Role
Research Director at the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) and former Director of the INAF - Palermo Astronomical Observatory.
Bio
After graduating in Physics from the University of Palermo in 1983, she furthered her training at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and earned her PhD in Physics in 1991. After a research period at the University of Chicago with a CNR/NATO Senior Fellowship, she pursued her scientific career at the INAF - Palermo Astronomical Observatory, where she became Director and Research Manager. Her fields of study include astrophysics, the physics of the upper stellar atmosphere, and extrasolar planets.
She was a pioneer in the study of star formation and the stellar coronas of young stars through the analysis of data from space missions (Einstein, ROSAT, Chandra, XMM-Newton). Her research also focuses on the discovery and characterization of exoplanets and star-planet interactions. She is co-investigator of the HARPS-N spectrograph at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo and co-principal investigator for ESA 's ARIEL mission, as well as collaborating with the ASI and MIUR on high-tech projects.
Author of over 500 scientific publications in international journals such as Nature, Astronomy & Astrophysics, and the Astrophysical Journal, she combines research with mentoring of doctoral students and young researchers and scientific dissemination, with works such as Nascita e morte delle stelle (Il Mulino). She was a member of the board of directors of the Galileo Galilei Foundation and currently serves on the board of directors of the Gal Hassin Foundation and on ESA scientific committees.