Rosaria Ingrassia, after her degree thesis in neuroendocrinology at the Institute of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Milan, approached studies of protein engineering about the “Structure and function of recombinant human ferritin” at DIBIT, San Raffaele Hospital, Milan, and then on the Molecular aspects of thyroid hormones biosynthesis at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory of Heidelberg, Germany, in the Gene expression Unit of Prof. Riccardo Cortese with Prof. Roberto Di Lauro. She was later involved in studies about the transcriptional regulation by steroid hormones and CAAT-enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) transcription factors of the alpha-1-acid glycoprotein gene in the acute phase of inflammation, at the Institute of Chemistry, School of Medicine, University of Brescia, while visiting scientist at the Dept. Immunology, New York Medical School, Valhalla, N.Y, USA. R. Ingrassia, as assistant professor of Biochemistry at the University of Brescia, studied the role of the autosomic dominant mutations of the human ferritin gene, light chain, for hereditary neuroferritinopathy. She was later involved, at the Institute of Pharmacology of the same University, in molecular studies of neurodegenerative diseases, focused on the role of iron metabolism in the pathogenesis of the post-ischemic neurodegeneration with epigenetic activation of NF-kB/RelA in both in vitro and in vivo models of brain ischemia; on the role of the ferrous iron transporter DMT1 in the neurodegenerative model of Parkinson's disease, the c-rel knockout mice and, then, she developed the study about the Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation, type 5 (NBIA5/BPAN) in human fibroblasts of BPAN affected patients, thanks also to the collaboration with the Telethon Network of Genetics Biobank of movement disorders, directed by Dr. Barbara Garavaglia.