamate and glutamine metabolism in prion-affected muscle published.
5. 2024Preprint on Tfap2c, hnRNP K and mTORC1 in prion propagation posted.
6. 2024PhD at the University of Zurich completed per ORCID.
7. 2025Gpnmb microglia preprint posted on bioRxiv.
8. 2025Neuron paper on seeded TDP-43 aggregation published.
9. 2025Started postdoc in the Immunodynamics and Cancer group at DKFZ Heidelberg.
10. 2025Preprint on BMP signaling and prion uptake posted.
11. 2026PLoS Pathog paper on Tfap2c, hnRNP K and mTORC1 published.
12. 2026Nat Commun paper on Gpnmb phagocytic microglia in prion disease published.