My Curriculum
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Personal Data
Key Points
Field of expertise: Computational Neuroscience and Neural Networks (collaboration in 7 international projects, 10 published papers + 2 in preparation), Artificial Intelligence.
Ph.D. in Informatics:
FINAL MARK: Très Honorable (the highest distinction in the French academic system).
My Ph.D. was funded by the Marie Curie FACETS-ITN fellowship (FP7-PEOPLE-ITN-2008 under the Grant #237955).
Master’s Degree in Physics:
FINAL MARK: magna cum laude (110/110 e lode), I was also granted a special mention by the board of trustees of UCSC (link to the article, written in Italian).
AVERAGE EXAM GRADE: 30.875 out of 30 (a 30 “cum laude” is awarded the value of 31).
Hard Skills
Language: Italian (native), English (fluent), French (intermediate).
Mathematical Background: neural network models, propagation of chaos, mean-field theory and dimensional reduction, finite-size effects, probability theory, extreme value theory, continuous- and discrete-time dynamical systems, attractors, bifurcation theory, ordinary and stochastic differential equations, critical slowing down, fractals, complexity, graph theory, machine/deep learning theory, Alzheimer’s models (see also this link).
Data analysis: regression, dimensional reduction, model fitting, statistical analysis of fMRI data, spectral analysis of time series, data filtering, clustering and community detection, classification, graph analysis and study of fractality of real connectomes.
Other: video editing with DaVinci Resolve and website building with Elementor.
Soft Skills
Self-learning capability, ability to work as a team and independently, excellent presentation skills and ability to explain sophisticated scientific concepts in a simple manner to non-specialists.
Work History
Jan 2022 – Present: freelance software developer (Italy (01/2022 – 07/2022) and Hong Kong (08/2022 – Present)). In my work I combine artificial intelligence, data science, and hardware acceleration through GPUs, to solve real-world problems in industry, business, and scientific research.
Jul 2017 – Dec 2021: postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Neural Computation of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Rovereto, Italy, led at the time by Dr. Stefano Panzeri. I was responsible for the development of data-constrained realistic models of large-scale cortical regions in mice and humans, for understanding how the dynamics of spontaneous brain activity is shaped by the underlying axonal connectivity, and ultimately for studying how the brain architecture gives rise to complexity of collective behavior in the concerted activity of brain areas.
Jul 2016 – Jul 2017: visiting postdoctoral researcher at the Computational and Theoretical Neuroscience Group of the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) in Barcelona, Spain, led by Dr. Gustavo Deco. My work focused on the development of efficient algorithms for the numerical study of bifurcations in finite-size networks of binary neurons, and on the analysis of the relationship between the network architecture and the formation of stationary and oscillatory attractors.
Oct 2013 – Jul 2016: postdoctoral researcher at the Laboratory of Neural Computation in Rovereto (Italy). My role was to develop analytical methods for studying bifurcations and critical slowing down in a finite-size model of cortical column, and therefore to understand how variations in the biophysical parameters of the network cause sudden qualitative changes in the dynamical and statistical behavior of the neural activity.
Education
Jan 2010 – Sep 2013: Ph.D. in Informatics at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis in France (merged in 2019 into the University of Côte d’Azur, UCA), under the supervision of Dr. Olivier Faugeras. My Ph.D. was funded by the French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INRIA), with a Marie Curie FACETS-ITN fellowship. My work focused on the development of a mean-field theory of densely connected neural networks, and on the analytical and numerical study of the statistical differences between infinite-size and finite-size networks. I got my Ph.D. on September 25th 2013, with mention “Très Honorable” (the highest distinction in the French academic system), discussing a thesis entitled “Attacking the brain with neuroscience: Mean-field theory, finite size effects and encoding capability of stochastic neural networks”.
Sep 1996 – Jun 2001: Diploma in Electronics and Telecommunications at the Technical Institute Luigi Cerebotani in Lonato del Garda (Italy). Final mark: 100/100.
Summary of My Results
Please find below a visual map which summarizes my research results on the brain and neural networks (see also this link for more detailed information).
[1] D. Fasoli and S. Panzeri, The emergence of complexity in multiscale hierarchical networks: How biophysics, structure and size shape the dynamic repertoire of the brain, in preparation.
[3] D. Fasoli and S. Panzeri, Mathematical studies of the dynamics of finite-size binary neural networks: A review of recent progress, Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 16(6):8025-8059, 2019 (URL).
[4] D. Fasoli and S. Panzeri, Stationary-state statistics of a binary neural network model with quenched disorder, Entropy, 21(7):630, 2019 (URL).
[5] D. Fasoli and S. Panzeri, Optimized brute-force algorithms for the bifurcation analysis of a binary neural network model, Physical Review E, 99(1): 012316, 2019 (URL).
[6] D. Fasoli, A. Cattani and S. Panzeri, Pattern storage, bifurcations, and groupwise correlation structure of an exactly solvable asymmetric neural network model, Neural Computation, 30(5):1258-1295, 2018 (URL).
[7] D. Fasoli, A. Cattani and S. Panzeri, Transitions between asynchronous and synchronous states: A theory of correlations in small neural circuits, The Journal of Computational Neuroscience, 44(1):25-43, 2018 (URL).
[8] D. Fasoli, A. Cattani and S. Panzeri, Bifurcation analysis of a sparse neural network with cubic topology, Springer INdAM Series, 24:87-98, 2017 (URL).
[9] D. Fasoli, A. Cattani and S. Panzeri, The complexity of dynamics in small neural circuits, PLoS Computational Biology, 12(8):e1004992, 2016 (URL).
[10] D. Fasoli, O. Faugeras and S. Panzeri, A formalism for evaluating analytically the cross-correlation structure of a firing-rate network model, The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience, 5(1):1-53, 2015 (URL).
[11] J. Baladron, D. Fasoli and O. Faugeras, Three applications of GPU computing in neuroscience, Computing in Science and Engineering, 14(3):40-47, 2012 (URL).
[12] J. Baladron, D. Fasoli, O. Faugeras and J. Touboul*, Mean-field description and propagation of chaos in networks of Hodgkin-Huxley and FitzHugh-Nagumo neurons, The Journal of Mathematical Neuroscience, 2(1):10, 2012 (URL).
* Authors in alphabetical order
Collaboration in International Projects
Jan 2018 – Dec 2019: SFARI (Explorer Grant No. 602849)
Sep 2017 – Dec 2017: Slow Dyn (FLAG-ERA/Human Brain Project)
Jul 2016 – Jul 2017: Human Brain Project (FP7-FET Flagship Programme), WP4.3: Large-scale models of human cognitive function
Jan 2011 – Sep 2013: BrainScaleS (FP7-FET-Proactive, under the Grant #269921)
Supervised Students and Teaching Activity
Oct 2018 – Mar 2019: M. Ranjan (master’s student at the University of Trento), Mathematical model of the whole cortex to understand the emergence of anomalous brain function and cortical activity, research project at the Italian Institute of Technology in Rovereto (Italy).
May 2014 – Dec 2014: D. Corti, Oscillatory behavior in asymmetric Hopfield networks, Politecnico di Milano, Master’s Thesis (defense date: Dec 18, 2014).
Jun 2008 – Jun 2009: private lessons of mathematics and physics to high school, bachelor’s, and master’s students (at least 3 hours/day).
Sep 2007 – Nov 2007: high school teacher of mathematics, physics and informatics at Scuola Bottega Artigiani-c.f.a. in San Polo, Brescia (Italy).
Co-organization of Scientific Meetings
Sep 27, 2012: second FACETS-ITN student conference, Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, Spain.
Sep 12, 2011: first FACETS-ITN student conference, Kirchhoff Institute for Physics, Heidelberg, Germany.
Speaker in International Events
Sep 12 – 16, 2016: Transitions between asynchronous and synchronous states: A theory of correlations in small neural circuits, NeuroMath, Mathematical and Computational Neuroscience: Cell, Network and Data Analysis, Cortona, Italy.
Oct 25 – 26, 2012: Finite size effects in a network of rate neurons, 3rd Workshop of the GDR 2904 ‘Multi-electrode systems and signal processing to study neuronal networks’, Marseille, France.
Mar 22 – 23, 2012: Mean-field analysis of populations of realistic spiking neurons, 2nd BrainScaleS Plenary Meeting, Jülich, Germany.