Co‑Founder & CSO

Giorgia Quadrato, PhD

Pioneering reproducible brain organoid systems with single‑cell omics to decode brain biology and advance transformative therapies.

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Dr. Giorgia Quadrato, Associate Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at USC, leads a lab integrating brain organoids and single‑cell omics to uncover the cellular and molecular basis of brain development and disease. She pioneered protocols to mature organoids and earned early career honors including the 2023 Broad Innovation Award. As Co‑Director of USC’s CIRM ASCEND Shared Resource Laboratory, she advances and democratizes access to organoids and cutting‑edge technologies across California. She also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Syngap Research Fund.

Education: She earned a B.S. in Molecular Biotechnology and M.S. in Pharmacogenomics from the University of Milano Bicocca, a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Stem Cell Biology from the University of Piemonte Orientale, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Tüebingen and Harvard University/Broad Institute.
External roles: Program Director, CIRM ASCEND

Scientific Advisor, CURE SYNGAP1

Scientific Advisor, Quiver Bioscience
Grant support: 1R01MH138371-01 — Non-synaptic function of Syngap1 in human neurodevelopmental disorders (NIH, PI)

1R01MH136351-01 — A multi-organoid-on-a-chip platform for interrogating human brain (dys)connectivity (NIH, PI)

1R44AA033838 — A novel organoid brain-chip platform for accelerating drug discovery. (NIH, MPI, 2026–2027)

All funding →

Selected publications

Cell diversity and network dynamics in photosensitive human brain organoids Giorgia Quadrato, Tuan Nguyen, Evan Z Macosko, John L Sherwood, Sung Min Yang, Daniel R Berger, Natalie Maria, Jorg Scholvin, Melissa Goldman, Justin P Kinney, Edward S Boyden, Jeff W Lichtman, Ziv M Williams, Steven A McCarroll, Paola Arlotta. Nature