Noted neurologist M. Laura Feltri dies at 60

M. Laura Feltri, an internationally known pioneer in the study and treatment of myelin diseases in the nervous system and UB faculty for more than a decade, died Dec. 25 in her native Italy after a long battle with cancer. She was 60.

A widely respected scholar and SUNY Distinguished Professor of biochemistry and neurology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Feltri also served as director of UB’s Institute for Myelin and Glia Exploration.

She was elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) last year in recognition of her lifetime achievements.

“Dr. Feltri was an internationally recognized neuroscientist, a mentor to many and a friend to all,” said Allison Brashear, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. “The school will be working with her many friends to honor her legacy in the coming year.”

Her research focused on multiple sclerosis (MS); Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease, which affects the peripheral nerves; and Krabbe leukodystrophy, a rare, fatal neurological disease that afflicts newborns.

With major funding from the National Institutes of Health, Feltri made numerous seminal discoveries in her field, including developing the first mutagenesis tool for studying the development of Schwann cells, which generate myelin, and the signals that regulate myelination. In collaboration with her husband and UB colleague, Lawrence Wrabetz, she pioneered the use of transgenic animals to model neurological diseases and develop new therapies.

Over the course of her career, Feltri authored more than 140 peer-reviewed research articles.

Her expertise was sought by numerous national and international organizations. She served on the review panel of the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. She was first a member, and then chair, of the Cellular & Molecular Biology of Glia Study section of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the NIH. She also served as scientific adviser to the Charcot Marie Tooth Association, the CMT4B3 Research Foundation and KrabbeConnect.

“Laura was a joy to work with. Despite receiving many accolades, she was self-critical and sought constantly to improve her scholarship, teaching and mentoring,” said Mark R. O’Brian, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry. “She made us all better.”

Early in her career, Feltri was awarded the International Society for Neurochemistry’s Young Investigators’ Colloquia Award. In 2020, she was an invited speaker at the Nobel Mini-Symposium at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

Feltri was an excellent adviser and mentor to numerous undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students, and was the recipient of a Distinguished Postdoc Mentor Award in 2013. 

She was president-elect of the Peripheral Nerve Society and served on the editorial board of various journals, as well as the boards of several scientific organizations.

Feltri earned her medical degree and did her residency in neurology at the University of Milano. She was a postdoctoral fellow at Thomas Jefferson University. She was a faculty member and head of the NeuroGlia Unit at the San Raffaele Scientific Institute in Milano, Italy, before joining the UB faculty in 2011. 

Survivors include her husband and five children.