Role
Research Director and Coordinator of the Metabolic Diseases Study Group and the Multi-Omics Mass Spectrometry Laboratory at the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa; Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas Health at San Antonio and Affiliate Professor at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa. Chair of the MASLD Study Group and the European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance (EGIR), affiliated with the EASD.
Bio
After graduating in Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Bioengineering from the University of Padua in 1990, he obtained a PhD in Bioengineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan and a PhD in Preventive Medicine and Community Health from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was a fellow from 1991 to 1995.
In 1995, he returned to Italy to found the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa. From 2008 to 2009, he directed the Mass Spectrometry Department at the Fondazione Toscana G. Monasterio, before permanently focusing his management activities at the IFC-CNR in Pisa, leading the Cardiometabolic Risk Unit and the multi-omics spectrometry platforms.
His research focuses on metabolism , cardiometabolic risk, and major metabolic diseases, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and metabolically impaired fatty liver disease (MASLD). Using isotope-based fluxomics and mathematical modeling, he has contributed to elucidating the central role of the liver in metabolic regulation and the mechanisms linking obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk. His work integrates metabolic phenotyping, metabolomics, lipidomics, and exposomics to identify early biomarkers, novel therapeutic targets, and risk factors. He uses advanced mass spectrometry, mathematical modeling, and machine learning approaches to study the interplay between biological, environmental, and behavioral factors in the development of metabolic diseases.
She participates in international clinical trials for the development of innovative therapies and coordinates research programs dedicated to the impact of obesity, lifestyle, and endocrine disruptors on metabolic health, integrating clinical data, omics technologies, and artificial intelligence to promote early diagnosis, prevention, and precision medicine.
He has contributed to the definition of international guidelines and consensus documents for the diagnosis and management of diabetes, insulin resistance, and metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD), promoting the application of the latest scientific evidence in clinical practice.
Author of over 400 scientific publications in international journals and consistently included among the most cited researchers in the world in her field (with an H-index above 99), she has contributed significantly to the advancement of knowledge on the metabolic mechanisms underlying the main chronic non-communicable diseases.