Dr Luis Fernando Messore

Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, I graduated from the University of Buenos Aires as a Medical Doctor (MD) and started my clinical work as a general practitioner at the Emergency Unit in the Hospital “Bernardino Rivadavia”. At the same time, I joined Prof. Brusco’s laboratory to explore the effect of prenatal exposure to cannabinoids on neuronal and behavioural development in infant mice. 

I later secured an “IMBS fellowship” from the German federal government to pursue a Master's education at the University of Freiburg, Germany. There, I explored the effects of fear conditioning on anxiety and its relationship with limbic and sympathetic activations. I obtained a fully-funded position at the International Max Planck Research School for Brain and Behaviour (IMPRS-BB) to pursue a PhD at the University of Bonn, Germany. I joined Prof. Oberländer’s laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Neurobiology of Behaviour. 

Finally, I joined the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics at the University of Oxford as a postdoctoral research scientist in May 2023, supported by a Medical Research Council (MRC) Project Grant, working alongside Professor Zoltán Molnár and Professor Edward Mann. 

My research interest lies in understanding the neurobiological substrates underlying neurodevelopmental conditions, such as anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit disorders (ADHD). To achieve that, I have been working on elucidating the interplay between excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters, such as orexin, dopamine and serotonin in the activation of prefrontal cortical networks, and their consequent behavioural changes 

I previously taught Neuroscience at St Peter’s College for 2nd Year Medical Students. Here at LMH, I am again a tutor for Neuroscience for 2nd Year Medical Students; Brain and Behaviour for 1st Year Biomedical Students, and Neurophysiology for 1st Year Psychology students.

I also provide tutorials for 3rd Year Medical students in the “Neurobiology of Psychiatric Disorders” module.

• Messore, F & Narayanan, R et al., Translational Psychiatry. 2025
• Messore, F & Vadisiute, A et al., Frontiers in Neuroanatomy. 2025
• Qi, G; Yang, D; Messore, F; Bast, A; Yáñez, F et al., iScience. 2025  
• Vadisiute, A; Meijer, E; Narayanan, R; Mueller, M; Szabó, F; Messore, F; et al., Communications Biology. 2024  
• Egger, R & Narayanan, R et al., Neuron. 2020
• Fernandez RS; Picco, S; Messore, F; Pedreira, E. Scientific Reports. 2018
• Frontera, JL; Gonzalez Pini, VM; Messore, F; Brusco, AH. Neuropharmacology. 2018