Olimpia Meucci MD, PhD

Dr. Meucci is a professor and chair of the department of pharmacology and physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM), director of the Center for Neuroimmunology and CNS Therapeutics of DUCOM’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, and a fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM®) program. She trained as physician-scientist at the University of Naples, University of Virginia, NIH, and the University of Chicago.

Her research has focused on the cellular and molecular basis of neurocognitive impairment with a primary interest in the mechanisms of HIV-induced neuronal damage. Her team has made major contributions to the field, including the discovery of functional chemokine receptors in central neurons and the identification of novel neuroprotective pathways that are activated by homeostatic chemokines and altered by viral proteins and opioids.