CURRICULUM

Education

•  June 1995: High School degree of Maturità Classica at the Istituto Leone XIII of  Milan, final score 58 out of 60. 
•  July 2001: Medical School degree at the  Università degli Studi di Milano, final votation 110 out of  110 cum laude.
• November 2006: Neurosurgery Residency Program degree at the Università degli Studi di Milano, final votation 70/70 cum laude
• USMLE: United States Medical Licensing Examination obtained in August 2007  ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) certified
• In June 2011: PhD (Research Doctorate) in Neuropsychology degree at the University Paul Sabatier of Toulouse, France, under the direction of Professor Franck-Emmanuel Roux and  Professor Jean François Dèmonet.

Languages: command of English and French.

Fellowships and Research Experiences

• September 2001 – June 2002: J 1 VISA to work as Research Fellow at the Brain Tumor Laboratory  of the Department of Neurosurgery of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston under the direction of Professor Peter M. Black.
• November 2005 – November 2006 (fifth year of residency program) Resident at the Dept.of Neurosurgery, Universite’ Paul Sabatier de Toulouse, France  fellowship in Brain Tumor Surgery and Human Brain Mapping. Service de Neurochirurgie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Purpan, Toulouse, France. Under the direction of Professor Franck-Emmanuel Roux
•  January 2007 – November 2007 Neuro-Oncology and Brain Mapping Fellow at the Division of Neurosurgery, Dept. of Neurological Sciences of the Universita’ degli Studi di Milano, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, IRCCS , Milano. Under the direction of Professor Sergio Maria Gaini.
•  July 2008 – May 2009 Senior Fellow in Pediatric Neurosurgery, Dept. of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle WA. Under the direction of Professor Richard G. Ellenbogen.

Current positions

• From May 2009 Attending Neurosurgeon at the Clinica Neurochirurgia, Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca, Osp. San Gerardo dei Tintori, Monza, Italy.
• From March 2015 Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Vice Chairman at the Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca. 
• From July 2017 affiliated Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery at the Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.

Surgical activity

The surgical activity is focused on adult and pediatric Neuro-Oncology, Vascular Neurosurgery, Brain Trauma and Pediatric Neurosurgery (craniofaciostenosis and neuroendoscopy).

Pubblications in peer-reviewed international journals and book chapters

He has published 68 papers and 5 book chapters.

Affiliations

• From 2006: member of the Italian Society for Neurosurgery SINCH 
• From 2012: faculty of AO Neuro/Neuro Global Neuro Italian section.
• From 2018: member of the European Association of Pediatric Neurosurgery ESPN
• From 2017 member of the ERN CRANIO for the Hospital San Gerardo at the European Reference Network for Rare Disease, European Commission

ONGOING RESEARCH PROJECTS

1. Translational research project entitled: “Vacuolar ATPase and drug resistance of high grade gliomas: a study to investigate possible therapeutic roles for proton pump inhibitors”. Research coordinator: Prof. Angela Bentivegna – Laboratory of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine and Surgery – University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
2. Neuropsychological functions of patients affected by intra-axial and extra-axial brain tumors: differences and outcome after surgery. Study coordinator: Dr. Valeria Isella – Department of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
3. Risk of acinetic mutism in pediatric patients undergoing surgical resection of medulloblastoma. In collaboration with Dr. Maura Massimino – Unit of Pediatric Oncology, Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan – Italy
4. Neuropsychological functions in patients with brain tumors of the posterior fossa. Study coordinator: Dr. Valeria Isella – Department of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
5. Neurophysiological brain mapping and neuropsychological outcome in patients undergoing surgical resection of gliomas with awake craniotomy. Study coordinator: Dr. Valeria Isella – Department of Neurology, San Gerardo Hospital, Laboratory of Neurobiology, Milan Center for Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
6. White matter dissection and anatomical correlation with brain imaging. In collaboration with Prof. Biagio Leone. Unit of Pathology – School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
7. Study of the role of autosegmentation softwares in brain tumors. Study coordinator: Prof. Gianpaolo Basso – Unit of Neuroradiology, ASST Monza Ospedale San Gerardo, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza – Italy 
8. Study of the VASARI outcome score in glioma. Study coordinator: Prof. Gianpaolo Basso – Unit of Neuroradiology, ASST Monza Ospedale San Gerardo, School of Medicine and Surgery, Università degli Studi Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy

MOST RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS

1. Retrospective analysis of the clinical and radiological features of 94 consecutive DIPGs patients to investigate the factors determining the development of hydrocephalus and its impact on clinical status and survival. Giussani C, Guida L, Biassoni V, Schiavello E, Carrabba G, Trezza A, Sganzerla E, Massimino M. Childs Nerv Syst. 2020 Mar 28. doi: 10.1007/s00381-020-04589-4. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32222799 
2. Variability of intraoperative electrostimulation parameters in conscious individuals: language cortex. Roux FE, Durand JB, Djidjeli I, Moyse E, Giussani C. J Neurosurg. 2017 May;126(5):1641-1652. doi: 10.3171/2016.4.JNS152434. Epub 2016 Jul 15. PMID: 27419823 
3. Safety and efficacy of Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy in Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma related hydrocephalus: a Systematic Review. Guida L, Roux FE, Massimino M, Marras CE, Sganzerla E, Giussani C. World Neurosurg. 2018 Dec 29:S1878-8750(18)32919-X. doi: 10.1016/j.wneu.2018.12.096. Online ahead of print.
4. Pediatric intracranial ependymoma: correlating signs and symptoms at recurrence with outcome in the second prospective AIEOP protocol follow-up. Massimino M, Barretta F, Modena P, Giangaspero F, Chiapparini L, Erbetta A, Boschetti L, Antonelli M, Ferroli P, Bertin D, Pecori E, Biassoni V, Garrè ML, Schiavello E, Sardi I, Viscardi E, Scarzello G, Mascarin M, Quaglietta L, Cinalli G, Genitori L, Peretta P, Mussano A, Barra S, Mastronuzzi A, Giussani C, Marras CE, Balter R, Bertolini P, Tornesello A, La Spina M, Buttarelli FR, Ruggiero A, Caldarelli M, Poggi G, Gandola L. J Neurooncol. 2018 Nov;140(2):457-465. doi: 10.1007/s11060-018-2974-6. Epub 2018 Aug 14. PMID: 30109673 
5. Anatomical correlates for category-specific naming of living and non-living things. Giussani C, Riva M, Gallucci M, Boukhatem L, Sganzerla EP, Demonet JF, Roux FE. Neuroimage. 2011 May 1;56(1):323-9. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.01.080. Epub 2011 Feb 4. PMID: 21296167 
6. DTI fiber tracking to differentiate demyelinating diseases from diffuse brain stem glioma. Giussani C, Poliakov A, Ferri RT, Plawner LL, Browd SR, Shaw DW, Filardi TZ, Hoeppner C, Geyer JR, Olson JM, Douglas JG, Villavicencio EH, Ellenbogen RG, Ojemann JG. Neuroimage. 2010 Aug 1;52(1):217-23. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.03.079. Epub 2010 Apr 2. PMID: 20363335 
7. Who is who: areas of the brain associated with recognizing and naming famous faces. Giussani C, Roux FE, Bello L, Lauwers-Cances V, Papagno C, Gaini SM, Puel M, Démonet JF. J Neurosurg. 2009 Feb;110(2):289-99. doi: 10.3171/2007.8.17566. PMID: 18928357 

FOREIGN COLLABORATIONS

• Since January, 2017: Permanent Visiting Professor of Neurosurgery, Université Paul Sabatier de Toulouse.
• Since July, 2017: Affiliated Associate Professor of Neurological Surgery presso il Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.