Paola has a longstanding interest in the pathogenesis of neurological disorders, in particular the inherited cerebellar ataxias and other movement disorders. At UCL, Paola has been researching the mechanisms that underlie neuronal degeneration in the central and peripheral nervous systems. Paola's contribution has been instrumental in the identification of genes causing different autosomal dominant cerebellar disorders. Paola's research has also expanded the clinical spectrum of several rare inherited disorders. Paola's research team focuses on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases with a particular emphasis on triplet repeat conditions. This implies the use of molecular and cell biology techniques and more recently, live imaging. Paola is an active major contributor to two European consortiums on focused on the natural history of the  inherited ataxias (EUROSCA and EFACTS) and is involved in the translation of basic research findings into the clinic for use in both diagnostic testing and therapeutic trials.She have been PI and Co-PI in multicentre multinational drug trials in Friedreich’s ataxia. One of these studies have identified a well tolerated dose of nicotinamide ( vit B3) that can address the causative deficit in this disorder.