Associate Professor Joseph Valentino Raimondo
Affiliations
- Associate Member, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
- Associate Professor, Division of Cell Biology, Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town (UCT)
- Wellcome Centre for Infectious Diseases Research in Africa (CIDRI-Africa)
- UCT Neuroscience Institute
Key Expertise
Parasitic Infection
Main Research Focus
Joseph Raimondo is a neuroscientist who investigates brain function and dysfunction using
electrophysiological, optical imaging and computational approaches. His career ambition is to produce outstanding research of both local and global relevance, whilst developing African capacity in cellular neurophysiology and computational neuroscience. The primary aim of his research group is to answer the question: ‘Why do brains seize?’
The lab attempts to answer this question by examining the cellular and circuit level interactions between brain cells, which result in the development of epileptic seizures. They have a focus on how changes to inhibitory synaptic transmission and neuroinflammatory responses relate to the emergence and termination of epileptic seizures.
Most Significant Paper Authored in 2024
All-optical reporting of inhibitory receptor driving force in the nervous system
Selfe, J. S., Steyn, T. J. S., Shorer, E. F., Burman, R. J., Düsterwald, K. M., Kraitzick, A. Z., Abdelfattah, A. S.,
Schreiter, E. R., Newey, S. E., Akerman, C. J., & Raimondo, J. V. (2024).
This paper introduces ORCHID (all-Optical Reporting of CHloride Ion Driving force), the first technique for measuring inhibitory receptor driving forces without disrupting ionic gradients. This addresses a major limitation in neuroscience, as previous methods required invasive electrophysiological recordings that altered the very ion gradients being measured.
ORCHID combines genetically-encoded voltage indicators with light-gated anion channels to provide high-throughput, cell-type-specific measurements of GABA receptor driving forces in the intact brain. We demonstrate ORCHID's ability to track dynamic changes in inhibitory driving forces during seizures and confirm fundamental biophysical principles of chloride homeostasis.