Position/Role

President and co-founder of Talent4Rise, Milan

Professional career

In 1986 she graduated in Electronic and System Physics from the University of Milan with a thesis on the effects of acid rain carried out at CRTN (ENEL's Centre for Thermal and Nuclear Research). In 1987 she joined the Italtel Telesis Consortium in the role of Proposal Manager for the development of environmental monitoring networks and the first mathematical models for air quality forecasting (DISIA Ministry of the Environment project). From 1988 to 1997 she was Head of the Environmental Subsystem in the 5T Consortium. In 1997 she joined Italtel S.p.A. as Proposal Manager and took part in the ministerial tender for the assignment of the third mobile operator (Wind). Later, from 2000 to 2013, she was International Bid and Contract Manager and contributed to the implementation of important intranets (EINET-Italian Army), the IP backbone of the Italian Research and University Network (GARR Consortium) and VoIP for international operators (SNCF, Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) and Italian operators (CGIL Piemonte, Acciaieria Cogne di Aosta and for the Barilla factory). In 2013 he founded the association Talent4Rise.

Scientific results

Paola Corradi has been working for almost thirty years on the development of ICT networks for businesses and public administration, on cloud solutions, on the start-up of new services and new markets. Her current interests include innovative ICT applications for smart cities and international relations as a lever for development in a globalised world. Advocating the importance of shared value between public administration, profit and non-profit companies, to activate cooperative circuits and positive feedback, and the development of new digital technologies as a tool for economic growth, Paola Corradi participates in Expo 2015 with a series of workshops at Cascina Triulza and cultural exhibitions on Expo themes (Epic Exhibition of Expo in the City - Shepherds of the Alps: 100 stories, 100 faces to feed the Planet). She brings to Expo 2015 the original Rise2Up project, whose primary objective is to give visibility to the good practices of Italian companies, in Italy and abroad, that stand out for Quality and Safety, Food Education, Originality and Biodiversity, Eco-sustainability, Health, WEB2.0, Internationality, Tradition and Conservation and Innovation. In April 2016, she organised a business mission to Dubai on the themes of innovation. Today she promotes, with the support of Talent4Rise Management, scientific workshops within the Human Factory Day programme of Fondazione Triulza.

Awards and prizes

The Rise2Up project was awarded by the Milan Chamber of Commerce as one of the best projects presented at the Thematic Tables of Expo2015. Paola Corradi is a member of the General Council of Fondazione Triulza as co-founder.

Position/Role

Full professor of Pharmacology at the University of Bari

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Bari in 1979, she specialized in Neurology at the same university. She then obtained a scholarship from the Mario Negri Institute in Milan and, in 1984, moved as a researcher to Duke University Medical Center, Durham in the United States, in the group of Dr. R.J. Lefkowitz, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2012. Her academic career continued as Research Assistant Professor at the same Duke University and, since 1992, as professor of Pharmacology at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland. In 2007 she returned to Italy definitively and became professor of Pharmacology at the University of Bari.

Scientific results

Susanna Cotecchia has always been committed to basic research as an indispensable tool for understanding the mechanisms of disease and drug action. Her research focuses on the study of membrane receptors and site-directed mutagenesis, a particular technique used in molecular biology to study the structure-function relationship of proteins. This line of research aims to address the fundamental questions of molecular pharmacology, providing rapid screening methods and useful information to understand the mechanism of action of medicines. The goal is to build new molecules with selective and targeted pharmacological properties, the so-called drug design, which avoids side effects in the treatment of numerous diseases.

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of more than 100 national and international scientific papers, including:

(2006) Stanasila L, Abuin L, Diviani D, Cotecchia S. Direct interaction of ezrin with the alpha1b-adrenergic receptor regulates recycling of the internalized receptors. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 281:4354-63. 

(2005) Hosoda C, Koshimizu TA, Tanoue A, Nasa Y, Oikawa R, Tomabechi T, Fukuda S, Shinoura H, Oshikawa S, Takeo S, Kitamura T, Cotecchia S, Tsujimoto G. Two alpha1-adrenergic receptor subtypes regulating the vasopressor response have differential roles in blood pressure regulation. Molecular Pharmacology, 67:912-22. 

(2005) Novi F, Stanasila L, Giorgi F, Corsini GU, Cotecchia S, Maggio R. Paired activation of two components within muscarinic M3 receptor dimers is required for recruitment of beta-arrestin-1 to the plasma membrane. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 280:19768-76.

(2005) Costa T and Cotecchia S. Historical Perspective: The discovery of inverse efficacy and the constitutive activity of GPCRs. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences.

(2005) Hosoda C, Tanoue A, Shibano M, Tanaka Y, Hiroyama M, Koshimizu TA, Cotecchia S, Kitamura T, Tsujimoto G, Koike K. Correlation between vasoconstrictor roles and mRNA expression of alpha(1) adrenoceptor subtypes in blood vessels of genetically engineered mice. British Journal of Pharmacology 146:456-66. 

(2005) Sarang Z, Molnar P, Nemeth T, Gomba S, Kardon T, Melino G, Cotecchia S, Fesus L, Szondy Z. Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) acting as G protein protects hepatocytes against Fas-mediated cell death in mice. Hepatology 42:578-87. 

(2004) Diviani D, Abuin L, Cotecchia S and Pansier L. Anchoring of both PKA and 14-3-3 inhibits the Rho-GEF activity of the AKAP-Lbc signaling complex, EMBO Journal 23:2811-20. 

(2004) Cotecchia S, Stanasila L, Diviani D, Bjorklof K, Rossier O and Fanelli F. Structural determinants involved in the activation and regulation of G protein-coupled receptors: lessons from the alpha1-adrenegic receptor subtypes. Biology of the Cell, 96:327-33. 

(2005) Zhang H, Cotecchia S, Thomas SA, Tanoue A, Tsujimoto G and Faber JE. Gene deletion of dopamine beta-hydroxylase and alpha1-adrenoceptors demonstrates involvement of catecholamines in vascular remodeling. American Physiological Society Journals, Heart and Circulatory Physiology, 287:H2106-H2114. 

(2004) Townsend SA, Jung AS, Gillian Hoe YS, Lefkowitz RY, Khan SA, Lemmon CA, Harrison RW, Lee K, Barouch LA, Cotecchia S, Shoukas AA, Nyhan D, Hare JM and Berkowitz DE. Critical role for the alpha-1B adrenergic receptor at the sympathetic neuroeffector junction. Hypertension, 44:776-82.

Awards and prizes

Susanna Cotecchia received the award of the European Federation of Biochemical Societies (FEBS) in 1995. In 2001 she obtained the "Receptor Research Prize" of Perk.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Egineering at the University of L'Aquila.

Professional career

After graduating in Economics at the University of L'Aquila, from 2000 to 2005 she served, first as a tutor then as a research and teaching collaborator, at the University of L'Aquila, Faculty of Engineering, for courses of Economics Applied to Engineering, Industrial Economics and Economics of Public Utility Services. At the same time, she continues her educational path with a PhD in Management and Economic Engineering at the University of San Marino which she obtained in 2004.

In 2007 she is a researcher, in 2015 she is an associate professor and since 2020 she is a full professor in management and economic engineering at the University of L'Aquila.

She is member of the Department of Industrial and Information Engineering and Economics, her teaching activity is focused on the courses of Economics and Business Organization and Management of Health Systems and Medical Diagnostic Instrumentation.

Scientific results

The research activity of Prof. Federica Cucchiella began in 2000 with a PhD in Management and Economic Engineering.

She began her scientific activity by taking an interest in the problems of optimizing supply chain performance and technology transfer.

Her research then focused on environmental issues related to waste management, the eco-sustainable exploitation of solar energy, renewable energy and the circular economy.

As part of her scientific research, particular attention was paid, with reference to the economic and managerial aspects, to the management of investments aimed at promoting energy from renewable sources with specific concentration on photovoltaic energy, biomethane and incinerators with energy recovery. Research was also developed to promote the adoption by the market of innovative technologies to support renewable energy, analyzing how to simplify the interconnection to the energy transmission and distribution system and how to support policies that allow the generation, integration, safety and sustainable use of renewable energy.

In order to promote and encourage sustainable development, she become involved in the study of new business models based on the principles of the Circular Economy with reference, among others, to waste from electrical and electronic equipment.

In recent years, the scientific research activities of Prof. Federica Cucchiella have focused on the definition of multidisciplinary frameworks to support decisions that favor the retrofit of existing buildings in order to make cities more efficient, intelligent, resilient and generally sustainable. 

Her research is generally characterized by a high interdisciplinarity in a wide range of engineering and science areas applied to renewable energy.

She is the author of four industrial invention patents that can contribute to the promotion of sustainable development and is a founding member of the Spin-off SENSing. The company, where she chaired the Board of Directors, operates in the field of the production of engineering materials and innovative bio-materials, scientific research and technological innovation applied to process or product innovation and the provision of services in the of scientific research

Editorial work and publications

She is co-author of approximately 100 scientific publications, including:

[2020] Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I, Gastaldi M, Koh L, Santibanez-Gonzalez EDR. Assessment of ghg emissions in Europe: Future estimates and policy implications. Environmental Engineering and Management Journal, 19(1):131-42.

[2020] Annibaldi V, Cucchiella F, De Berardinis P, Gastaldi M, Rotilio M. An integrated sustainable and profitable approach of energy efficiency in heritage buildings. Journal of Cleaner Production, 251.

[2019] Ferella F, Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I, Gallucci K. A techno-economic assessment of biogas upgrading in a developed market. Journal of Cleaner Production, 210:945-57.

[2019] Annibaldi V, Cucchiella F, De Berardinis P, Rotilio M, Stornelli V. Environmental and economic benefits of optimal insulation thickness: A life-cycle cost analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 116.

[2018] Cucchiella F, Gastaldi M, Miliacca M. The management of greenhouse gas emissions and its effects on firm performance. Journal of Cleaner Production, 167:1387-400.

[2018] Awasthi AK, Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I, Li J, Rosa P, Terzi S, et al. Modelling the correlations of e-waste quantity with economic increase. Science of The Total Environment, 613-614:46-53.

[2017] Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I, Gastaldi M. Sustainable waste management: Waste to energy plant as an alternative to landfill. Energy Conversion and Management, 131:18-31.

[2016] Cucchiella F, D’Adamo I, Rosa P. Urban waste to energy (WTE) plants: A social analysis. JP Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 13(3):421-44.

[2016] Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I, Gastaldi M. A profitability assessment of small-scale photovoltaic systems in an electricity market without subsidies. Energy Conversion and Management, 129:62-74.

[2016] Cucchiella F, D'Adamo I. Technical and economic analysis of biomethane: A focus on the role of subsidies. Energy Conversion and Management, 119:338-51.

[2015] Cucchiella F, D’Adamo I, Lenny Koh SC, Rosa P. Recycling of WEEEs: An economic assessment of present and future e-waste streams. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 51:263-72.

[2015] Cucchiella F, D’Adamo I, Gastaldi M. Financial analysis for investment and policy decisions in the renewable energy sector. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 17(4):887-904

Awards and prizes

2020 she appears among the 100,000 international scientists (in the Energy and Environmental Sciences research sectors) identified in the PLOS databases (PLOS - 100,000 Top Scientists) and created by the international journal Plos Biology to classify professors from universities all over the world.

2017 VQR 2011/2014 - 1st place at national level of the Univaq Group. Prof. Cucchiella's products all receive a maximum rating of 1 (excellent).

2017 She receives the prize of the Fund for Funding for Basic Research Activities (FFABR) intended to contribute to the basic research of researchers and assistant professors.

2017 The paper “Recycling of WEEEs: An economic assessment of present and future e-waste streams” (Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2015, 51:263-72) is classified by Web of Science as Highly Cited Paper.

2015 The paper "Cleaner Energy Production and Sustainable Investment: A Portfolio Analysis in the Italian Electricity Market" presentato al 5th International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production (San Paulo, Brazil, 20-22 May 2015) receives "Special mention" in the 5th International Workshop.

2015 she receives by Elsevier the Atlas Award for the paper "Recycling of WEEEs: An economic assessment of present and future e-waste streams" Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (Volume 51, November 2015).

2010 Her paper "Risk management in supply chain: a real option approach" is classified among the Top 20 articles of Journal of Manufacturing Technology management.

2010 She receives by Supply Chain Management: an International Journal (Emerald Group Publishing Limited) the Higly Commended Award for the paper "A photovoltaic system in a residential building: environmental and economic optimization analysis" presented at 8th International Conference on Supply Chain Management and Information Systems, Hong Kong, China, 6-8 october 2010

2007 Highly Commended Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2007 for the paper "Risk management in supply chain: a real option approach" Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management - special issue, 17(6), 700-720.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”

Professional career

After graduating in Chemistry from the University of Bari in 1993, she continued her education with a PhD in Chemistry in 1996 and, between 1995 and 1996, she was a Research Assistant in the Department of Chemistry at University College London. From 1996 to 1998, back in Italy, she carried out a post-doctorate at the Centro Studi Chimico Fisici sull'Interazione Luce-Materia of the CNR, in Bari. Since 1999 she has been a researcher at the Centre for Chemical and Physical Studies on Light-Matter Interaction, the following year she became a permanent researcher and since 2010 she has been First Researcher at the Institute for Chemical and Physical Processes (IPCF) of the CNR in Bari. Since 2018 she is Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Bari.

Scientific results

Maria Lucia Curri is currently responsible for materials chemistry activities, aimed at designing, manufacturing and processing inorganic solids at the nanoscale, within the Institute for Physical Chemistry Processes in Bari. The institute carries out interdisciplinary research activities oriented towards exploitation, technology transfer and training in research fields such as soft matter, complex materials and systems, nanostructured composites, biomimetic systems, innovative methodologies and multidisciplinary applications. Maria Lucia Curri's main activities, carried out within the framework of national and international research projects, concern the synthesis of nanoparticles (i.e. particles formed by atomic or molecular aggregates with a diameter between 2 and 200 nanometres) with control over their shape, size and crystalline phase, in order to precisely regulate their chemical-physical properties and their functionalisation. In this sense, the study of the properties of manufactured colloidal nanoparticles is important in order to assess their potential use of nanostructured materials in the biomedical field, such as theragnostic systems for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, in energy conversion and in the environmental technology sector, for the abatement of pollutants and the creation of sensors. Of particular note are the results obtained in the field of environmental applications of nanostructured semiconductors by the European LIMPID project on "Nanocomposite materials for the photocatalytic degradation of pollutants", of which she was coordinator.

Editorial work and publications

She has been co-authoring more than 200 publications and over 180 papers on international peer-reviewed journals and a number of other publications, including 10 book chapters.

Here below a selection:

(2019) Truppi A., Petronella F., Margiotta V., Lasorella G., Giotta G., Giannini C., Sibillano T., Murgolo S., Mascolo G., Agostiano A., Curri M. L. , Comparelli R. Gram-scale synthesis of UV–vis light active plasmonic photocatalytic nanocomposite based on TiO₂/Au nanorods for degradation of pollutants in water Applied Catalysis B, 243, 604-613.

(2016) Valente G, Depalo N, de Paola I, Iacobazzi RM, Denora N, Laquintana V, Comparelli R, Altamura E, Latronico T, Altomare M, Fanizza E, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Saviano M, Del Gatto A, Zaccaro L, Curri ML. Integrin Targeting with Peptide Bioconjugated to Semiconductor-Magnetic Nanocrystalline Heterostructures. Nano Research, 9:644-662.

(2015) Ingrosso C, Esposito Corcione C, Striani R, Comparelli R, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Curri ML^, Frigione M. UV-curable Nanocomposite based on Methacrylic-Siloxane Resin and Surface modified-TiO₂ Nanocrystals. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 7:15494-15505. 

(2014) Corricelli M, Depalo N, Di Carlo E, Fanizza E, Laquintana V, Denora N, Agostiano A, Striccoli M, Curri ML. Biotin-decorated silica coated PbS nanocrystals emitting in the second biological near infrared window for bioimaging. Nanoscale, 6: 7924-7933. 

(2013) Fanizza E, Depalo N, Clary L, Agostiano A, Striccoli M, Curri ML. A combined size sorting strategy for monodisperse plasmonic nanostructures. Nanoscale, 5(8):3272-82. 

(2013) Placido T, Aragay G, Pons J, Comparelli R, Curri ML, Merkoçi A. Ion-Directed Assembly of Gold Nanorods: a Strategy for Mercury Detection. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, 5 (3):1084-1092. 

(2010) Ingrosso C, Sardella E, Keller D, Dohn S, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Boisen A, Curri ML. Surface functionalization of epoxy resist based microcantilevers with iron oxide nanocrystals. Advanced Material, 22:3288-3292. 

(2009) Placido T, Comparelli R, Giannici F, Cozzoli PD, Capitani G, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Curri ML. Photochemical Synthesis of Water-Soluble Gold Nanorods: the Role of Silver in Assisting Anisotropic Growth. Chemistry of Materials, 18:4192-4202. 

(2009) Kim JY, Ingrosso C, Fakhfouri V, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Curri ML, Brugger J. Multi-color inkjet printing of highly luminescent nanocrystal based nanocomposites. Small, 5:1051-1057. 

(2007) Ingrosso C, Fakhfouri V, Striccoli M, Agostiano A, Voigt A, Gruetzner G, Curri ML, Brugger J. Luminescent nanocrystal modified epoxy photoresist for the fabrication of 3-D high aspect-ratio microstructures. Advanced Functional Materials, 17:2009-2017.

(2005) Comparelli R, Curri ML, Fanizza E, Cozzoli PD, Mascolo G, Agostiano A. UV-induced Photocatalytic Degradation of Azo Dyes by Organic-Capped ZnO Nanocrystals Immobilized onto Substrate. Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, 60:1-11.

Awards and prizes

Maria Lucia Curri has received numerous awards for her scientific posters.

In 2000,  "L. Senatore" (Italian Chemical Society) award for the poster ”Chemical and physical characterization of hybrid structures based on in organic nanocrystalline semiconductors and semiconducting polymer for opto-electronic applications”

In 2002, best poster at E-MRS Spring Meeting Strasbourg June 2002: “Colloidal oxide nanoparticles for the photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes”

In 2003, best poster at E-MRS Spring Meeting Strasbourg E-MRS Spring Meeting Strasbourg 2003: "TiO2 nanocrystals -conjugated -polymer thin film for photovoltaic application"

In 2004, best poster at E-MRS Spring Meeting Strasbourg May 2004: “Hybrid organic nanocomposites based on semiconducting colloidal quantum dots in polymers”.

In 2006, "L. Senatore" award Italian Chemical Society for the poster “Optical and morphological properties of hybrid nanocomposite based on colloidal TiO₂nanocrystals in polymer”.

In 2017, best Poster Nomination at IEEE NEMS 2017 Los Angeles (CA, USA): “Drug Delivery Nanovectors Based on SPIONS for Targeted Therapy of Hepatocellular Carcinoma”

Position/Role

Head of the Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine of the Cancer Institute of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan in 1976, she continued her education at the oncology laboratory of the Health Science Center of Tucson, in the United States. She then obtained a specialization in Medical and Biomedical Statistics at the University of Milan in 1997. In 1985 she became a professor of the Italian School of Breast Cancer and in 2001 professor for the Master in Diagnostic and Therapeutic Senology of the University of Siena, roles she still holds. She is also head of the Department of Experimental Oncology and Molecular Medicine of the Milan Cancer Institute.

Scientific results

The main interests of Maria Grazia Daidone are the study and characterization of tumor cells with high potential. This also occurs through translational studies in solid human tumors for the identification of biomolecular markers / profiles that lead to a diagnosis, prognosis and response to specific treatments, and through the study of resistance mechanisms to antitumor agents (drugs and / or hormones). Preclinical research on biomarkers and interactions between cancer cells and the immune system is an important support for the treatment and treatment of tumors: specifically, Maria Grazia Daidone is engaged in research on cancer cells of breast, ovarian and cervical cancer. She also coordinates quality control programs for the formulation and proposition of guidelines for the clinical use of biomarkers and for the collection and storage of biological material (BioBanche).

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of several book chapters and also more than 200 scientific publications in national and international journals including:

(2016) Callari M, Guffanti A, Soldà G, Merlino G, Fina E, Brini E, Moles A, Cappelletti V, Daidone MG. In-depth characterization of breast cancer tumor-promoting cell transcriptome by RNA sequencing and microarrays. Oncotarget, 7(1):976-94.

(2016) Callari M, Cappelletti V, D'Aiuto F, Musella V, Lembo A, Petel F, Karn T, Iwamoto T, Provero P, Daidone MG, Gianni L, Bianchini G. Subtype-Specific Metagene-Based Prediction of Outcome after Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment in Breast Cancer. Clinical Cancer Research, 22(2):337-45.

(2015) Cappelletti V, Appierto V, Tiberio P, Fina E, Callari M, Daidone MG. Circulating Biomarkers for Prediction of Treatment Response. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, (51):60-3.

(2015) D'Aiuto F, Callari M, Dugo M, Merlino G, Musella V, Miodini P, Paolini B, Cappelletti V, Daidone MG. miR-30e is an independent subtype-specific prognostic marker in breast cancer. British Journal of Cancer, 113(2):290-8.

(2015) Musella V, Pietrantonio F, Di Buduo E, Iacovelli R, Martinetti A, Sottotetti E, Bossi I, Maggi C, Di Bartolomeo M, de Braud F, Daidone MG, Cappelletti V. Circulating tumor cells as a longitudinal biomarker in patients with advanced chemorefractory, RAS-BRAF wild-type colorectal cancer receiving cetuximab or panitumumab. International Journal of Cancer, 137(6):1467-74.

(2015) Fina E, Callari M, Reduzzi C, D'Aiuto F, Mariani G, Generali D, Pierotti MA, Daidone MG, Cappelletti V. Gene expression profiling of circulating tumor cells in breast cancer. Clinical Chemistry, 61(1):278-89.

(2014) Callari M, Musella V, Di Buduo E, Sensi M, Miodini P, Dugo M, Orlandi R, Agresti R, Paolini B, Carcangiu ML, Cappelletti V, Daidone MG. Subtype-dependent prognostic relevance of an interferon-induced pathway metagene in node-negative breast cancer. Molecular Oncology, 8(7):1278-89.

(2011) Cordenonsi M, Zanconato F, Azzolin L, Forcato M, Rosato A, Frasson C, Inui M, Montagner M, Parenti AR, Poletti A, Daidone MG, Dupont S, Basso G, Bicciato S, Piccolo S. The Hippo transducer TAZ confers cancer stem cell-related traits on breast cancer cells. Cell, 147(4):759-72.

(2011) Callari M, Cappelletti V, De Cecco L, Musella V, Miodini P, Veneroni S, Gariboldi M, Pierotti MA, Daidone MG. Gene expression analysis reveals a different transcriptomic landscape in female and male breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 127(3):601-10.

(2010) Martello G, Rosato A, Ferrari F, Manfrin A, Cordenonsi M, Dupont S, Enzo E, Guzzardo V, Rondina M, Spruce T, Parenti AR, Daidone MG, Bicciato S, Piccolo S. A MicroRNA targeting dicer for metastasis control. Cell, 141(7):1195-207.

Awards and prizes

In May 2014, Maria Grazia Daidone received the R.O.S.A. (Results obtained without aid) from the Canova Club of Rome. 

Position/Role

Full Professor, Deputy Director of the Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia.

Professional career

Graduated cum laude in Physics from University of Milano, she has been CNR research fellow (1977-1980), assistant professor at University of Milano (1980-1989), associate professor at University of Milano (1989-1991) and at Politecnico di Milano (1991-1994), full professor and Director of the Informatics Institute at the University of Ancona (1994-1996). Since 1996, she has been full professor of Information Systems at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Brescia, where she has carried out intensive teaching, research and institutional service activities promoting the development of the area of ​​Computer Engineering. From November 2010 to October 2016, she was Rector’s Delegate for the Innovation of Information Systems of the University, and successfully led a radical and complex process of renewal of the ICT infrastructure and information systems, aimed at improving the processing of information, the communication with users and the provision of online services. In this role, she represented the University of Brescia in the Board of Directors and in the Executive Board of the CINECA consortium (Interuniversity Consortium for automatic computing) and of the CILEA consortium (Interuniversity Consortium for communication and information technology). From 2011 to 2016, she held numerous positions, including those of President of the University Library System and Chair of the ICT Committee. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Interuniversity Consortium for Computer Science (CINI), and University’s delegate for CINI Laboratories on Big Data, Smart Cities, Assistive Technologies.  She is member of Scientific Committees for the organization of specialization courses on Industry 4.0 promoted by the University of Brescia with the Industrial Association of Brescia.

Scientific results

The research activity of Valeria De Antonellis is in the area of ​​databases, information systems and Web with focus on design methodologies, conceptual modeling, representation and semantic integration of data, processes, services. She has been working within several national and international research projects and collaborations, coordinating parts of or whole projects. At international level, she is known for leading the national research project DATAID (Progetto Finalizzato CNR) originating the DATAID-1 methodology for the analysis, design and implementation of database systems (cited in “People Behind Informatics: The history of Conceptual Modeling”). In particular, at the beginning of the eighties, she promoted the "conceptual modeling of both data and processes" in the DATAID methodology anticipating issues of the object-oriented methodologies. To respond to the growing need to share and process data from heterogeneous sources, she proposed original techniques of semantic integration and schema matching. She faced problems in the area of ​​the Semantic Web and semantic interoperability, proposing innovative techniques of search, analysis and ranking of data and services available on the web. Her current research topics are aimed at the development of innovative models, methods and tools for the management and exploration of Big Data, with application in strategic areas such as Smart Cities and Industry 4.

Editorial work and publications

She is co-author of the books: Relational Database Theory (Benjamin/Cummings 1993, ISBN 0-8053-0249-2) and La Teoria Relazionale dei Dati (Bollati Boringhieri , ISBN: 88-339-5031-X, 1985). Co-editor of the book: Computer-Aided Database Design: the DATAID approach (North-Holland 1985, ISBN 0-444-87735-5).

She published over 200 scientific papers in relevant international journals and conference proceedings of the field, including:

(2018) Bianchini D, De Antonellis V, Melchiori M. Service Discovery and Recommendation for Multi-datasource Access: Exploiting Semantic and Social Technologies. A Comprehensive Guide through the Italian Database Research over the Last 25 Years. Studies in Big Data vol. 31, 375-390, Springer Int. Publ. 2018, ISBN 978-3-319-61892-0.

(2017) Bianchini D, De Antonellis V, Melchiori M. Wiser: A multi-dimensional framework for searching and ranking Web APIs. ACM Transactions on the Web, 11(3):1-32, ISSN: 1559-1131.

(2014) Bianchini D, Cappiello C, De Antonellis V, Pernici B. Service identification in inter-organizational process design. IEEE Transactions on Services Computing, 7(2): 265-278, ISSN: 1939-1374.

(2010) Bianchini D, Montanelli S, Aiello C, Baldoni R, Bolchini C, Bonomi S, Castano S, Catarci T, De Antonellis V, Ferrara A, Melchiori M, Quintarelli E, Scannapieco M, Schreiber FA, Tanca L. Emergent Semantics and Cooperation in Multi-knowledge Communities: the ESTEEM Approach. World Wide Web, 13(1-2): 3-31, ISSN: 1386-145X.

(2008) Bianchini D, De Antonellis V, Melchiori M. Flexible Semantic-based Service Matchmaking and Discovery. World Wide Web, 11(2):227-251, ISSN: 1386-145X.

(2006) Bianchini D, De Antonellis V, Pernici B, Plebani P. Ontology based Methodology for e-Service Discovery. Information Systems, 31(4):361-380, ISSN: 0306-4379.

(2001) Castano S, De Antonellis V, De Capitani D, Vimercati S. Global Viewing of Heterogeneous Data Sources. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 13(2): 277-297, ISSN: 1041-4347.

(1998) Castano S, De Antonellis V, Fugini MG, Pernici B. Conceptual Schema Analysis: techniques and applications. ACM Transactions on Database Systems, 23(3): 286-332, ISSN: 0362-5915.

(1995) Castano S, De Antonellis V. Reference Conceptual Architectures for Re-engineering Information Systems. International Journal of Cooperative Information Systems, 4(2-3): 213-236, ISSN: 0218-8430.

(1990) De Antonellis V, Zonta B. A Disciplined Approach to Office Analysis. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 16(8): 822-828, ISSN: 0098-5589.

(1985) De Antonellis V, Di Leva A. DATAID-1: a Database Design Methodology. Information Systems, 10(2):181-195, ISSN: 0306-4379.

Awards and prizes

She has been Chair of the AICA Working Group on Databases (1990-1997). Co-founder of the Italian Pole of Scientific and technological Research on Interoperability "Interop-Vlab.IT" (2008-2014). Co-founder and member of the Steering Committee of the Italian Conference SEBD (Advanced Systems for Databases).  Member of the "ER International Conference on Conceptual Modeling" Steering Committee. Associate member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal on Data&Knowledge Engineering, Elsevier. Member of the Scientific Committee of "Collana di Informatica", ed. Franco Angeli.

Recent awards: Outstanding contribution as Conference Co-Chair at International Conference on Conceptual Modeling, 2012; Best paper award at International Conference ICT Infrastructures and Services for Smart Cities, 2017; Best paper award at International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering, 2013.

Position/Role

Research Director of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics, Director of the “Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical Physics” Arcetri, Florence (Italy

Professional career

Physics Degree at the University of Florence, PhD at the School of Advanced Studies (SISSA) for the  Elementary Particles’ Sector,  Visiting Scientist at the University of Geneva and Cern, Professor on Contract at the Faculty of Science of Education and the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the  Florence University,  Research Director of the Florence Unit of the INFN,  Member of the Plenary European Committee for Future Accelerators (ECFA), Director of the Galileo Galilei Institute for Theoretical Physics, Arcetri Firenze (Italy).

Scientific results

Her research is in the field of particle physics. She has been interested on the phenomenological manifestations of New Physics phenomena in the high energy particle physics experiments by proposing beyond Standard Model scenarios that may solve the open problems of the Standard Model and study their experimental manifestations at present and future particle accelerators.  Having long worked on the construction of effective models she was able to give substantial contributions to the formulation of composite Higgs scenarios but also to the analysis of their phenomenological implications.  After the discovery of the Higgs particle in 2012, several questions are still to be answered: is it a fundamental scalar? Is it the only one responsible for the electroweak and the mass generation?  Is it unique, or a part of an extended Higgs sector? Is it the portal of an “hidden” dynamics? If the answer to this last question is affirmative, then one can explore the possibility of a composite Higgs particle, possibly a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson associated to the breaking of a global symmetry; a “new pion” which could offer a solution to the hierarchy problem. Recently the study of the composite dynamics in the early universe has captured her attention, in particular the occurrence of a strong first-order electro-weak phase transition, which can trigger baryogenesis in composite Higgs models. Another interesting aspect of this scenario is the generation of gravitational wave signatures that could be observed at future space-based interferometers.

Editorial work and publications

[2022] De Curtis S., Delle Rose L., Guiggiani A., Muyor A.G., Panico G., Bubble wall dynamics at the electroweak phase transition, Journal of High Energy Physics  03, 163.

[2019] De Curtis S., Delle Rose L., Panico G., Composite dynamics in the early Universe, Journal of High Energy Physics 12, 149.

[2013] Barducci D, Belyaev A, De Curtis S, Moretti S, Pruna G M. Exploring Drell-Yan signals from the 4D Composite Higgs Model at the LHC,  Journal of High Energy Physics 04, 152.

[2012] De Curtis S, Redi M, Tesi A. The 4D composite Higgs, Journal of High Energy Physics 04, 042

[2009] Cacciapaglia G, Deandrea A, De Curtis S.  Nearby resonances beyond the Breit-Wigner approximation, Physics Letters B 682: 43-49.

[2004] Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dominici D. Moose models with vanishing S parameter, Physical  Review D, PARTICLES, FIELDS, GRAVITATION, AND COSMOLOGY, 70: 055010.

[1999] Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dominici D, Gatto R. SM Kaluza-Klein excitations and electroweak precision tests, Physics  Letters B462: 48-54.

[1996] Casalbuoni R, Dominici D, Deandrea A, Gatto R, De Curtis S, Grazzini M. Low energy strong electroweak sector with decoupling, Physical Review D 53: 5201-5221.

[1993] Altarelli G, Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dibartolomeo N, Gatto R, Feruglio F. Extended Gauge-Modrels  and Precision  Electroweak  Data, Physics Letters B 318: 139-147.

[1989] Barducci A, Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Gatto R, Pettini G. Chiral-Symmetry Breaking in QCD at Finite Temperature and  Density, Physics Letters B 231: 463-470.

[1989] Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dominici D, Feruglio F, Gatto R. Non-Linear Realization of  Supersymmetry Algebra from  Supersymmetric  Constraint, Physics Letters B220: 569-575.

[1988] Barducci A, Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dominici D, Gatto R. Dynamical Chiral-Symmetry  Breaking and Determination of the Quark Masses, Physical Review D 38: 238-278.

[1985] Casalbuoni R, De Curtis S, Dominici D, Gatto R. Effective Weak Interaction Theory with a Possible New Vector Resonance From a Strong Higgs Sector, Physics Letters, B 155: 95-99.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Geometry at the Università Politecnica delle Marche and coordinator of the Equal Opportunity Committee of Unione Matematica Italiana (Italian Mathematics Union).

Professional career

Chiara de Fabritiis gets a MSc degree in mathematics at Università di Pisa and a “diploma di corso ordinario” at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa in 1989, where she gets also a PhD in Mathematics in 1994. She is ricercatrice universitaria in Geometry at SISSA (Trieste) in 1992-96, then she moves to Università di Bologna. In 1999 she is associate professor in Geometry at Università Politecnica delle Marche; in 2005 she obtains a full professor position in Geometry at the same institution. From 2008 to 2011 she is Head of the Dipartimento di Matematica “Vito Volterra”, since  2022 she is è director of Consorzio Interuniversitario per l’Alta Formazione Matematica.  

Scientific results

Chiara de Fabritiis’ scientific activity mainly concerns the study of complex geometry of manifolds, in last years she adds them quaternionic geometry and analysis, which then become central in her research.  She is also interested in gender issues in STEM fields; in didactics of mathematics, with particular focus on tertiary education and use of digital technologies, and in applications of geometry to technology and arts, music above all.

Editorial work and publications

She wrote several books, both at university level and addressed to general audience:

C. de Fabritiis: Il teorema fondamentale dell'algebra, I teoremi de Le Scienze, 2024.

C. de Fabritiis: Il teorema di Abel-Ruffini, I teoremi de Le Scienze, 2024.

F. Alessio , C. de Fabritiis, C. Marcelli, P. Montecchiari: Matematica zero, Pearson,  2016.

M. Abate, C de Fabritiis: Geometria analitica con elementi di algebra lineare, McGraw-Hill, 2015.

She is also author of several scientific papers published on national and international journals, among them: 

(2023) F. Alessio, C. de Fabritiis, A. I. Telloni: A STEM Literacy Program for Students in Secondary-Tertiary Transition to Reduce the Gender Gap: a Focus on the Students’ Perception, Journal of Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics, 19 6, 13 – 21. 

(2023) A. Altavilla, C. de Fabritiis: *-Logarithm for Slice Regular Functions, Atti Accademia Nazionale Lincei, Classe di Scienze, 31(2), 491-529.

(2020) A. Altavilla, C. de Fabritiis: Equivalence of slice semi-regular functions via Sylvester operators, Linear Algebra Applications, 607C, 151-189.

(2019) A. Altavilla, C. de Fabritiis: *-exponential of Slice Regular Functions, Proceedings American Mathematical Society, 147, 1173-1188.   

(2018) C. de Fabritiis, G. Gentili, G. Sarfatti: Quaternionic Hardy Spaces, Annali Scienze Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (5), XVIII-2 697-733.

(2006) C. de Fabritiis: Composition Operators on Bergman Spaces over the Punctured Plane, Journal Functional Analysis, 274, 152 -179.

(2002) C. de Fabritiis: Generic Subgroups of Aut(B_n), Annali Scienze Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (5), I, 851-868.

(1999) C. de Fabritiis: G. Gentili : On Holomorphic Maps which Commute with Hyperbolic Automorphisms, Advances in Mathematics, 144, 119 -136.

Awards and prizes

Since 2018 she is a member of Commissione Scientifica of Unione Matematica Italiana, she is also coordinates the Equal Opportunity Committee. Since the same date is member of Comitato Unico di Garanzia of her university, since 2021 she is the president of CUG.  She is director of Consorzio Interuniversitario per l’Alta Formazione Matematica since 2022.  From 2015 to 2023 she is head of the Unità di Ricerca dell’Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica at Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche. She is a member of the learned societies European Women in Mathematics and European Mathematical Society. In 1993 she is awarded the Premio di studio F. Severi.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Psychiatry at University of Pisa. Director of the Psychiatry Care Unit of the University Hospital of Pisa. President of the Italian College of University Professors of Psychiatry

Professional career

She graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Pisa in 1979, where she specialised in Psychiatry in 1984. In 1983 she became a researcher at the Institute of Pharmacology of the University of Pisa, and in 1987 she took up the same position at the Institute of Psychiatry of the same University. In 1992 she became an associate professor of psychiatry, and in 2001 she became a full professor of psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, Neurobiology, Pharmacology and Biotechnology at the same University. From 2001 to 2010 she was director of Operational Unit 2 of Psychiatry, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana. Since 2010 she has also been director of the Operational Unit 1 of Psychiatry and of the School of Specialisation in Psychiatry at the University of Pisa. Since 2012 she coordinates the Research and Teaching of the Integrated Department (DAI) of Neuroscience of the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana. Since 2015 she is Vice President of the Italian Society of Psychiatry (SIP). In 2018 she was elected President of the Italian College of Full Professors of Psychiatry.

Scientific results

His research activity is carried out in the fields of psychopathology, neurobiology, clinical pharmacology and genetics. Of particular relevance is her contribution to the "Spectrum Project", an international collaborative project (University of Pisa, University of Pittsburgh, University of New York, University of San Diego) for the development and validation of structured clinical interviews and questionnaires for the evaluation of mood (SCI-MOODS), anxiety (SCI-SHY, SCI-OBS, SCI-TALS), psychotic (SCI-PSY) and substance use symptoms (SCI-SUBS). Liliana Dell'Osso also conducts clinical research on the treatment of psychotic disorders, with particular emphasis on studies on the use of clozapine, on the use of typical and atypical antipsychotics in patients with bipolar syndrome and studies on schizophrenic disorders. More recently, Liliana Dell'Osso is involved in the study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and the autistic spectrum.

Editorial work and publications

Liliana Dell'Osso has written several popular scientific books:

L'altra Marilyn. Psichiatria e psicoanalisi di un cold case (Le Lettere, Firenze 2016)

L'Abisso negli occhi. Spettro Autistico e violenza di genere nel mito e nell’arte (ETS, Pisa 2016, 2019)

La verità sulla menzogna: dalle origini alla post-verità (ETS, Pisa 2017) 

Il caso Coco Chanel. L’insopportabile Genio (Giunti, Firenze 2018)

L’ombra dell’autismo. Declinazioni cliniche e psicopatologiche dello spettro autistico sottosoglia. (Franco Angeli, Milano 2018)

Genio e follia 2.0. Il complesso rapporto tra spettro autistico e competenze eccezionali (Franco Angeli, 2019).

Fatti di quotidiana follia (Giunti, Firenze 2019)

She is also the author/co-author/co-editor of more than 800 publications in international and national scientific journals, book chapters: manuals, treatises and monographs (in English and Italian), books, including: 

La malattia depressiva (Idelsen-Gnocchi, Napoli, 1989) 
Diagnosi psichiatrica e DSM-3-R (Giuffrè, Milano1989) 
Da Esculapio a Igea. Un approccio di genere alla salute (Plus, Pisa 2007) 
Recurrent Mood Disorders. New Perspectives in Therapy (Springer, 2012) 
Manuale di Clinica e Riabilitazione Psichiatrica, vol I e vol II (Giovanni Fioriti Editore, Roma, 2018) 

Awards and prizes

Liliana Dell'Osso is a member of the Top Italia Scientists, for the field of Clinical Sciences, is included in the Top Italian Women Scientists and is an member of the Virtual Italia Academy which includes Italian scientists and women scientists working in Italy and abroad. 

Since 1 November 2021, she has been the dean of the University of Pisa's Medical Area, the first woman in the history of the university to reach this goal.

In 2021, she won the international "Profilo Donna" award.

Position/Role

Full professor of Pharmacology and former Rector of the University of Cagliari

Professional career

Following her degree in Medicine at the University of Cagliari, Maria Del Zompo took a specialty degree in Neurology and started a career at the University of Cagliari as assistant in-charge in 1979. During the various phases of her career she spent more than two years at the “Biological Psychiatry Branch”, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Bethesda (USA), where she collaborated with John Tallman under Robert M. Post’s supervision. 

She is currently Full Professor of Pharmacology in the Degree Course in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Cagliari, where she was Pro-Rector from 2005 to 2007 and Rector from April 2015 to April 2021.

Scientific results

Professor Maria Del Zompo is member of numerous scientific societies, including the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, the International Society of Biological Psychiatry and the Italian Society of Pharmacology. She won the Burroughs Wellcome Stipend Award issued by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA) at the Biological Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, MD (USA).

Her clinical activity was based at the Unit of Clinical Pharmacology of the “San Giovanni di Dio” Hospital in Cagliari (Italy), a health care facility with clinics and day hospital, dedicated to various pathologies related to the field on clinical neurosciences, such as bipolar disorder and migraine, and to more specific activities in the field of clinical pharmacology, such as the management of adverse reactions to drugs.

Her many clinical and research interests include Clinical Psychopharmacology, Psychiatric Genetics (epidemiology and molecular genetics of bipolar disorder and suicidal behavior), Genetics of complex diseases such as Migraine, Cluster Headache and Alzheimer’s disease, Pharmacogenetics (genetic bases of response to drugs and adverse reactions to drugs).

She has many ongoing international collaborations with Professor Martin Alda (Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada); Professor Gustavo Turecki (Research and Academic Affairs, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada); Dr. Ming Ta Michael Lee (Laboratory for International Alliance on Genomic Research Core for Genomic Medicine, RIKEN Center for Integrative Medical Sciences, Yokohama, Japan) and Dr. David Gurwitz (National Institute for Psychobiology, Tel Aviv University, Israel).  

Maria Del Zompo is also a founding member of the International Consortium on Lithium Genetics (ConLiGen) and of the International Group for the Study of Lithium Treated Patients (IGSLI), whose annual meeting was held in Cagliari in 2010.

In 2006 she chaired, for the first time in Italy, the 14th World Congress of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, of which she’s an honorary member, which was held in Cagliari from October 28 to November 1. 

Editorial work and publications

Her scientific production consists of numerous publications in international books and journals, national books and journals and presentations at national and international meetings. Professor Maria Del Zompo has a total of 152 publications in international books and journals, 57 publications in national books and journals and 248 presentations at national and international meetings (H index: 30, according to Web of Science).

In 2015 she published an article entitled “Renal function during long-term lithium treatment: a cross-sectional and longitudinal study” in BMC Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal with a high impact factor, and this article was followed by an interview published in the “BioMe” website, entitled “Lithium treatment and renal function: do we really need to be concerned?“. 

Maria Del Zompo also works as a referee of scientific publications for numerous relevant international journals, and as a reviewer of scientific projects for Italian and international institutions.

Awards and prizes

In the recent years Maria Del Zompo has been involved in various social and cultural activities, local and regional, which she’s always joined with enthusiasm. In 2000 she won the “Eleonora D’Arborea” Award, a prize issued by Cagliari’s International Inner Wheel Club, that awards every year a Sardinian woman who has contributed to the social and cultural progress of Sardinia through her social, cultural and artistic activity.

She also won the AIDDA (an association of women working as managers or entrepreneurs) Prize as “Woman of the Year 2007”, for having deeply contributed to Sardinia’s luster in the world through the top level of her research and clinical activity.

Her interest in spreading the culture through the organization of scientific and educational meetings has always been consistent in time. In 2014 she joined the Marathon issued by Italian Environmental Fund (FAI), and held her speech in the city center, explaining the link between the old commercial core of the town and the University. In more recent years she hosted the Round Table entitled “Science and Society: Research and Ethics”. The relationship between ethics and science has always been a relevant topic for Maria Del Zompo: in an interview with writer Alessandro Ligas, entitled “Research, Innovation and Ethics: a comparison between scientific and medical progress and people’s rights”, she tells about her thoughts on a topic so relevant for the society.

After her election as the first woman Rector of the University of Cagliari in 60 years she gave a great impulse to the cultural activities of the University and to the involvement of the city.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Pathology, Medical School, University of  Padova

Professional career

She graduated in Biology in 1976 at the University of Padova, where she  continued her research activity as research fellow and, since 1981, as assistant Professor. She specialized in Microbiology in 1986.

She had research work experiences  at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, Bethesda, USA, Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis (Prof. P Fischinger Head) in 1980, and Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology (Prof. R Gallo, Head) in 1984,1985,1988.

In 1992 she became Associate Professor and since 2004 she is Full Professor of Pathology, Department of Surgery, Oncology and Gastroenterology, Medical School, University of Padova.

Since March 2005 she is Head of the Viral Oncology Unit, belonging to the Hospital of Padova and since  2006 to the Istituto Oncologico Veneto (IOV)-IRCCS.

Since 2017 she is Vice President of Medical School, University of Padova.

Scientific results

Anita De Rossi has long been involved in oncogenic retroviruses research. Her early efforts were directed towards investigating virus-host interactions in the murine system, including the role of endogenous retroviruses on leukemia development. Since 1983, her research has shifted from murine to human retroviruses (HTLV/HIV) in both experimental models and clinical settings.  

She has been involved in several international  projects concerning pediatric HIV/AIDS (WHO 1989-1990, and Pediatric European Network for treatment of AIDS, PENTA,  since 1991); her studies in this field addressed the virological and immunological correlates of pediatric disease outcome  and are some of the first to indicate that HIV infection from  mother-to-child HIV  mainly  occurs during intrapartum period  (AIDS 1992; J Clin Invest 1996)  and that host factors may restrict HIV infection (AIDS 1995; J Inf Dis 2001).

Her  interest has expanded to studying tumors in immunocompromised patients, with particular regard to EBV-related lymphomagenesis  in HIV-infected or transplant patients, and  more recently to studying cellular replicative potential driven by telomere/telomerase in virus-driven and virus-independent malignancies.  Her studies are some of the first demonstrating that LMP1 of EBV activates at transcriptional level the expression of TERT, the catalytic component of telomerase, which in turn contributes to preserving the expression of EBV latency proteins, a prerequisite for EBV-driven transformation (J Virol 2008). The consequence is that inhibition of TERT triggers the activation of the viral lytic cycle with death of the infected cells (Clin Cancer Res 2013).

Lastly, her studies demonstrated that quantification of TERT in plasma may represent a minimally invasive tool for monitoring malignancies (Clin Cancer Res 2008) and response to therapy (Br J Cancer 2018). In addition, her studies provide the rationale for considering inhibition of TERT a useful approach for setting up new therapeutic strategies for virus-dependent and virus-independent malignancies (Clin Cancer Res 2013; Cell Death Dis 2016).

Editorial work and publications

More than 300 publications:  Hindex 47; citations more than 7000

Key publications:

[2021] Cotugno N, Ruggiero A, Bonfante F, Petrara MR, Zicari S, Pascucci GR, Zangari P, De Ioris MA, Santilli V, Manno EC, Amodio D, Bortolami A, Pagliari M, Concato C, Linardos G, Campana A, Donà D, Giaquinto C; CACTUS Study Team, Brodin P, Rossi P, De Rossi A, Palma P. C. Virological and immunological features of SARS-CoV-2-infected children who develop neutralizing antibodies. Cell Rep. 2021 Mar 16;34(11):108852. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.108852.

[2018] Rampazzo E, Del Bianco P, Bertorelle R, Boso C, Perin A, Spiro G, Bergamo F, Belluco C, Buonadonna A, Palazzari E, Lonardi S, De Paoli S, Pucciarelli S, De Rossi A. The predictive and prognostic potential of plasma Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase (TERT) RNA in Rectal Cancer. British Journal of  Cancer, 118[6]:878-86.

[2015] Klein N, Palma P, Luzuriaga K, Pahwa S, Nastouli E, Gibb DM, Rojo P, Borkowsky W, Bernardi S, Zangari P, Calvez V, Compagnucci A, Wahren B, Foster C, Munoz-Fernández MÁ, De Rossi A, Ananworanich J, Pillay D, Giaquinto C, Rossi P. Early antiretroviral therapy in children perinatally infected with HIV: a unique opportunity to implement immunotherapeutic approaches to prolong viral remission. Lancet Infectious Diseases, 15[9]: 1108-14. 

[2013] Giunco S, Dolcetti R, Keppel S, Celeghin A, Indraccolo S, Dal Col J, Mastorci K, De Rossi A. hTERT inhibition triggers Epstein-Barr virus lytic cycle and apoptosis in immortalized and transformed B cells: a basis for new therapies. Clinical Cancer Research, 19[8]: 2036-47.

[2012] Dolcetti R, De Rossi A. Telomere/telomerase interplay in virus-driven and virus-independent lymphomagenesis:pathogenetic and clinical implications. Medicinal Research Reviews, 32[2]:233-53.

[2008] Terrin L, Rampazzo E, Pucciarelli S, Agostini M, Bertorelle R, Esposito G, Del Bianco P, Nitti D, De Rossi A. Relationship betwen tumor and plasma levels of hTERT mRNA in patients with colorectal cancer: implications for monitoring of neoplastic disease. Clinical Cancer Research, 14[22]:7444-51.

[2001] Ballon G, Ometto L, Righetti E, Cattelan AM, Masiero S, Zanchetta M, Chieco-Bianchi L, De Rossi A. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 modulates telomerase activity in peripheral blood lymphocytes. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 183[3]: 417-24.

[1996] De Rossi A, Masiero S, Giaquinto C, Ruga E, Comar M, Giacca M, Chieco-Bianchi L. Dynamics of viral replication in infants with vertically acquired human immunodeficiency  virus type 1 infection.The Journal of Clinical Investigations, 97[2]: 323-30.

[1995] Ometto L, Zanotto C, Maccabruni A, Caselli D, Truscia D, Giaquinto C, Ruga E, Chieco-Bianchi L, De Rossi A. Viral phenotype and host cell susceptibility to HIV-1 infection as risk factors for mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission.  AIDS  9[5]: 427-34. 

[1992] De Rossi A, Ometto L, Mammano F, Zanotto C, Giaquinto C, Chieco-Bianchi L. Vertical transmission of HIV-1: lack of detectable virus in peripheral blood cells of infected children at birth.AIDS  6[10]:1117-20. 

[1988] De Rossi A, Amadori  A, Chieco-Bianchi  L, Giaquinto C, Zacchello F, Buchbinder A, Wong-Staal F, Gallo RC. Polymerase chain reaction and in vitro antibody production for the early diagnosis of pediatric HIV infection.  Lancet, 2[8605]: 278

[1986] De Rossi A, Franchini G, Aldovini A, Del Mistro A, Chieco-Bianchi  L, Gallo  RC, Wong-Staal  F. Differential response to the cytopathic effects of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type III (HTLV-III) superinfection in T4+ (helper) and T8+ (suppressor) T-cell clones transformed by HTLV-I. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 83[12]:4297-301.

[1983] De Rossi A, D'Andrea E, Biasi G, Collavo D, Chieco-Bianchi L. Protection from spontaneous lymphoma development in SJL/J(v+) mice neonatally injected with dualtropic SJL-151 virus.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 80[9]:2775-9.

Position/Role

Senior researcher of the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) section of Rome

Professional career

After obtaining a degree in Physics at the University La Sapienza of Rome in 1992, he continued his education obtaining in 1997 a Ph.D. in Astronomy. In 1996, thanks to a grant from the CNR, he spent a year at their Institute of Space Astrophysics. Since 1998, she is a researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of the CNR, now  called  Institute of Astrophysics and Space Planetology of INAF.

Scientific results

The research interests of Maria Cristina De Sanctis mainly include three fields of study: the minor bodies of the solar system and planetary surfaces, the thermal evolution of solar system bodies, the instrumentation for space missions. She analyzed data from telescope, space and laboratory observations to investigate the composition of comets and asteroids, of the surface of the Moon and  Mercury. She has experience in the study of  composition of  asteroids by ground and space observations, as well of cometary gases through high-resolution spectral observations.

She has studied the thermal evolution of icy bodies of the solar system, developing a complex numerical code that allows to simulate the processes of differentiation and evolution of such objects (comets, KBOs, Centauri, asteroids). She has  a laboratory for spectral measurements of metorites and planetary analogues. She has also developed instrumentation for space missions, image spectrometers and multi-spectral cameras, to study of the compositions of planetary surface and minor bodies of the solar system. She has followed the development of entire projects, as a Principal Investigator (PI), dealing with the scientific and technical coordination of the team's activities, and with the ESA or NASA teams. She is the PI of VIR spectrometer onboard of Dawn NASA mission of Ma_MISS on ExoMars ESA mission. She is also involved in several other instruments on Bepi-Colombo, Rosetta, Juice Missions.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than 180 international publications, including:

(2016) De Sanctis MC, Raponi A, Ammannito E, Ciarniello M, Toplis MJ, McSween HY, Castillo-Rogez JC, et al. Bright carbonate deposits as evidence of aqueous alteration on (1) Ceres. Nature, 536, 7614:54-57. 
(2016) Filacchione G, De Sanctis MC, Capaccioni F, Raponi A, Tosi F, et al. Exposed water ice on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Nature, 529, 7586:368-372. 
(2016) Russell CT, Raymond CA, Ammannito E, Buczkowski DL, De Sanctis MC, Hiesinger H, Jaumann R, Konopliv AS, et al. Dawn arrives at Ceres: Exploration of a small, volatile-rich world. Science, 353 (6303):1008-1010. 
(2016) Combe JP, McCord TB, Tosi F, Ammannito E, Carrozzo FG, De Sanctis MC, Raponi A, Byrne S, et al. Detection of local H2O exposed at the surface of Ceres. Science, 353, 6303, aaf3010. 
(2016) Ammannito E, DeSanctis MC, Ciarniello M, Frigeri A, Carrozzo FG, et al. Distribution of phyllosilicates on the surface of Ceres. Science, 353 (6303). 
(2016) Buczkowski DL, Schmidt BE, Williams DA, Mest SC, Scully JEC, Ermakov AI, Preusker F, Schenk P, Otto KA, Hiesinger H, O'Brien D, Marchi S, Sizemore H, Hughson K, Chilton H, Bland M, Byrne S, Schorghofer N, Platz T, Jaumann R, Roatsch T, Sykes MV, Nathues A, De Sanctis MC, et al. The geomorphology of Ceres. Science, 353,6303, aaf4332. 
(2015) De Sanctis MC, Ammannito E, Raponi A, Marchi S, McCord TB, McSween HY, Capaccioni F, Capria MT, Carrozzo FG, Ciarniello M, et al. Ammoniated phyllosilicates with a likely outer Solar System origin on (1) Ceres. Nature, 528,7581:241-244. 
(2015) De Sanctis MC, Capaccioni F, Ciarniello M, Filacchione G, Formisano M, Mottola S, Raponi A, Tosi F, Bockelée-Morvan D, Erard S, et al. The diurnal cycle of water ice on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Nature,525,7570:500-503. 
(2013) Ammannito E, De Sanctis MC, Palomba E, Longobardo A, Mittlefehldt DW, McSween HY, et al. Olivine in an unexpected location on Vesta's surface. Nature, 504(7478).122-125. 
(2012) De Sanctis MC, Ammannito E, Capria MT, Tosi F, Capaccioni F, Zambon F, Carraro F, Fonte S, Frigeri A, Jaumann R, et al. Spectroscopic Characterization of Mineralogy and Its Diversity Across Vesta. Science, 336(6082), 697. 

She also wrote Heat and Gas Diffusion in Comet Nuclei (International Space Science Institute, 2006). 

She is on the editorial board of the journal Space Science Review.

Awards and prizes

Maria Cristina de Sanctis has received many honours and awards.

In 2004, ESA Scientific Award  “Outstanding contribution to  Rosetta Mission”.

In 2008, NASA Achievement  Award  “Dawn Science Payload”.

In 2009, NASA Achievement  Award  “DAWN post-lunch payload characterization and calibration activities”.

In 2012, NASA Achievement  Award “Exceptional and Succesful execution of the DAWN  at  Vesta”.

In 2013, NASA Achievement  Award "Dawn science data analysis at Vesta”.

In 2015, ESA Scientific Award  “Outstanding scientific contribution to  VEX Mission”.

In 2016, ESA Scientific Award “Outstanding scientific contribution to  Rosetta Mission”.       

In 2017, NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal.

Asteroid  17899 Mariacristina is called in her honor.

Position/Role

Senior Scientist at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Professional career

Mariastefania De Vido received a Master of Science cum laude in Engineering Physics from Politecnico di Milano in 2013. After graduation, she joined the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the UK where she is working on the development of high energy laser technology. 

In 2018 she received a prestigious fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 allowing her to establish a laboratory and a research group for the study and optimisation of optical materials. 

In parallel with her job, between 2016 and 2020 she completed an Engineering Doctorate at Heriot-Watt University with a thesis on the scaling of output energy and pulse rate in solid-state lasers. 

In 2021 she was promoted to Technical Leader responsible for the development of new generation high energy lasers operating at 100 Hz (100 pulses per second). In this role, she is responsible for staff and equipment of significant value (multi-million pounds), as well as taking the scientific lead in design and development activities.

Since 2019, De Vido delivers lectures at the University of York on laser technology for inertial confinement nuclear fusion. Since 2021 she is a member of the Management Committee of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Applied Photonics (University of St Andrews, Glasgow, Strathclyde, Edinburgh, Dundee and Heriot-Watt).

At the end of 2023 she will complete a Master of Business Administration at the Edinburgh Business School.

Scientific results

During her research work at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Mariastefania De Vido led high impact research studies aimed at advancing the development of high energy, high average power solid-state laser technology. 

Her work led to an improvement in the power and efficiency of such lasers, making them attractive for future applications such as treatments of materials for aerospace, healthcare diagnostics and treatments and development of energy sources based on inertial confinement nuclear fusion.  

She worked to the design and commissioning of lasers for international research centres, including the two most powerful nanosecond lasers in the world: DiPOLE100 at the HiLASE Centre (Czech Republic) and DiPOLE100X at the European XFEL (Germany). 

With her team at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory she developed cutting edge theoretical and experimental tools for the development and characterisation of optical materials, advancing the understanding of the thermo-optical effects in laser components and developing new solutions for the optimisation of laser performance.

Her research work on optical materials is funded by grants from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, by the European Commission and by the Royal Society.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of large number of international publications and patents, including:

[2021] De Vido M., Mason P. D., Fitton M., Eardley R. W., Quinn G., Clarke D., Ertel K., Butcher T. J., Phillips P. J., Banerjee S., Smith J., Spear J., Edwards C., Collier J. L. Modelling and measurement of thermal stress‑ induced depolarisation in high energy, high repetition rate diode‑pumped Yb:YAG lasers. Optics Express, 29(4): 5607‑23.

[2021] Divoký M., Pilař J., Hanuš M., Navrátil P., Denk O., Severová P., Mason P., Butcher T., Banerjee S., De Vido M., Edwards C., Collier J., Smrž M., Mocek T. 150 J DPSSL operating at 1.5 kW level. Optics Letters, 46(22): 5771‑3.

[2021] Phillips J. P., Banerjee S., Mason P., Smith J., Spear J., De Vido M., Ertel K., Butcher T., Quinn G., Clarke D., Edwards C., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Collier J. L. Second and third harmonic conversion of a kilowatt average power, 100‑J‑level diode pumped Yb:YAG laser in large aperture LBO. Optics Letters, 46(8): 1808‑11.

[2020] De Vido M., Wojtusiak A., Ertel K., High‑resolution absorption measurement at the zero phonon line of Yb:YAG between 80 K and 300 K. Optical Materials Express 10[3]: 717‑723.

[2020] Phillips J. P., Banerjee S., Ertel K., Mason P., Smith J., Butcher T., De Vido M., Edwards C., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Collier J. L. Stable high‑energy, high repetition rate, frequency doubling in a large aperture temperature‑ controlled LBO at 515 nm. Optics Letters 45(10): 2946‑9.

[2019] De Vido M., Ertel K., Wojtusiak A., Mason P. D., Phillips P. J., Banerjee S., Smith J. M., Butcher T. J., Edwards C. Optical rotatory power of quartz between 77 K and 325 K for 1030 nm wavelength. Optical Materials Express, 9(6): 2708‑15.

[2018] De Vido M., Mason P. Laser amplifier module, International Patent Application no. PCT/GB2018/051405, PCT publication no. WO2018215771A1.

[2017] De Vido M., Walsh T. J., Kirkpatrick S., Svrluga R., Ertel K., Phillips P. J., Mason P. D., Banerjee S., Smith J. M., Butcher T. J., Edwards C., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Collier J.L. Impact of gas cluster ion and accelerated neutral atom beam surface treatments on the laser‑induced damage threshold of ceramic Yb:YAG. Optical Materials Express, 7(9): 3303‑11.

[2017] De Vido M., Meissner D., Meissner S., Ertel K., Phillips P. J., Mason P. D., Banerjee S., Butcher T. J., Smith J. M., Edwards C., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Collier J. L. Characterisation of adhesive‑free bonded crystalline Yb:YAG for high energy laser applications. Optical Materials Express, 7(2): 425-32.

[2017] Mason P., Divoky M., Ertel K., Pilar J., Butcher T., Hanus M., Banerjee S., Phillips J., Smith J., De Vido M., Lucianetti A., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Edwards C., Mocek T., Collier J. L. Kilowatt average power 100 J‑level diode pumped solid state laser. Optica, 4(4): 438‑9.

[2017] De Vido M. Laser‑chain alignment, International Patent Application no. PCT/GB2017/050603, PCT publication no. WO/2017/163009.

[2016] Banerjee S., Mason P. D., Ertel K., Phillips P. J., De Vido M., Chekhlov O., Divoky M., Pilar J., Smith J., Butcher T., Lintern A., Tomlinson S., Shaikh W., Hooker C., Lucianetti A., Hernandez‑Gomez C., Mocek T., Edwards C., Collier J. L. 100 J‑level nanosecond pulsed diode pumped solid state laser. Optics Letters, 41(9): 2089‑92.

Awards and prizes

Mariastefania De Vido received several grants and awards, including:

2018: Industrial Fellowship from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 for research on advanced laser materials.

2018: 1^st presentation prize for young researchers at the Advanced Solid-State Laser Congress (Boston, US).

2019: Young UK Laser Engineer Prize by the Association of industrial Laser Users in recognition of her work carried out in developing and optimising high energy, high-power nanosecond laser sources for industrial applications.

2020: Staff Recognition Prize by the Science and Technology Facilities Council for “inspirational line management”, recognising her efforts in employee development and retention. 

2020: MacFarlane Prize from Heriot-Watt University, presented to the doctoral graduate who has made the most outstanding contribution to the research of the whole of the University.

2021: she was selected among other 30 professionals from UK academia, research, industry and government to join the Foundation for Science and Technology’s “Future Leaders” programme. As part of this, she engaged in policy advice and organised debates on future R&D challenges.

2021: she received, as principal investigator, an International Exchanges Grant by the Royal Society to establish a new research collaboration with the Italian National Research Council (CNR) on novel manufacturing techniques for laser ceramic materials.

Position/Role

Full professor of General Physics at the University of Roma Tor Vergata and Director of the INFN group at Roma Tor Vergata. Her research field is the experimental Particle Physics.  She leads a group of researchers of the University of Roma Tor Vergata working on the ATLAS experiment at the CERN laboratory (Geneva, Switzerland). 

Professional career

She graduated at the University of Roma La Sapienza on the UA1 experiment at CERN. In 1984 she won a position as assistant professor at the University of Roma Tor Vergata and in 1999 she becme aassociate professor.  From 1981-1983 she was research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA. In 1984 and 1985 she was visitor at the Physics Department of the Harvard University (USA) and at the Oak-Ridge American Laboratory (USA). From 1987-1988 she was fellow at CERN. In 1994 she won an “Alexander von Humboldt” fellowship for a research program in particle physics at the Albert-Ludwig-University in Freiburg, Germany.

Scientific results

 She participated in several high energy experiments at CERN to study proton-proton collisions at 63 GeV (experiment R807 at the ISR), proton-antiproton collisions at 540 and 630 GeV (UA1 experiment at the ppbar Collider, discovery of the W and Z bosons, Nobel Prize to Prof. C. Rubbia), pion-nucleon interactions at 26 GeV in the center of mass (WA92 at the SPS proto-synchrotron) and proton-proton collisions at 7, 8, 13 TeV (ATLAS experiment at LHC, discovery of the Higgs Boson, Nobel Prize to Prof. F. Englert and Prof. P. Higgs). She was contributing to the development of a high time resolution detector,RPC, employed for the barrel muon trigger in the ATLAS spectrometer. From 2013-2015 she led the Italian participation to the ATLAS experiment. She is currently involved in the upgrade project of the ATLAS spectrometer for the high luminosity LHC program.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than 800 publications among which :

(2017) Atlas Collaboration. Evidence for the 𝐻→𝑏𝑏⎯ decay with the ATLAS detector, JHEP 1712 024.

(2013) Atlas Collaboration. Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Physics Letters B, 726:1-3, 88-119. 

(2013) Atlas Collaboration. Evidence for the spin-0 nature of the Higgs boson using ATLAS data. Physics Letters B, 726:1-3, 120-144. 

(2012) Atlas Collaboration. Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Physics Letters B, 716: 1, 1-29. 

(2012) Atlas Collaboration. Combined search for the Standard Model Higgs boson using up to 4.9 fb(-1) of pp collision data at root s=7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Physics Letters B, 710: 1, 49-66. 

(2012) Atlas Collaboration. Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson in the Diphoton Decay Channel with 4.9 fb(-1) of pp Collision Data at root s=7 TeV with ATLAS. Physical Review Letters, 108:11,111803.  

(2008) Aad G, Abat E, Abdallah J, et al. The ATLAS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Journal Of Instrumentation, 3, S08003. 

(1990) Albajar C, Albrow MG, Allkofer OC, et al. A Study of the General-Characteristics of Proton Antiproton Collisions at square-Root s=0.2 to 0.9 TeV. Nuclear Physics B, 335: 2, 261-287. 

(1987) Albajar C, Albrow MG, Allkofer OC, et al. Search for B0-Bbar0 Oscillations at the CERN Proton-Antiproton Collider. Physics Letters B, 186: 2, 247-254 

(1983) Arnison G, Astbury A, Aubert B, et al. Experimental-observation of isolated large transverse energy electrons with associated missing energy at square-root-s=540 GeV. Physics Letters B, 122:1, 103-116. 

(1983) Arnison G, Astbury A, Aubert B, et al. Experimental-Observation of Lepton Pairs of Invariant Mass Around 95 GeV/c^2 at the CERN SpS Collider. Physics Letters B, 126:5, 398-410.

Awards and prizes

In 1987 she got a prize from the Italian Society of Physics  (SIF), in 2013 the European Society of Physics (EPS) was assigned to the ATLAS Collaboration a prize for the discovery of the Higgs Boson. In 2016 she got the prize “Cajeta 2016” assigned from the City of Gaeta (my home town) to women that distinguished in Science.

Position/Role

Professor of Space Economy and Director of Space Economy Evolution Lab (SEE Lab) at Bocconi School of Management, Milan.

Professional career

After graduating in physics with a specialisation in astrophysics and space physics at the University La Sapienza in Rome in 1984, in 1986 she joined the National Space Plan of the National Research Council, which became the Italian Space Agency (ASI) in 1988. Her responsibilities ranged from Earth observation to automation and robotics, science and human spaceflight. In 2002, she was appointed Director of the ASI's Observation of the Universe, in charge of all the scientific programmes of ASI, including its contribution to ESA programmes, and of the exploration programmes, and the management of the Italian astronauts. From 2008 to 2011, Di Pippo served as Director of Human Spaceflight at the ESA, first woman appointed Director at ESA since its inception in 1975. In 2009, she co-founded the association Women in Aerospace – Europe, to expand the representation and leadership of women in the aerospace sector. Her leadership as President lasted until 2016, when she was appointed as Honorary President. In 2017 she became UN International Gender Champion. After having served as the Head of the European Space Policy Observatory at Agenzia Spaziale Italiana (ASI) in Brussels, from March 2014 to March 2022, she was the Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) in Vienna.

She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Space, the board of directors of RINA SPA, and the chairperson of their ESG Committee, and a member of the Scientific Council of Criptaliae for the development of the Grottaglie spaceport.

Scientific results

Simonetta Di Pippo is considered one of the foremost experts in international aerospace cooperation. As Director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), from 2014 to 2022, she developed strategies, policies and supervised all activities carried out by the Office, ensuring their development in accordance with the mandate of the United Nations General Assembly and the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), respectively. 

Her expertise covers space exploration, observation of the universe, the peaceful use of outer space, the use of technology and science for sustainable development and the reduction of risks of natural disasters and catastrophes, the Space Economy, and women's leadership in the aerospace sector.

Editorial work and publications

Simonetta Di Pippo has authored or coauthored numerous scientific and popular publications, including three highly popular monographs:

(2022) Space economy. La nuova frontiera dello sviluppo. Milano: Bocconi University Press.

(2007) (con C. Smiraglia, I.E. Tabacco, M. Di Martino, C. Guaita) Dai ghiacciai della Terra ai ghiaccia dell'Universo. Genova: Erga Edizioni.

(2002) Astronauti. Milano: Ugo Mursia Editore.

Awards and prizes

During her career, Simonetta Di Pippo has received many national and international recognitions, among them in 2006 she was awarded the title of Cavaliere Ufficiale al Merito by the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and in 2022 the title of Commendatore al Merito della Repubblica Italiana by President Sergio Mattarella.

In 2008, the International Astronomical Union awarded asteroid 21887 the name 'DiPippo' in recognition of its commitment to space exploration. 

In 2010 she won the Sebetia-Ter - Targa d'Argento international award from the President of the Republic for his contribution to the space sector. 

In 2012 she received the Women in Aerospace Leadership Award in recognition of her role as an inspirer of space exploration, a manager with great capabilities for complex space projects, and a leader for young women in aerospace. 

In 2013, she received the Laurea Honoris Causa in Scienze ambientali (Environmental Science).

In 2016, she received the International Cooperation Award presented by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) to those who contribute significantly to the promotion of international cooperation in space activities.

In 2017, she received the Laurea Honoris Causa in Relazioni Internazionali(International Relations).

In 2018, she received the Hubert Curie Award from Eurisy, first woman ever to receive this award.

In 2022, she received the following awards:

• the Hall of Fame of the International Astronautical Federation;
• the "Volti della Memoria" Award from the Presidency of the Milan City Council;
• the Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold for services to the Republic of Austria, from the Presidency of the Austrian Republic;
• the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government.

Position/Role

Professor of Biostatistics at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Professional career

After graduating in Statistics at La Sapienza University in Rome, she continued her education with a PhD at the University of Padua in 1997. After moving abroad, she became a Visiting Assistant Professor at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, homonymous university in Baltimore. She continued her academic career at John Hopkins and became Professor of the biostatistics department in 2007. She later moved to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, of the university of the same name, until she fulfilled the role not only of Professor of biostatistics but also of Senior Associate Dean for Research. Francesca Dominici's main interest is focused on the development of statistical methods for the analysis of large and complex data samples (Big Data), coming from heterogeneous sources, so that they can be combined to obtain important information that can be applied to different disciplines such as climate change, environmental sciences, cancer comparative research and public health policies.

Scientific results

Francesca Dominici is engaged in the development of new statistical methods for the analysis of large amounts of data (big data) detected and stored in massive databases (data warehouses) such as those of Medicare and SEER-Medicare. Her challenge is to develop new methods of Bayesian random inference (approach to statistical inference in which the probabilities of a given event happen are considered as levels of trust and no longer as frequencies), to overcome the analytical difficulties inherent in using large databases. This new approach allows Francesca Dominici, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, to compare the efficacy in medical research in the treatment of glioblastoma (a tumor that develops between the glial cells, components of the nervous system along with neurons) and other tumors. Furthermore, her studies have directly influenced American policy on air quality and pollution, leading to the creation of new air and environmental quality standards.

Editorial work and publications

Professor Dominici has authored numerous scientific publications, including:

(2000) Dominici F, Samet JM, Zeger SL. Combining Evidence on Air pollution and Daily Mortality from the Twenty Largest US Cities: A Hierarchical Modelling Strategy with discussion. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A, 163(3):263-302.

(2000) Samet JM, Dominici F, Curriero F, Coursac I, Zeger SL, Fine Particulate Air Pollution and Mortality in 20 U.S. Cities: 1987-1994. New England Journal of Medicine, 343(24):1742-9.

(2004) Dominici F, McDermott A, Hastie T. Improved Semi-parametric Time Series Models of Air Pollution and Mortality. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 468:938-948. 

(2006) Dominici F, Peng D, Bell M, Pham M, McDermott A, Zeger SL, Samet JM. Fine Particulates Air Pollution and Hospital Admission for Cardiovascular and Respiratory Diseases. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 295:1127-1135. 

(2006) Peng R, Dominici F, Zeger SL. Reproducible Epidemiological Research. American Journal of Epidemiology, 163:783-789.

(2009) Dominici F, Fried L, Zeger SL. So Few Women Leaders: Look for the Root Causes. Academe, July-August 2009. (2012) Wang C, Parmigiani G, Dominici F. Bayesian effect estimation accounting for adjustment uncertainty. Biometrics, (68)3:681-689.

(2014) Zigler CM, Dominici F. Uncertainty in propensity score estimation: Bayesian methods for variable selection and model averaged causal effects. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 109(505):95-107.

(2014) Dominici F, Greenstone M, Sunstein CR. Science and Regulation. Particulate matter matters. Science, 344(6181):257-9. 

(2014) Bobb F, Obermeyer Z, Wang Y, Dominici F. Cause-specific risk of hospital admission related to extreme heat in older adults. Journal of the American Medical Association, 312(24):2659-2667. (Recognized in January 2016 as one out of 28 NIEHS Papers of the Year).

Awards and prizes

Francesca Dominici has always shown commitment to promoting diversity within the academic sphere. She co-chaired the Women's Condition Commission at John Hopkins University. In 2009 she received the Diversity Recognition Award from the Rector of John Hopkins University. In 2015 she was awarded the Florence Nightingale David Award for her contributions as a model for women and for excellence demonstrated in statistical research, in leadership of multidisciplinary groups and in education. She currently chairs the University Committee for the Advancement of Women at the University of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Position/Role

Head of the Laboratory of Translation and Medicine and of the Neuromed Biobanking Center, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli (Isernia)

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome in 1968, she continued her training by specialising in Clinical and Laboratory Haematology at the same university. In 1973 she obtained a PhD in Pathophysiology (Haematology) from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium. She began her research career during the university years: in 1963 she was a Research Student at the Institute of Microbiology of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in 1965 dhe held the same position in the Coagulation Laboratory of the Department of Internal Medicine of the same university, and during her doctorate in Leuven she was a Ph.D. Research Fellow in the Laboratory of Coagulation and Proteolysis. In 1973, she founded and directed the Laboratory of Research on Haemostasis and Thrombosis at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, and in 1987 she co-founded and coordinated the Mario Negri Sud Biomedical and Pharmacological Research Centre in Santa Maria Imbaro, in the province of Chieti. In addition to her research career, she has also been invited by several Italian universities to teach courses in physiopathology at the University of Bologna from 1990 to 1993 and in cell biology at the Catholic University of Campobasso from 2005 to 2012. From 1995 to 2001 she directed the Department of Vascular Medicine and Pharmacology of the Mario Negri Sud Consortium, and in 2002 she was head of the Telethon Laboratory at the Centre for Research and High-Tech Training in Biomedical Sciences at the Catholic University of Campobasso, where she founded and coordinated the scientific projects of the research laboratories of the Centre for Research and High-Tech Training in Biomedical Sciences. Since 2013 she has been head of the Translational Medicine laboratory of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention of the IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed, in Pozzilli, a role she still holds today.

Scientific results

Maria Benedetta Donati has always devoted herself to the study of thrombosis, the process that leads to the obstruction of blood vessels and is the cause of widespread diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. In particular, in the early part of her career, she conducted pioneering studies on the relationship between thrombosis and cancer and on the possibility of treating certain forms of cancer with anticoagulant drugs. In 1983, she founded the first international working group dedicated to the relationship between tumours and thrombosis. More recently, she has been working on genetic and environmental factors (particularly nutrition) in the development of cardiovascular risk and has discovered, with Licia Iacoviello, the existence of a genetic coagulation factor that protects 20% of the Italian population against heart attack. Since 2005 she has been part of the coordination of Moli-sani, an epidemiological study of 25,000 people living in Molise promoted by the IRCCS of Pozzilli, which studies and disseminates the beneficial effects of the Mediterranean diet on health.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored numerous scientific publications, including:

(2016) Bonaccio M, Di Castelnuovo A, Costanzo S, Persichillo M, De Curtis A, Donati MB, de Gaetano G, Iacoviello L, MOLI-SANI Study Investigators. Adherence to the traditional Mediterranean diet and mortality in subjects with diabetes. Prospective results from the MOLI-SANI study. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 23(4):400-7.

(2015) Iacoviello L, Di Castelnuovo A, de Curtis A, Agnoli C, Frasca G, Mattiello A, Matullo G, Ricceri F, Sacerdote C, Grioni S, Tumino R, Napoleone E, Lorenzet R, de Gaetano G, Panico S, Donati MB. Circulating Tissue Factor Levels and Risk of Stroke: Findings From the EPICOR Study. Stroke, 46(6):1501-7.

(2014) Bonaccio M, Di Castelnuovo A, De Curtis A, Costanzo S, Persichillo M, Donati MB, Cerletti C, Iacoviello L, de Gaetano G, MOLI-SANI Project Investigators. Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with lower platelet and leukocyte counts: results from the Moli-sani study. Blood, 123(19):3037-44. 

(2010) Caruso V, Di Castelnuovo A, Meschengieser S, Lazzari MA, de Gaetano G, Storti S, Iacoviello L, Donati MB. Thrombotic complications in adult patients with lymphoma: a meta-analysis of 29 independent cohorts including 18 018 patients and 1149 events. Blood, 115(26):5322-8. 

(2006) Caruso V, Iacoviello L, Di Castelnuovo A, Storti S, Mariani G, de Gaetano G, Donati MB. Thrombotic complications in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a meta-analysis of 17 prospective studies comprising 1752 pediatric patients. Blood, 108(7):2216-22. 

(1998) Iacoviello L, Di Castelnuovo A, De Knijff P, D'Orazio A, Amore C, Arboretti R, Kluft C, Donati MB. Polymorphisms in the coagulation factor VII gene and the risk of myocardial infarction. The New England Journal of Medicine, 338(2):79-85. 

(1995) Donati MB. Cancer and thrombosis: from Phlegmasia alba dolens to transgenic mice. Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 74(1):278-81. 

(1983) Colucci M, Balconi G, Lorenzet R, Pietra A, Locati D, Donati MB, Semeraro N. Cultured human endothelial cells generate tissue factor in response to endotoxin. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 71(6):1893-6.

(1982) Bertani T, Poggi A, Pozzoni R, Delaini F, Sacchi G, Thoua Y, Mecca G, Remuzzi G, Donati MB. Adriamycin-induced nephrotic syndrome in rats: sequence of pathologic events. Laboratory Investigation, 46(1):16-23.

(1978) Remuzzi G, Misiani R, Marchesi D, Livio M, Mecca G, de Gaetano G, Donati MB. Haemolytic-uraemic syndrome: deficiency of plasma factor(s) regulating prostacyclin activity? Lancet, 2(8095):871-2.

Awards and prizes

Maria Benedetta Donati has received several awards since the beginning of her career: in 1968 she won the Agostino Gemelli prize as the best medical graduate of the year from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome and in 1983 she was awarded the international Minerva prize for female excellence in research. 

In 1999 she received the Distinguished Career Award from the International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis in Washington. 

In 2000 and 2002 she received two honorary degrees, the first from the University of Debrecen in Hungary and the second from the University of Bialystok in Poland. 

In 2002, in Paringi, UNESCO in collaboration with L'OREAL International awarded her the Special Honor for Women in Science.

In 2016 she received the Top Italian Women Scientists Award in Biomedical Sciences.

Position/Role

Junior Faculty at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Professional career

Dondossola got her BSc in Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and her MSc in Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, where she further pursued her international PhD studies in Cell and Molecular Biology, in collaboration with the British Open University, followed by a post-doc in Molecular Oncology. She has been teaching Biochemistry and History of Cancer Research at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University since 2008. In 2011 Dondossola moved to UT MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX, USA, where she is currently working. 

Dondossola joined the American Association for Cancer Research in 2009.

Scientific results

Dondossola’s research activity focuses on the study of the tumor microenvironment, the non-malignant component that supports tumor function and progression. Her initial studies explored the role of tumor blood vessels in metastasis development and therapeutic response. She demonstrated that Chromogranin A, a circulating protein, decreases vascular permeability and inhibits the penetration of therapeutic agents, including chemotherapy and molecular drugs. She further showed that this mechanism reduces the ability of cancer cells to generate metastasis to distant organs and to the tumor itself, a process identified as tumor-self seeding (the property of circulating cancer cells to re-infiltrate their tumor of origin). Dondossola tested the provocative hypothesis that circulating tumor cells can be genetically manipulated and used as anti-cancer treatment thanks to their capacity to spontaneously home to tumors (through the self-seeding process). As a result, the application of engineered tumor cells significantly reduces the growth of both primary and metastatic tumors. Furthermore, she identified a novel population of immune cells (myeloid) that express CD13 protein and support the formation of neo-angiogenic vessels and tumor progression. 

Dondossola recently developed an interest in tissue engineering and intravital multiphoton microscopy, an approach that allows monitoring the dynamic evolution of biological processes over time. These strategies have been combined and applied to understand the mechanisms that support the progression of prostate cancer bone metastasis. She further extended these applications to the study of another non-tumor desmoplastic process, defined foreign body response.

Editorial work and publications

Eleonora Dondossola is an author/coauthor in several important scientific papers, including:

[2018] Dondossola E, Alexander S, Holzapfel BM, Filippini S, Starbuck MW, Hoffman RM, Navone N, De-Juan-Pardo EM, Logothetis CJ, Hutmacher DW, Friedl P. Intravital microscopy of osteolytic progression and therapy response of cancer lesions in bone. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Aug 1;10(452).

[2016] Dondossola E, Holzapfel BM, Alexander S, Filippini S, Hutmacher DW, Friedl P. Dissecting the foreign body response to biomaterials by non-linear intravital microscopy. Nat Biomed Eng. 2016 Dec 19; 1, 0007.

[2016] Dondossola E, Dobroff AJ, Marchiò S, Cardó-Vila M, Hosoya H, Libutti SK, Corti A, Sidman RL, Arap W, Pasqualini R. Self-targeting of TNF-releasing cancer cells in preclinical models of primary and metastatic tumors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 Feb 23;113(8):2223-8.

[2013] Dondossola E, Rangel R, Guzman-Rojas L, Barbu EM, Hosoya H, St John LS, Molldrem JJ, Corti A, Sidman RL, Arap W, Pasqualini R.CD13-positive bone marrow-derived myeloid cells promote angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2013 Dec 17;110(51):20717-22.

[2012] Guzman-Rojas L, Rangel R, Salameh A, Edwards JK, Dondossola E, Kim YG, Saghatelian A, Giordano RJ, Kolonin MG, Staquicini FI, Koivunen E, Sidman RL, Arap W, Pasqualini R. Cooperative effects of aminopeptidase N (CD13) expressed by nonmalignant and cancer cells within the tumor microenvironment. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2012 Jan 31;109(5):1637-42.

[2012] Dondossola E, Crippa L, Colombo B, Elisabetta Ferrero and Corti A. Chromogranin A regulates tumor self-seeding and dissemination. Cancer Research, 2012 Jan 15;72(2):449-59.

[2011] Veschini L, Crippa L, Dondossola E, Doglioni C, Corti A and Ferrero E. The vasostatin-1 fragment of chromogranin A preserves a quiescent phenotype in hypoxia-driven endothelial cells and regulates tumor neo-vascularization. Faseb Journal, 2011 Nov; 25(11):3906-14.

[2011] Dondossola E, Gasparri A, Colombo B, Sacchi A, Curnis F and Corti A. Chromogranin A restricts drug penetration and limits the ability of NGR-TNF to enhance chemotherapeutic efficacy. Cancer Research, 2011 Sep 1; 71(17):5881-90.

[2010] Dondossola E, Gasparri A, Bachi A, Longhi R, Metz-Boutigue, MH, Tota B, Helle KB, Curnis F and Corti A. Role of vasostatin-1 C-terminal region in fibroblast cell adhesion. Cell and Molecular Life Sciences, 2010 Jun;67(12):2107-18.

[2006] Curnis F, Longhi R, Crippa L, Cattaneo A, Dondossola E, Bachi A and Corti A. Spontaneous formation of L-isoAspartate and gain-of-function in fibronectin. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2006 Nov 24; 281(47):36466-76. 

Awards and prizes

In 2014 she received the AMGEN Award in Basic Science Research from UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston. In the same year she received the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Individual Investigator Award. In 2015 she was awarded the Gerald B. Grindey Memorial Scholar-in-Training Award at the AACR Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, USA. In 2016 she got the Mark Walter, Brent Nicklas, Adrianne and Jerry Cohen–PCF Young Investigator Award from the Prostate Cancer Foundation. In 2017 she received the Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Research Award, The Rolanette and Berdon Lawrence Bone Disease Program of Texas, USA.

In 2021 she received the "40 Under 40 in Cancer". This award recognizes the US most promising young oncology professionals and celebrates their contributions to improve the lives of those affected by cancer.

Position/Role

Director of the National HIV/AIDS Research Center - Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy

Professional career

Barbara Ensoli, M.D., Ph.D., graduated in Medicine and Surgery and specialized in Clinical Immunology and Allergy at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Italy. She then spent more than 10 years at the National Institute of Health (Bethesda, Maryland, USA), working at the National Cancer Institute. During those years she elucidated the role of the HIV-1 Tat protein in HIV pathogenesis and AIDS-associated tumors.

Her current research interests are HIV pathogenesis and the development of HIV/AIDS preventative and therapeutic vaccines, which are currently in advanced clinical phase. She has coordinated several international and national research programs in Europe and Developing countries. Among them, the EU-funded "AIDS Vaccine Integrated Project" (AVIP) and the “Program to support the Ministry of Health of South Africa in the implementation of a national program of global response to HIV & AIDS” (Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs). She is a member of the WHO-UNAIDS Vaccine Advisory Committee and the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). She has been the Vice-President of the National AIDS Committee of the Italian Ministry of Health from 2006 to 2015 and is a Member of the Editorial Board of the Health Status Report, Ministry of Health. She has been member of Member of the Scientific Council of The European Research Council, ERC from 2013 to 2016 and Member of the HIRO (Heads of International Research Organizations) representing ERC from 2015 to 2016.

She has received many national and international scientific awards and she has been appointed as Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2001 by the President of the Italian Republic Mr. A. Ciampi. Her scientific activities have resulted in more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Scientific results

Barbara Ensoli has always focused her research work on the study of the mechanisms by which infection with the HIV virus occurs and its progression into disease in order to develop, on the basis of the findings of these studies, measures to prevent or treat the disease. Among the various fields in which Barbara Ensoli has applied this approach, the best known and most challenging has been the development of a vaccine against HIV/AIDS, capable of preventing infection and/or reducing the risk of disease progression. In this respect, the studies that Barbara Ensoli and her collaborators are conducting to identify a vaccine are based on new concepts such as the use of the Tat protein of the HIV virus, which is responsible for the replication and dissemination process of the infection and the persistence of the infection even in subjects under therapy. In addition, Barbara Ensoli's research led to the discovery that the Tat protein promotes the uncontrolled growth of blood vessels and promotes the progression of Kaposi's Sarcoma, a tumour that is very frequent in HIV-infected individuals. This scientific evidence provided the rationale for selecting Tat as the HIV molecule to be neutralised by a vaccine. 

After animal testing, which provided efficacy results, Barbara Ensoli and her team continued with phase I clinical trials, completed in 2006, conducted on subjects with and without HIV, demonstrating the vaccine's safety for human use. The studies continued with phase II clinical trials, conducted first in Italy and then in South Africa, in subjects with HIV treated with antiretroviral drugs (ART therapy). The Tat vaccine proved to be safe and able to promote an increase in CD4+ lymphocytes, the virus' target cells, promoting the return of the immune system to its normal functioning and reducing chronic activation of the immune system and 'viral reservoirs', thus significantly increasing the effectiveness of therapy. The trial in South Africa was conducted in cooperation with the South African Ministry of Health and Institutions and is part of a larger project funded by our Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the fight against AIDS, the results of which have been evaluated very positively by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), urging its continuation. Barbara Ensoli and her team are currently working on the search for funds together with South African institutions for the final experimentation, phase III, for the conclusive demonstration of the vaccine's therapeutic effect and its registration and distribution to the population.

Editorial work and publications

She sits on the editorial boards of Lancet Oncology, PLoS ONE, The Open AIDS Journals, Tumor Viruses, Vaccine, Development and Therapy, Journal of Clinical & Cellular Immunology, Advances in Tumor Virology, Scientific Report.

She has published more than 300 papers in international peer-reviewed journals. Among them: 

(2016) Ensoli B, Nchabeleng M, Ensoli F, Tripiciano A, Bellino S, Picconi O, Sgadari C, Longo O, Tavoschi L, Joffe D, Cafaro A, Francavilla V, Moretti S, Pavone Cossut MR, Collacchi B, Arancio A, Paniccia G, Casabianca A, Magnani M, Buttò S, Levendal E, Ndimande JV, Asia B, Pillay Y, Garaci E, Monini P. HIV-Tat immunization induces cross-clade neutralizing antibodies and CD4+ T-cell increases in antiretroviral-treated South African volunteers: a randomized phase II clinical trial. Retrovirology, 13(1):34. 

(2015) Ensoli F, Cafaro A, Casabianca A, Tripiciano A, Bellino S, Longo O, Francavilla V, Picconi O, Sgadari C, Moretti S, Pavone Cossut MR, Arancio A, Orlandi C, Sernicola L, Maggiorella MT, Paniccia G, Mussini C, Lazzarin A, Sighinolfi L, Palamara G, Gori A, Angarano G, Di Pietro M, Galli M, Mercurio VS, Castelli F, Di Perri G, Monini P, Magnani M, Garaci E, Ensoli B. HIV-1 Tat immunization restores immune homeostasis and attacks the HAART-resistant blood HIV DNA: results of a randomized phase II exploratory clinical trial. Retrovirology, 12:33. 

(2012) Monini P, Cafaro A, Srivastava IK, Moretti S, Sharma VA, Andreini C, Chiozzini C, Ferrantelli F, Cossut MR, Tripiciano A, Nappi F, Longo O, Bellino S, Picconi O Fanales-Belasio E, Borsetti A, Toschi E, Schiavoni I, Bacigalupo I, Kan E, Sernicola L, Maggiorella MT, Montin K, Porcu M, Leone P, Leone P, Collacchi B, Palladino C, Ridolfi B, Falchi M, Macchia I, Ulmer JB, Buttò S, Sgadari C, Magnani M, Federico MP, Titti F, Banci L, Dallocchio F, Rappuoli R, Ensoli F, Barnett SW, Garaci E, Ensoli B. HIV-1 Tat promotes integrin-mediated HIV transmission to dendritic cells by binding Env spikes and competes neutralization by anti-HIV antibodies. PLoS One, 7:e48781. 

(2003) Sgadari C, Monini P, Barillari G, and Ensoli B, Use of HIV protease inhibitors to block Kaposi's sarcoma and tumour growth. The Lancet Oncology, 4:537-547. 

(2002) Sgadari C, Barillari G, Toschi E, Carlei D, Bacigalupo I, Baccarini S, Palladino C, Leone P, Bugarini R, Malavasi L, Cafaro A, Falchi M, Valdembri D, Rezza G, Bussolino F, Monini P & Ensoli B. HIV protease inhibitors are potent anti-angiogenic molecules and promote regression of Kaposi's sarcoma. Nature Medicine, 8:225-232. 

(1999) Cafaro A, Caputo A, Fracasso C, Maggiorella MT, Goletti D, Baroncelli S, Pace M, Sernicola L, Koanga-Mogtomo ML, Betti M, Borsetti A, Belli R, Åkerblom L, Corrias F, Buttò S, Heeney J, Verani P, Titti F & Ensoli B. Control of SHIV89.6P-infection of cynomolgus monkeys by HIV-1 Tat protein vaccine. Nature Medicine, 5:643-650.

(1994) Ensoli B, Gendelman R, Markham P, Fiorelli V, Colombini S, Raffeld M, Cafaro A, Chang HK, Brady JN & Gallo RC. Synergy between basic fibroblast growth factor and HIV-1 Tat protein in induction of Kaposi's sarcoma. Nature, 371:674-680. 

(1990) Ensoli B, Barillari G, Salahuddin SZ, Gallo RC & Wong-Staal F. Tat protein of HIV-1 stimulates growth of cells derived from Kaposi's sarcoma lesions of AIDS patients. Nature, 344:84-86. 

(1989) Ensoli B, Nakamura S, Salahuddin SZ, Biberfeld P, Larsson L, Beaver B, Wong-Staal F & Gallo RC. AIDS-Kaposi's sarcoma-derived cells express cytokines with autocrine and paracrine growth effects. Science, 243:223-226. 

(1989) Ensoli B, Lusso P, Schachter F, Josephs SF, Rappaport J, Negro F, Gallo RC & Wong-Staal F. Human herpes virus-6 increases HIV-1 expression in co-infected T cells via nuclear factors binding to the HIV-1 enhancer. EMBO J., 8:3019-3027.

Awards and prizes

She has received many national and international scientific awards. Among them: “San Valentino d’Oro” International Award for  professional activity against AIDS, “Marisa Bellisario” International Award for professional activities, “Domenico Marotta”  Award for year 2000, conferred for professional merits by the National Academy of Sciences (also known as “National Academy of XL”), “Santa Caterina” Award for year 2002, “Paul Harris Fellow” International Award, conferred by the Rotary Foundation “Eminent Scientist of the year 2005 (International Research Promotion Council – World Scientist Forum International Award Science and Medicine), Melvin Jones (Lion’s Club), “The Abraham White Distinguished Science Award” (The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences - USA and University of Rome Tor Vergata), “Top Italian Women Scientist 2016” award conferred  by Onda, “AcademiaNet-Expert Database for Oustansing Female Scientists and Scholars” (EMBO). She has been appointed as Ufficiale dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2001 by the President of the Italian Republic Mr. A. Ciampi.

Position/Role

Full Professor in Paleontology e Paleoecology at the University of Milano. Past-president of the Presidente of the Italian Geological Society (2015-2017)

Professional career

After graduating in Geological Sciences in 1982, he continued his education with a PhD in Earth Sciences at the University of Milan in 1987. In 1987-1988 she did a post-doctorate at the Geologisches Institut, ETH Zurich. In 1990 she was a researcher at the University of Milan and the following year became an associate professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at the same university. Since 2005 she is full professor at the same department of the University of Milan.

Scientific results

Elisabetta Erba is specialist of calcareous nanofossils, the most efficient calcite producers in spite of their very small size. When they die, they fall on the sea floor and over the course of millions of years form marine sediments. Nannofossils are used for dating through biostratigraphy and for paleo-oceanographic reconstructions. Elisabetta Erba studies the interactions between geosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere and, in particular, major climate changes. Her research focused on the relationships between atmospheric CO2, climate and ocean ecosystems. In order to understand causes and consequences of current and future climate change it is important to introduce a geological perspective via high-resolution investigations of marine sediments.

Calcareous nannofossils  are also used by Elisabetta Erba to study the nature and origin of organic matter-rich sediments accumulated in stagnant waters, that are potential source rocks to produce oil.

Editorial work and publications

Elisabetta Erba has published numerous papers, including: 

(2018) Gambacorta G., Malinverno A. and Erba E, Orbital forcing of carbonate versus siliceous productivity in the late Albian–early Turonian (Umbria-Marche Basin, central Italy). Newsletters on Stratigraphy.

(2018) Bottini C. & Erba E., Mid-Cretaceous paleoenvironmental changes in the western Tethys. Climate of the Past, 14: 1147–1163.

(2017) Faucher, G., Hoffmann, L., Bach, L. T., Bottini, C., Erba, E., and Riebesell, U., Impact of trace metal concentrations on coccolithophore growth and morphology: laboratory simulations of Cretaceous stress. Biogeosciences , 14: 3603-3613 doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-3603-2017.

(2015) Erba E, Duncan RA, Bottini C, Tiraboschi D. Weissert H, Jenkyns HC, Malinverno A. Environmental Consequences of Ontong Java Plateau and Kerguelen Plateau Volcanism. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 511:271-303. 

(2010) Erba E, Bottini C, Weissert HJ, Keller CE. Calcareous Nannoplankton Response to Surface Water Acidification Around Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a. Science, 329:428-432. 

(2006) Erba E. The first 150 million years history of calcareous nannoplankton: biosphere-geosphere interactions. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 232:237-250. 

(2005) Muttoni G, Erba E, Kent DV & Bachtadse V. Mesozoic alpine facies deposition as a result of past latitudinal plate motion. Nature, 434:59-63. 

(2004) Erba E. Calcareous nannofossils and Mesozoic Oceanic Anoxic Events. Marine Micropaleontology, 52:85-106.   

(2004) Erba, E, Bartolini A, Larson RL. The Valanginian "Weissert Oceanic Anoxic Event. Geology, 32:149-152.   

(2004) Erba E & Tremolada F. Nannofossil carbonate fluxes during the Early Cretaceous: phytoplankton response to nutrification episodes, atmospheric CO2 and anoxia. Paleoceanography, 19. 

(2004) Weissert H & Erba E. Volcanism, CO2 and paleoclimate: a Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous carbon and oxygen isotope record. Journal of the Geological Society of London, 161:695-702.   

(1999) Larson RL & Erba E. Onset of the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse in the Barremian-Aptian: Igneous events and the biological, sedimentary and geochemical responses. Paleoceanography, 14:663-678.   (1994) Erba E. Nannofossils and superplumes: the Early Aptian nannoconid crisis. Paleoceanography, 9:483-501.

Awards and prizes

Elisabetta Erba was President of the Italian Geological Society in 2015-2017. Since 2013 she is a Member of theAccademia dei Lincei and of the Academia Europaea (section Earth and Cosmic Sciences). In 2012 she was awarded with the Tartufari Prize for Geosciences  (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei).

Position/Role

President of the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid), Full Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Parma and Director of the Pediatric Clinic at the Pietro Barilla Hospital f the Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria of Parma

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan in 1995, she continued her education with a specialization in Pediatrics (1999) and a next one in Infectious Diseases (2006). Two years after graduating, she was already responsible for the research laboratory of the Pediatric Clinic IV, and since 2000 for the research laboratory of the Clinical Pediatric Clinical Unit of the University of Milan, later called the High Intensity Care Unit of Pediatrics. Susanna Esposito combined her academic career with a medical career: in 2002 she is a university researcher in General and Specialized Pediatrics and since 2005 an associate professor. She also carried out research in foreign institutions: in 2007 in Dallas, Texas, at the Southwestern Medical Center of the University Hospital and Clinic, in 2009 in London, at St George's Medical Center and the following year in Burundi, Africa, at the Kiremba Hospital. From the 2009-2010 academic year, she was Professor of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Diploma of the University of Oxford, UK. From 2010 to 2016, she was director of the High Intensity Care Pediatric Unit at the IRCCS Ca 'Granda Foundation, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico of the University of Milan and head of the Regional Reference Center, in Lombardy, for HIV infection and for pediatric Lyme disease. From 2017 to 2019 she is full professor of Paediatrics, director of the School of Specialty in Paediatrics and director of the S.C. Paediatric Clinic at the University of Perugia. She is currently full professor of Paediatrics at the University of Parma and director of the Paediatric Clinic at the Pietro Barilla Hospital of the Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria of Parma and president of the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid).

Scientific results

Susanna Esposito's scientific activity began during her university studies with research on pediatric infectious diseases, in particular influenza and respiratory viruses, invasive bacteria infections, tuberculosis and HIV. Her field of interest extends progressively to immunology with studies on vaccination, immune response and immunogenetics, pneumology, allergy, rheumatology and rare diseases. She coordinated several research and clinical trials on the role of viruses and bacteria in the main infections in pediatric age and studies on vaccination efficacy, tolerability and safety. She also coordinated the development of guidelines on the diagnostic-therapeutic approach to the main infectious diseases in children and the guidelines on the new vaccination calendar and on the recommended vaccinations for children. In 2012 she identified enterovirus C-117 and enterovirus C-118, two new enteroviruses, a genus of viruses resistant to chemical and physical offenses, which can survive in the environment for a long time, affecting mainly people with low immune defenses, like children and the elderly, with effects in some cases very serious. Since 2013 she has been coordinating the study group on vaccines (EVASG) of the European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.

Editorial work and publications

Since 2005 she is a member of the International Board of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, since 2009 she is Associate Editor of BMC Infectious Diseases, since 2011 she is Associate Editor of Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, since 2013 she is Associate Editor of Journal of Clinical Virology and she is part of Editorial Board Member of PLOS One, since 2014 she is Associate Editor of Medicine and since 2016 she is a member of the Editorial Board Member of AIMS Microbiology and of Npj Vaccines. Since 2016 she has also been editor of the magazine Edit Symposia and referee for numerous scientific journals such as Lancet, the British Medical Journal, Vaccine, the European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the American Journal of Physicians.

Susanna Esposito is the author of more than 1000 publications, including over 450 articles on international journals published on PubMed, and more than 1000 reports on invitation to conferences of national and international scientific societies, including:

(2016) Esposito S, Bonanni P, Maggi S, Tan L, Ansaldi F, Lopalco PL, Dagan R, Michel JP, van Damme P, Gaillat J, Prymula R, Vesikari T, Mussini C, Frank U, Osterhaus A, Celentano LP, Rossi M, Guercio V, Gavazzi G. Recommended immunization schedules for adults: Clinical practice guidelines by the Escmid Vaccine Study Group (EVASG), European Geriatric Medicine Society (EUGMS) and the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid). Human Vaccine Immunotherapeutics, 12:1777-1794. 

(2016) Esposito S, Principi N. European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) Vaccine Study Group (EVASG). Strategies to develop vaccines of pediatric interest. Expert Review of Vaccines, Epub Sep 28. 

(2016) Esposito S, Guez S, Orenti A, Tadini G, Scuvera G, Corti L, Scala A, Biganzoli E, Berti E, Principi N. Autoimmunity and cytokine imbalance in inherited epidermolysis bullosa. International Journal of Molecular Science, 17(10):1625. 

(2016) Esposito S, Longo MR. Guillain-Barré syndrome. Autoimmunity Review, 16(1):96-101.

(2016) Principi N, Esposito S. Gut microbiota and central nervous system development. Journal of Infection, 73(6):536-546.

(2016) Esposito S, Pietro GD. Respiratory syncytial virus vaccines: an update on those in the immediate pipeline. Future Microbiology, 11:1479-1490.

(2016) Esposito S, Di Gangi M, Cardinale F, Baraldi E, Corsini I, Da Dalt L, Tovo PA, Correra A, Villani A, Sacco O, Tenero L, Dones P, Gambino M, Zampiero A, Principi N, Ita-CAP Study Group. Sensitivity and specificity of soluble triggering receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-1, Midregional Proatrial Natriuretic Peptide and Midregional Proadrenomedullin for Distinguishing Etiology and to Assess Severity in Community-Acquired Pneumonia. PLoS One, 11:e0163262.

(2015) Esposito S, Piralla A, Zampiero A, Bianchini S, Di Pietro G, Scala A, Pinzani R, Fossali E, Baldanti F, Principi N. Characteristics and their clinical relevance of respiratory syncytial virus types and genotypes circulating in Northern Italy in five consecutive winter seasons. PLoS One, 10:e0129369.

(2015) Esposito S, Giavoli C, Trombetta C, Bianchini S, Montinaro V, Spada A, Montomoli E, Principi N. Immunogenicity, safety and tolerability of inactivated trivalent influenza vaccine in overweight and obese children. Vaccine, Epub Nov 19. 

(2014) Esposito S, Corona F, Barzon L, Cuoco F, Squarzon L, Marcati G, Torcoletti M, Gambino M, Palù G, Principi N. Immunogenicity, safety and tolerability of a bivalent human papillomavirus vaccine in adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Expert Review of Vaccines, 13:1387-1393.

Awards and prizes

Susanna Esposito received the "Carlo Imperato" Award in 2002, as part of the 58th National Congress of the Italian Society of Pediatrics, for the best experimental work on "Respiratory diseases of the child", in the same year she was awarded the Young Investigator Award within the III World Congress of Pediatric Infectious Diseases (Santiago, Chile). In 2004 she received the Amici di Milano Award - Gold Medals awarded with the Silver Plate by the President of the Italian Republic and the Silver Plate of the President of the Lombardy Region, as the best medical researcher. In 2008 she was awarded the SIP Member Award as best researcher in general and specialist Pediatrics within the Italian Society of Pediatrics, in 2011 the Ambassador Prize for research abroad in the medical field and in 2014 the Certificate of Merit for the commitment and professionalism over the years dedicated to the health of children by the Amici del Policlinico and Mangiagalli Association. From 2011 to 2014 she was called to chair the Italian Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease (SITIP); from 2012 to 2015 she was president of the Commission of the World Health Organization for the eradication of measles and congenital rubella and continued to participate in the work of the Commission as Past President. Since 2015 she is president of the World Association for Infectious Diseases and Immunological Disorders (WAidid). 

Position/Role

Research director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the CNR, Bologna section

Professional career

Graduated in 1985 at the University of Bologna with a thesis in analytical chemistry, she obtained a PhD at the Department of Chemistry of the same university, and in the same department she became a post doc fellow. In 1987 she was a reaserch fellow at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of the CNR in Bologna, and held this position until 1992, when she became head of the laboratory of the Regional Agency for Environmental Protection. In 1996 she entered the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of the Low and High Atmosphere of the CNR of Bologna. From 2001 to 2006 she was Senior Scientist at the Institute of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences of the CNR. Since 2007 she has been research director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the CNR, Bologna section.

Scientific results

Maria Cristina Facchini's main research interests are the physical and chemical processes in the atmospheric system such as aerosols and clouds and their effects on changes in atmospheric composition and climate. At the beginning of her scientific career she investigated the chemical properties of fog and clouds, so much so that her first important scientific result regards the organic partition of the aerosol between mist drops and interstitial air. Based on her research, she contributed to the development of a new aerosol investigation technique based on the principles of nuclear magnetic resonance. In 2001 she contributed to a joint paper on Science, where the world's leading experts in the field discussed the need to re-establish the theory of cloud formation on the basis of new discoveries concerning the solubility of aerosols and their surface tension, as well as the effects of soluble gases. Her most recent research concerns the interaction between climate and biota (in ecology, the whole of all living beings, animals and plants, which populate a given region) marine, atmospheric, aerosol.

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of over 150 scientific publications, including:

(2011) Decesari S, Finessi E, Rinaldi M, Paglione M, [...] Facchini MC. Primary and secondary marine organic aerosols over the north atlantic ocean during the map experiment. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 116(D22). 

(2011) Rinaldi M, Decesari S, Carbone C, [...] Facchini MC. Evidence of a natural marine source of oxalic acid and a possible link to glyoxal. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 116(D16). 

(2008) Facchini MC, Decesari S, Rinaldi M, et al. An important source of marine secondary organic aerosol from biogenic amines. Environmental Science & Technology, 42:9116-9121. 

(2008) Facchini MC, Rinaldi M, Decesari S, et al. Primary submicron marine aerosol dominated by insoluble organic colloids and aggregates. Geophysical Research Letters, 35, L17814. 

(2005) Kanakidou M, Seinfeld JH, Pandis SN, Barnes I, Dentener FJ, Facchini MC, et al. Organic aerosol and global climate modelling: a review. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 5:1053-1123. 

(2004) O'Dowd CD, Facchini MC, et al. Biogenicallydriven organic contribution to marine aerosol. Nature, 431:676-680. 

(2001) Charlson RJ, Seinfeld JH, Nenes A, Kulmala M, Laaksonen M, Facchini MC. Reshaping theory of cloud formation. Science, 292:2025-2026. 

(2000) Decesari S, Facchini MC, Fuzzi S & Tagliavini E. Characterization of water soluble organic compounds in atmospheric aerosol: a new approach. Journal of Geophysical Research, 105:1481-1489. 

(1999) Facchini MC, Fuzzi S, Zappoli S, et al. Partitioning of the organic aerosol component between fog droplets and interstitial air. Journal of Geophysical Research, 104, 26821-26832. 

(1999) Facchini MC, Mircea M, Fuzzi S & Charlson RJ. Cloud albedo enhancement by surface-active organic solutes in growing droplets. Nature, 401:257-259

Awards and prizes

In 2014 she was a Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers Rank, ranking of the most influential researchers and researchers in the world. In the same year she received the Haagen-Smit Prize Award. She is a member of several scientific societies, such as the European Association for Geochemistry, the European Geophysical Union, the American Aerosol Society and is one of the founders of the Italian Aerosol Association.

Position/Role

Head, Technology Application for Security and Heath Division (FSN-TECFIS) at ENEA 

Professional career

Degree in Chemistry at Roma University “La Sapienza” in 1978 discussing a thesis on electron spectroscopy in the gas phase. After a period of fellowships, permanent position at ENEA in 1982 initially addressed to the participation to laser assisted uranium isotope enrichment project. At the end of the project she spent some periods of specialization abroad (Catholic University of Nijmegen - NL, ETH Ecole Polytechnique Zurich - CH). Due to her professional expertise on laser diagnostics and photochemistry,  in 1998 she became the head of the Molecular Spectroscopy Laboratory of ENEA at Frascati (FIS-SPET), keeping the charge until  2010. In 2010 she was appointed as director of the large Technical Unit “Applications of radiations” (UTAPRAD) of ENEA at Frascati. Following the last structural changes in ENEA, since 2015 to now, she became head of  Technology Application for Security and Heath Division (FSN-TECFIS) of ENEA at Frascati.

Scientific results

From the beginning of her career Dr. R. Fantoni was involved in multidisciplinary research activities and projects implying knowledge relevant to both chemistry and physics (spectroscopy and material processing). Successively, within the field of radiation-matter interactions, she carried out researches on processes with a broader applicative range,  from biology and medicine to cultural heritage. Her well consolidated scientific and technological background was time to time utilized and reshaped for  specific tasks, such as: laser applications in physical chemistry, starting from researches relevant to the laser isotope enrichment project  basically dealing with multi-photon and high resolution IR spectroscopy; laser spectroscopies and diagnostics, including infrared diode laser spectroscopy, laser Raman spectroscopy, emission spectroscopy in visible7ultriaviolet range, multiphoton-ionization spectrometry, Laser Induced  Fluorescence (LIF), Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), Coherent AntiStokes Raman Scattering (CARS), Degenerate Four Wave Mixing (DFWM) e Laser Induced Grating Spectroscopy (LIGS); different multidisciplinary laser application relevant to microelectronics  (thin film deposition), to material science (nano-structures synthesis), to the environment (laser decomposition of liquid and gaseous pollutants) and in situ and remote characterization of cultural heritage surfaces; Organization and participation to monitoring campaigns on sea waters and cultural heritage surfaces.

Along her career Dr R. Fantoni personally established and kept contacts with scientist in European laboratory of excellence (in the Netherlands, Suisse, Romania, Slovenia and Spain) and in other countries (Russia, Egypt). 

Editorial work and publications

She is the co-author of about 165 peer reviewed scientific publications, we report only 5 significant recent titles:

 (2013)  R. Fantoni, S. Almaviva, L. Caneve, F.. Colao, A. M. Popov, G. Maddaluno “Development of Calibration-Free Laser-Induced-Breakdown-Spectroscopy based techniques for deposited layers diagnostics on ITER-like tiles” Spectrochim. Acta B87, 153-160.

(2013 )L. Caneve, F. Colao, R. Fantoni, L. Fiorani "Scanning lidar fluorosensor for remote diagnostic of surfaces" Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research A 720, 164–167.      

(2014)   S. Almaviva, S. Botti, L. Cantarini,R. Fantoni, S. Lecci, A. Palucci, A. Puiu and A. Rufoloni "Ultrasensitive RDX detection with commercial SERS substrates” J. Raman Spectrosc, 45, 41–46.

(2014) V. Spizzichino, R. Fantoni “Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy in Archeometry: a review of its application and future perspectives” Spectrochim. Acta B 99, 201-209.

(2018) V. Lazic, M. Vadrucci, R. Fantoni, M. Chiari, A. Mazzinghi, A. Gorghinian, Applications of laser induced breakdown spectroscopy for cultural heritage: A comparison with XRF and PIXE techniques, Spectrochim. Acta Part B 149, 1–14.

Awards and prizes

Co-winner (together with R. Barbini, F. Colao, A. Palucci, S. Ribezzo) of the Prize “Carnia Alpe Verde” for the best project aimed at protection of green areas in 1992, issued by region Friuli Venezia-Giulia.

Winner of the prize “G. Stampacchia” fort he best first work in chemistry in 1980, issued by University of Rome “La Sapienza”.

Position/Role

Head of Structural Vaccinology at GSK Research and Development, Siena, Italy

Professional career

After graduating in Biophysics at the University of Tor Vergata in 1993, she continued her studies through a specialization in Plant Biology at the C.R.I.B.I. (Interdepartmental Research Center for Innovative Sciences), at the University of Padua. She then began her research activities for her doctorate at the EMBL laboratories. In 1998 she obtained a PhD in Structural Biology at Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in Heidelberg, Germany. During her studies she spent several periods of training abroad: in 1996 she performed a stage of 6 months in the Department of Virology of the Medical University of Vienna, in 1998 she did part of her PostDoctoral Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Children's Hospital, Howard Medical School in Boston, MA, USA. In 1999 she was PostDoctoral fellow in the Department of Structural Virology at the C.N.R.S. of Gif-sur-Yvette, France. At the same time (from 2000 to 2003) she collaborated with the Department of Molecular Genetics at the Ecole Normale Superiore in Paris, France. Her training then continued in Italy in 2004 at the GSK Vaccines Research Center (formerly Novartis, in Siena, Italy) firstly as a researcher, then as a Senior Research Investigator and finally in 2009 as Head of Structural Vaccinology. 

Scientific results

Her scientific interests are currently focused on the correlation between bacterial and viral surface protein structures and their functionality. She contributed to the development of the "Structural Vaccinology", a new approach that allows, starting from the knowledg of the three-dimensional structure of the surface proteins, to determine the most effective epitopes of a protein and to engineer them in order to make them more immunogenic and to use them as vaccines. This approach has been instrumental in the development of Bexsero ™, a recently approved FDA vaccine to protect against Meningococcus B infection. The same approach is currently in use in the identification of new vaccine candidates against additional human viral and bacterial pathogens. Since recent years she bacome member of the board of European Networks dedicated to the structural biology (iNext).

Editorial work and publications

She has authored scientific publications and chapters of scientific book, including: 

[2016] Vilas JL, Navas J, Gómez-Blanco J, de la Rosa-Trevín JM, Melero R, Peschiera I, Ferlenghi I, Cuenca J, Marabini R, Carazo JM, Vargas J, Sorzano CO. Fast and automatic identification of particle tilt pairs based on Delaunay triangulation. Journal of Structural Biology, 196(3):525-53.

[2016] Fiaschi L, Di Palo B, Scarselli M, Pozzi C, Tomaszewski K, Galletti B, Nardi-Dei V, Arcidiacono L, Mishra RP, Mori E, Pallaoro M, Falugi F, Torre A, Fontana MR, Soriani M, Bubeck Wardenburg J, Grandi G, Rappuoli R, Ferlenghi I, Bagnoli F. Auto-Assembling Detoxified Staphylococcus aureus Alpha-Hemolysin Mimicking the Wild-Type Cytolytic Toxin. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 6;23(6):442-50.

[2016] Biagini M, Spinsanti M, De Angelis G, Tomei S, Ferlenghi I, Scarselli M, Rigat F, Messuti N, Biolchi A, Muzzi A, Anderloni G, Brunelli B, Cartocci E, Buricchi F, Tani C, Stella M, Moschioni M, Del Tordello E, Colaprico A, Savino S, Giuliani MM, Delany I, Pizza M, Costantino P, Norais N, Rappuoli R, Masignani V. Expression of factor H binding protein in meningococcal strains can vary at least 15-fold and is genetically determined.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 8;113(10):2714-9.

[2015] Prevato M, Ferlenghi I, Bonci A, Uematsu Y, Anselmi G, Giusti F, Bertholet S, Legay F, Telford JL, Settembre EC, Maione D, Cozzi R. Expression and Characterization of Recombinant, Tetrameric and Enzymatically Active Influenza Neuraminidase for the Setup of an Enzyme-Linked Lectin-Based Assay. PLoS One, 17;10(8).

[2015] Prevato M, Cozzi R, Pezzicoli A, Taddei AR, Ferlenghi I, Nandi A, Montomoli E, Settembre EC, Bertholet S, Bonci A, Legay F. An Innovative Pseudotypes-Based Enzyme-Linked Lectin Assay for the Measurement of Functional Anti-Neuraminidase Antibodies.PLoS One, 12;10(8).

[2015] Ultrastructural Visualization of Vaccine Adjuvant Uptake In Vitro and In Vivo. Giusti F, Seubert A, Cantisani R, Tortoli M, D'Oro U, Ferlenghi I, Dallai R, Piccioli D. Microsc Microanal. 2015 Aug;21(4):791-5.

[2015] Toniolo C, Balducci E, Romano MR, Proietti D, Ferlenghi I, Grandi G, Berti F, Ros IM, Janulczyk R. Streptococcus agalactiae capsule polymer length and attachment is determined by the proteins CpsABCD. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 10;290(15):9521-32.

[2014] Malito E, Biancucci M, Faleri A, Ferlenghi I, Scarselli M, Maruggi G, Lo Surdo P, Veggi D, Liguori A, Santini L, Bertoldi I, Petracca R, Marchi S, Romagnoli G, Cartocci E, Vercellino I, Savino S, Spraggon G, Norais N, Pizza M, Rappuoli R, Masignani V, Bottomley MJ.Structure of the meningococcal vaccine antigen NadA and epitope mapping of a bactericidal antibody. Proceedings of th National Academy of Sciences, 2;111(48):17128-33.

[2014] Rossi O, Pesce I, Giannelli C, Aprea S, Caboni M, Citiulo F, Valentini S, Ferlenghi I, MacLennan CA, D'Oro U, Saul A, Gerke C. Modulation of endotoxicity of Shigella generalized modules for membrane antigens (GMMA) by genetic lipid A modifications: relative activation of TLR4 and TLR2 pathways in different mutants.Journal of Biolical Chemestry, 5;289(36):24922-35.

[2012] Berlanda Scorza F, Colucci AM, Maggiore L, Sanzone S, Rossi O, Ferlenghi I, Pesce I, Caboni M, Norais N, Di Cioccio V, Saul A, Gerke C. High yield production process for Shigella outer membrane particles. PLoS One, 7(6).

Position/Role

Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Chemistry from the University of Milan in 1993, she continued her education with a PhD in Chemical Sciences in 1997. From 1999 to 2012 she was a researcher in Analytical Chemistry at the University of Milan in the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. From 2012 to 2014 she carries out her research activity at the Department of Chemistry of the same university. Since 2015 she has been associate professor of Analytical Chemistry. She teaches Analytical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry at the Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry degree courses of the University of Milan. Since 2008 she has been a member of the faculty of the Doctorate in Chemistry.

Scientific results

Paola Fermo's research topics concern the study and characterisation of environmental matrices and in particular atmospheric aerosols (micrometer-sized particles suspended in the atmosphere) and pollutants in a gaseous state, both externally and internally. The main objective of the research is to quantify the constituents of the different particle size fractions (PM10, PM2.5, etc.) of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in order to determine the sources responsible for emissions. In this regard, an analytical method was developed for the quantification of levoglucoasane, a unique marker of wood combustion, an important source of atmospheric particulate matter not only in rural but also in urban environments. The species analysed within PM include the main inorganic and organic constituents. In addition, substances of toxicological interest (PAHs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are quantified, which show adverse effects on human health and are considered carcinogenic. In the urban environment, the degradation induced by air pollution on stone surfaces of interest for cultural heritage is also studied. Environmental issues include the study of contaminants in water (drinking water and waste water). A further line of research concerns the study of artefacts of historical and artistic interest (ceramics, mortar, stucco, paintings, etc.).

Editorial work and publications

Paola Fermo is on the editorial board of the following journals: Mediterranean Journal of Chemistry, Annals of Chromatography and Separation Techniques, American Journal of Analytical Chemistry, Journal of Analytical & Bioanalytical Techniques. She is also a reviewer for several international journals.

She is the author of about 12 book chapters, numerous conference proceedings and about 100 publications in international journals, including:

(2019) Ielpo, P., Mangia, C., Marra, G.P., Comite, V., Rizza, U., Uricchio, V.F., Fermo, P. Outdoor spatial distribution and indoor levels of NO2 and SO2 in a high environmental risk site of the South Italy, Science of the Total Environment, 648:787-797.

(2018) Fermo P., Goidanich S., Comite V., Toniolo L., Gulotta D., Study and characterization of environmental deposition on marble and surrogate substrates at a monumental heritage site; Geosciences; in press

(2018) Amadori M.L., Raspugli V., Comite V., Fermo P., Mini F.M., La Russa M., Maekawa Y., Integrated Scientific Investigations On Constitutive Materials From Me-taw-ya Temple, Pagán Valley, Burma (Myanmar), Measurement, ISSN 0263-2241, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.measurement.2018.09.004.

(2018) Amadori, M.L., Pallante, P., Fermo, P., Emami, M.A., Chaverdi, A.A., Callieri, P., Matin, E., Advances in Achaemenid brick manufacturing technology: Evidence from the monumental gate at Tol-e Ajori (Fars, Iran) Applied Clay Science, 152: 131-142.

(2018) Vecchi, R., Bernardoni, V., Valentini, S., Piazzalunga, A., Fermo, P., Valli, G., Assessment of light extinction at a European polluted urban area during wintertime: Impact of PM1 composition and sources, Environmental Pollution, 233: 679-689.

(2018) Daellenbach, K.R., El-Haddad, I., Karvonen, L., Vlachou, A., Corbin, J.C., Slowik, J.G., Heringa, M.F., Bruns, E.A., Luedin, S.M., Jaffrezo, J.-L., Szidat, S., Piazzalunga, A., Gonzalez, R., Fermo, P., Pflueger, V., Vogel, G., Baltensperger, U., Prévôt, A.S.H., Insights into organic-Aerosol sources via a novel laser-desorption/ionization mass spectrometry technique applied to one year of PM10 samples from nine sites in central Europe Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18 (3): 2155-2174.

(2017) Corsini E, Ozgen S, Papale A, Galbiati V, Lonati G, Fermo P, Corbella L, Valli G, Bernardoni V, Dell'Acqua M, Becagli S, Caruso D, Vecchi R, Galli CL, Marinovich M. Insights on wood combustion generated proinflammatory ultrafine particles (UFP). Toxicology Letters, 266, 74-84. 

(2016) Daellenbach KR, Bozzetti C, Křepelová A, Canonaco F, Wolf R, Zotter P, Fermo P, Crippa M, Slowik JG, Sosedova Y, Zhang Y, Huang R, Poulain L, Szidat S, Baltensperger U, El Haddad I, Prévôt ASH. Characterization and source apportionment of organic aerosol using offline aerosol mass spectrometry. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 9, 23-39. 

(2016) Cattaneo A, Fermo P, Urso P, Perrone MG, Piazzalunga A, TarlassiJ, Carrer P, Cavallo DM. Particulate-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon sources and determinants in residential homes. Environmental Pollution, 218, 16-25. 

(2016) Ielpo P, Fermo P, Comite V, Mastroianni D, Viviano G, Salerno F, Tartari G. Chemical characterization of biomass fuel particulate deposits and ashes in households of Mt. Everest region (NEPAL). Science of The Total Environment, 573, 751-759. 

(2016) Amadori ML, Del Vais C, Fermo P, Pallante P. Archaeometric researches on the provenance of Mediterranean Archaic Phoenician and Punic pottery. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 1-29. 

(2016) Fasani D, Fermo P, Barroso PJ, Martín J, Santos JL, Aparicio I, E. Alonso E. Analytical Method for Biomonitoring of PAH Using Leaves of Bitter Orange Trees (Citrus aurantium): a Case Study in South Spain. Water Air and Soil Pollution, 227, 360. 

Awards and prizes

Paola Fermo is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA) and a member of the Italian Chemical Society (Division of Analytical Chemistry and Division of Chemistry of the Environment and Cultural Heritage), the Italian Society of Archaeometry (AIAR) and the INSTM consortium (International Consortium for Materials Science and Technology).

Position/Role

Full Professor of Automatic Control at University of Pavia

Professional career

She got her M.Sc. in Electronic Engineering in 1987 and her PhD in Electronic and Computer Engineering in 1992. She became Assistant Professor at the University of Genova (April 1992), Associate Professor at the University of Pavia (November 1998) and Full Professor of Automatic Control always at the University of Pavia (January 2005).

Scientific results

She has been dealing with the control of complex systems (robotic systems, vehicle networks, vehicular traffic, power networks also based on renewable energy resources). She proposed new algorithms for the control of plants and processes the mathematical model of which is affected by uncertainties. She proposed new approaches to control vehicle traffic in transportation networks with the aim of reducing congestion and environmental impact. She has been working in advanced vehicle control, collaborating with major car manufacturers and coordinating the Italian research group in two European projects (PROTECTOR, ITEAM). In particular, she proposed solutions for driving assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. She has been studying human-robot interaction proposing an approach based on the joint use of conventional control methodologies and artificial intelligence (deep reinforcement learning). She published more than 380 scientific works, including 118 articles in international journals and 3 scientific books. She also contributed with chapters to 23 edited books.

Editorial work and publications

Antonella Ferrara has signed numerous publications, including:

[2019] Ferrara A, Incremona G.P, Cucuzzella M. Advanced and Optimization Based Sliding Mode Control. SIAM.

[2018] Ferrara A, Simona S, Siri S. Freeway Traffic Modelling and Control. Springer.

[2017] Ferrara A, (Ed.).Sliding Mode Control of Vehicle Dynamics. IET Digital Library.

[2019] Regolin E, Alatorre A, Zambelli M, Victorino A, Charara A, Ferrara A. A Sliding Mode Virtual Sensor for Wheel Forces Estimation with Accuracy Enhancement via EKF. IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 68(4): 3457-3471.

[2018] Sangiovanni B, Rendiniello A, Incremona G.P, Ferrara A, Piastra M. Deep Reinforcement Learning for Collision Avoidance of Robotic Manipulators, Proceedings of the European Control Conference ECC 2018, Limassol, Cyprus.

[2018] Canudas de Wit C., Ferrara A. A Variable-Length Cell Transmission Model for Road Traffic Systems. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 97: 428-455.

Awards and prizes

1986, "IEEE North Italy Section Electrical Engineering Student Award"

2003, Senior Member of the IEEE

2006, Outstanding Reviewer for Automatica Award

2013.2016, Chair of the Women in Control Committee of the IEEE Control Systems Society 

2012; 2016-2018, Member of the Board of Governors IEEE Control Systems Society 

2015-present, Member of the European Control Association (EUCA) Council

2019, "EPSON EMEA WIN-A-ROBOT Contest Award"

Position/Role

Corporate Social Responsibility Country Manager at IBM Italy and IBM. Master Inventor

Professional career

After graduating in Information Sciences at the University of Bari, she won a scholarship at the CNR of Genoa for the IT section. She spent two years of research at CORINTO (National Research Consortium for Object Technology) in Bari. Immediately afterwards she started working for IBM, where she held different roles in different sectors, but always in the field of innovative digital projects. She serves as the Manager Corporate Social Responsibility Country Manager at IBM Italia and IBM.

In 2016, she was selected by the Commissioner for implementation of the digital agenda of Italian Government, Diego Piacentini, and she has joined the Digital Transformation Team for the Prime Minister's Office. From February 2019 she is the new Director of IBM Foundation and also Corporate Citizenship manager for Italy. Floriana Filomena Ferrara has been awarded the title of Master Inventor since 2008, in her curriculum 21 patents in the digital field. Leader for the projects: NERD? & P-Tech.

Scientific results

Floriana Filomena Ferrara is author of 21 patents in the field of digital innovation.

She shares her enthusiasm about the digital world especially with her students. Floriana encourages teenager women students to undertake a career in computer science, thanks also to the project “NERD? - Is It Not For Women?”. This IBM project was born with Paola Velardi of Sapienza University. This Project is done in collaboration with several Italian Universities (Bari, Genova, Napoli, Padova, Alessandria, Milano, Roma). 100 IBM Volunteer Women support this Project #goodtechIBM.

Editorial work and publications

[2000-2018] #61 Publication in IBM Tech Disclosure Bulletin 

[1997] Ferrara, Corinto & Aphrodite a new Object Oriented methodology. SEDBT, CNR.

[1996] Ferrara, Clematis, Cassano, Spagnulo. Peucher&Douglass for the Processing Terrain with characterisation on "Triangolazione", “Rapporto Tecnico”, IMA 14/95.

[1996] Cassano, Clematis, Ferrara, Spagnulo, Network based parallel processing for terrain characterisation on irregular simple data. “High-Performance Computing and Networking”, HPCN Europe 1996: 940-941.

Awards and prizes

2008-2019 Master inventor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_Master_Inventor

2015, One of the 100 woman in the Digital http://www.chefuturo.it/2015/08/100-donne-digitali-italia/

2016, One of the 100 woman in the Digital in Italy  http://startupitalia.eu/67126-20161229-le-100-donne-nel-digitale-del-2016

2017, One of 15 influential Italian women in the world of digital technology, technology and innovation of  https://www.digitalic.it/economia-digitale/donne-influenti-digitale-italia-digiwomen-2017

2017, When the innovation is woman: 150 women in Italy  http://startupitalia.eu/76729-20170815-150-profili-al-femminile-da-seguire-su-innovazione-startup-e-digitale

2018, Joniche Award http://www.eccellenzejoniche.it/

2018, One of the 150 woman in the Digital https://startupitalia.eu/95739-20180815-le-150-donne-da-seguire-in-italia-su-startup-innovazione-e-digitale

2019, Role model for System Company-Schoo http://www.elis.org/aiutiamo-i-ragazzi-realizzare-i-loro-sogni

2019, Woman of the Year Award for Innovation, by the magazine D la Repubblica delle donne 

Position/Role

Full professor of Computer Science at the University of Insubria in Varese.

Professional career

After graduating in Computer Science at the University of Milan in 1992, she continued her education with a PhD in Computer Science at the same university in 1998. During the summer of 1996 she carried out a period of research as a Visiting Researcher at the Department of Computer Science at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. In the following two years is a visiting researcher at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey. In 1998 he returned to Italy and worked as assistant professor of Computer Science at the University of Milan. Later she became full professor of Computer Science at the University of Insubria in Varese.

Scientific results

Her research activities are linked to various aspects of data management systems, including web security, access control and privacy. Recently she has been involved in several research projects such as "ISocial" which develops advanced systems for the protection of privacy in social networks. She worked on the EU Euphorbia project, which provided for a series of experiments on filtering documents on the Internet according to an impartial approach. The aim was to produce a new, more powerful and flexible information review system, able to adapt to the cultural needs of each user. This system is capable of making a selection based on the semantic content of the information, and adapts to the description of the topics on a given website. She is currently involved in security and privacy issues in the IoT (Internet of Things) and Big Data areas.

Editorial work and publications

She has signed numerous publications, including:

(2015) N. Laleh, B. Carminati, E. Ferrari. Risk Assessment in Social Networks based on User Anomalous Behaviour. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 15(2):295-308.

(2015) P. Colombo, E. Ferrari. Privacy aware access control for Big Data: a research roadmap. Big Data Research, 2(4).

(2014) Akcora C, Carminati B, Ferrari E, Kantarcioglu M. Detecting Anomalies in Social Network Data Consumption. Social Network Analysis Mining, 4(1):231.

(2014) Parra-Arnau J, Perego A, Ferrari E, Fornè J & Rebollo-Monedero D. Privacy-Preserving Enhanced Collaborative Tagging. IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, 26(1):180-193.

(2013) Carminati B, Ferrari E, Viviani M. Security and Trust in Online Social Networks, Synthesis Lectures on Information Security, Privacy and Trust. Morgan & Claypool.

(2011) Cao J, Carminati B, Ferrari E, Tan KL. CASTLE: Continuously Anonymizing Data Streams. IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing, 8(3): 337-352.

(2010) Bonchi F, Ferrari E. Privacy-Aware Knowledge Discovery: Novel Applications and New Techniques. Chapman & Hall/CRC Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Series.

Articles from international conferences:

(2016) Carminati B, Colombo P, Ferrari E & Sagirlar G.Enhancing User Control on Personal Data Usage in Internet of Things Ecosystems. Proceedings of the 13th IEEE International Conference on Services Computing, San Francisco, USA.

(2016) Colombo P & Ferrari E. Towards Virtual Private NoSQL Datastores. Proceedings of the32nd IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering, Helsinki, Finlandia.

(2014) Bahri L, Carminati B, Ferrari E. Community-based Identity Validation on Online Social Networks. Proceedings of the 34th International Conference on Distributed Computing Systems Madrid, Spagna.

Awards and prizes

In 2009 Elena Ferrari was awarded for her research in the field of privacy and security by one of the two most important international associations of reference (IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) with the Technical Achievement Award. In 2011 she obtained the Google Research Award for her work in the field of privacy in social networks, while in 2014 she received the IBM Faculty Award for her investigation on big data privacy. She is IEEE fellow and ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Distinguished Scientist.

Position/Role

Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Padua, Italy.

Professional career

Dr. Florinda Ferreri received honors in Medicine in 2001 and certification in Neurology in 2006 from the University Campus Bio-Medico of Rome-Italy, and PhD in Clinical Neurophysiology in 2012 from the University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio-Finland. In 2006 she was Research Assistant at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA. From 2007 to 2016 Dr. Ferreri was Neurologist Consultant with expertise in Neurophysiology, teaching and research duties at the University Hospital Campus Bio-Medico of Rome and in 2016 she was appointed Assistant Professor. As of April 2018, Dr. Ferreri is Associate Professor of Neurology in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Padua, Italy.

Scientific results

Dr. Florinda Ferreri research activities focus on the study of the physiology of human motor cortex and its pathophysiology in neurodegenerative disorders by using highly innovative neurophysiological techniques and multimodal data collection. In 2008 Dr. Ferreri worked in an international research group that obtained the first direct control of a biomechatronic prosthetic hand via neural interfaces implanted in the peripheral nerves of an amputated patient. In recent years, Dr Ferreri’s commitment has been focused on the technological transfer towards the early diagnosis of neurological diseases and towards rehabilitation procedures with non-invasive electromagnetic stimulations of the brain.

Editorial work and publications

She has signed numerous international scientific publications including:

[2016] Ferreri F, Vecchio F, Vollero L, Guerra A, Petrichella S, Ponzo D, Määtta S, Mervaala E, Könönen M, Ursini F, Pasqualetti P, Iannello G, Rossini PM, Di Lazzaro V. Sensorimotor cortex excitability and connectivity in Alzheimer’s disease: A TMS-EEG Co-registration study. Human Brain Mapping, 37[6):2083-96. doi: 10.1002/hbm.23158.

[2016] Guerra A, Pogosyan A, Nowak M, Tan H, Ferreri F, Di Lazzaro V, Brown P. Phase Dependency of the Human Primary Motor Cortex and Cholinergic Inhibition Cancelation During Beta tACS. Cerebral Cortex, 26(10):3977-90. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhw245.

[2015] Rossini PM, Burke D, Chen R, Cohen LG, Daskalakis Z, Di Iorio R, Di Lazzaro V, Ferreri F, Fitzgerald PB, George MS, Hallett M, Lefaucheur JP, Langguth B, Matsumoto H, Miniussi C, Nitsche MA, Pascual-Leone A, Paulus W, Rossi S, Rothwell JC, Siebner HR, Ugawa Y, Walsh V, Ziemann U. Non-invasive electrical and magnetic stimulation of the brain, spinal cord, roots and peripheral nerves: Basic principles and procedures for routine clinical and research application. An updated report from an I.F.C.N. Committee. Clinical Neurophysiology Journal,. Feb 10. Review.

[2014] Di Pino G, Pellegrino G, Assenza G, Capone F, Ferreri F, Formica D, Ranieri F, Tombini M, Ziemann U, Rothwell JC, Di Lazzaro V. Modulation of brain plasticity in stroke: a novel model for neurorehabilitation. Nature Reviews Neurology, 10(10):597-608.

[2014] Ferreri F, Vecchio F, Ponzo D, Rossini PM. Time-varying coupling of EEG oscillations of primary motor cortex predicts excitability fluctuations as reflected by motor evoked potentials amplitude: an EEG-TMS study. Human Brain Mapping, 35(5):1969-80.

[2013] Ferreri F, Rossini PM. TMS and TMS-EEG techniques in the study of the excitability, connectivity, and plasticity of the human motor cortex. Reviews Neuroscience, 24(4):431-42. Review.

[2011] Ferreri F, Pasqualetti P, Määttä S, Ponzo D, Ferrarelli F, Tononi G, Mervaala E, Miniussi C and Rossini PM. Imaging human brain cortical effective connectivity during single and paired pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation. Neuroimage, 1;54(1):90-102.

[2006] Ferreri F. Curcio G. Patrizio P. De Gennaro L. Fini R. and Rossini PM. Mobile phone emission and human brain excitability. Annals of Neurology, 60(2):188-96.

[2006] Babiloni C, Benussi L, Binetti G, Cassetta E, Dal Forno G, Del Percio C, Ferreri F, Ferri R, Frisoni G, Guidoni R, Miniussi C, Rodriguez G, Romani GL, Squitti R, Ventriglia MC and Rossini PM. Apolipoprotein e and alpha brain rhythms in mild cognitive impairment: a multicentric eeg study. Annals of Neurology, 59(2):323-34.

[2003] Ferreri F, Pauri F, Pasqualetti P, Fini R, Dal Forno G, PM Rossini. Motor cortex excitability in Alzheimer Disease. Annals of Neurology, 53(1):102-8.

Position/Role

Professor of Chemical Plants at the Polytechnic of Turin; Waste, Water and Food Manager of the Politecnico di Torino (Green Team)

Professional career

After graduating in Chemical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin, she continued her studies through a PhD program in Chemical Engineering, where she obtained the title at the same University.

She won a workplace as University Researcher in Chemical Engineering, in the scientific sector for Chemical Plants in November 2002, obtaining confirmation. From July 2010 to March 2016 she worked as Associate Professor in the same SSD. In March 2016 she became full professor of Chemical Plants, where she is currently responsible for a research group consisting of 15 young researchers and PhD students at the Department of Applied Science and Technology of the Politechnic University of Turin. She is a member of the College of Chemical and Materials Engineering a the College of Energy, her teaching activity is focused on the courses of Plants for the Chemical and Food Industry and Re-use Processes and Energy Enhancement.

Scientific results

Her scientific interests focus mainly on the catalytic treatment of Diesel emissions (eg: filtration and combustion of particulates, the removal of nanoparticles, reduction and adsorption of NOx, development of catalytic traps), on the catalytic combustion of methane (eg: development of catalytic converters for methane-fueled cars), on catalytic filters for the treatment of fumes (eg.: multi-functional systems for the removal of fly ash, NOx and dioxins from incinerators) where she obtained several industrial loans (General Motors, Officine Metallurgiche Cornaglia, Petronas, Pirelli, ....), she won national and community projects (PRIN, TOP-Expert, ADDnano, FlameSOFC, ...) and she has 2 patents. Among her environmental research projects, the systems of advanced oxidation of pollutants (eg reactors and electrocatalysts for the electrochemical oxidation of biorefractory organic pollutants, such as phenol, antibiotics and other drugs, dyes, ...; remediation of polluted soil and self-cleaning surfaces) are of particular importance. Among the research undertaken in recent years of particular importance are the results obtained regarding the analysis of waste treatment platforms, the life cycle analysis of industrial processes from a circular economy perspective, where also in the agri-food sector has collaborated with industries of reference in the sector (eg Waste Italia, Ferrero, Ago Renewables, ENI, Lavazza, AUSTEP, etc.) also obtaining important structured financing as in the case of the Innovative Agro-Food-ECOFOOD platform project coordinated by Ferrero, Research & Innovation for The Improvement of the Sustainability of the Agro-Food Chain, of which Debora Fino was responsible for all the research actions of her University. She currently coordinates the research of 2 Horizon 2020 projects funded by the European Community CELBICON (Cost-effective CO2 conversion into chemicals via combination of Capture, Electrochemical and Biochemical Conversion technologies) and BIOROBURPLUS (Advanced direct biogas fuel processor for robust and cost-effective decentralized Hydrogen production ).

Editorial work and publications

She is author of over 200 scientific publications, including:

(2018) Malavè A C L, Fino D, Gómez Camacho C E, Ruggeri B.  Experimental tests on commercial Sweet Product Residue (SPR) as a suitable feed for anaerobic bioenergy (H2+ CH4) production, Waste Management, 71: 626-635.

(2017) Massa A, Hernandez Ribullen S P, Lamberti A, Galletti C, Russo N, Fino D. Electro-oxidation of phenol over electrodeposited MnOx nanostructures and the role of a TiO2 nanotubes interlayer. Applied Catalysis. B, Environmental, 203: 270-281.

(2016) Negro V, Mancini G, Ruggeri B, Fino D. Citrus waste as feedstock for bio-based products recovery: Review on limonene case study and energy valorization. Bioresource Technology, 214: 806-815.

(2015) Hussain M, Deorsola F A, Russo N, Fino D, Pirone R. Abatement of CH4 emitted by CNG vehicles using Pd-SBA-15 and Pd-KIT-6 catalysts, Fuel, 149: 2-7.

(2014) Mancini G, Viotti P, Luciano A, Fino D. On the ASR and ASR thermal residues characterization of full scale treatment plant, Waste Management, 34: 448-457.

(2013) Ruggeri B, Luongo Malavè A C, Bernardi M, Fino D. Energy efficacy used to score organic refuse pretreatment process for hydrogen anaerobic production, Waste Management, 33: 2225-2233.

(2012) Bensaid S, Deorsola F A, Fino D, Russo N. After-treatment of household wood-fired stove emissions: from catalyst formulation to full-scale system, Catalysis Today, 197: 76-89.

(2011) Palmisano P, Hernandez S P, Hussain M, Fino D, Russo N. A new concept for a self cleaning household oven, Chemical Engineering Journal, 176-177: 253-259.

(2010) Bensaid S, Russo N; Fino D. Power and Hydrogen Co-generation from Biogas, Energy & Fuels, 24: 4743-4747.

(2009) Rutigliano L, Fino D, Saracco G, Specchia V, Spinelli P, Grizzaffi L. Electrochemical Oxidation process for water condensates recycling in a shuttle orbiter, Journal Of Applied Electrochemistry, 39 (11): 2239-2249.

(2008) Rutigliano L, Fino D, Saracco G, Specchia V, Spinelli P. Electrokinetic remediation of soils contaminated with heavy metals, Journal Of Applied Electrochemistry, 38: 1035-1041.

(2007) Fino D. Diesel Emission Control:Catalytic Filters for Particulate Removal, Science And Technology Of Advanced Materials, 8 (1-2): 93-100.

(2006) Cauda E, Hernandez S, Fino D, Saracco G, Specchia V. PM0.1 Emissions during Diesel Trap Regeneration, Environmental Science And Technology, 40: 5532-5537.

(2005) Fino D, Carlesi J C, Saracco G, Specchia V, Spinelli P. Deactivation and regeneration of Pt anodes for the electro-oxidation of phenol, Journal Of Applied Electrochemistry, 35(4): 405-411.

(2004) Fino D, Russo N, Saracco G, Specchia V.  A multifunctional filter for the simultaneous removal of fly-ash and NOx from incinerator flue gases, Chemical Engineering Science, 59 (22-23): 5329-5336.

(2003) Fino D, Russo N, Saracco G, Specchia V.  The role of suprafacial oxygen in some perovskites for the catalytic combustion of soot, Journal Of Catalysis, 217: 367-375.

(2002) Fino D, Saracco G, Specchia V. Filtration and catalytic abatement of diesel particulate from stationary sources, Chemical Engineering Science, 57(22-23): 4955-4966.

Awards and prizes

In November 2004 she was winner of the "ITALGAS AWARD - DEBUT IN THE RESEARCH" (XVII edition) for her doctoral thesis (Catalytic combustion of Diesel particulate matter). In February 2007 her article "Innovative means for the catalytic regeneration of particulate traps for diesel exhaust cleaning", Chem. Eng. Sci., 58 (3-6) (2003) 951-958, was awarded by Elsevier Science Publisher as one of the most cited articles of the journal Chemical Engineering Science during the four-year period 2003 - 2006. In December 2007 she was winner of the "SAPIO JUNIOR AWARD for ITALIAN RESEARCH" (IX Edition) for the results obtained in the research "Secondary nanoparticles from filters for the removal of Diesel particulate matter and in other application contexts". October 2009 - the article "Biogas Purification for MCFCs Applications" was awarded among the top 5 by the Scientific Organizing Committee of "HYSYDAYS 2009 - 3rd World Congress of Young Scientists on Hydrogen Energy Systems". The article was published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
June 2010 - ITWIIN Award for Italian Association of Women Inventors and Innovators, she also won of the DISTI (Science and Technology Information Innovation Innovation Center based in Bari) special prize, given the effectiveness of the presentation of potential social and economic impacts of scientific projects.
In September 2011, the European Union Women Inventors and Innovators Awards awarded her a special mention in view of the effectiveness in presenting potential social and economic effects of her scientific research by the jury of international experts, Reykjavik (Iceland). In February 2013 the article "M. Hussain, R. Ceccarelli, D.L. Marchisio, D. Fino, N. Russo, F. Geobaldo, Synthesis, Characterization and Photocatalytic Application of Novel TiO2 Nanoparticles "in Chemical Engineering Journal 157, 45-51 of 2010 was awarded as the eighth most cited article of the journal Chemical Engineering Journal in the during the period 10/2009 - 9/2010.

Position/Role

Professor of Electrical and Electronic Measurements at the University of Brescia, President of the Aggregate Course Council in Electronics and Telecommunications of the Department of Information Engineering, Coordinator of the Doctoral College in Technology for Health.

Professional career

After graduating in Physics at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1985, she worked for more than 10 years in industries operating in industrial plants and energy, including Ansaldo Sistemi Industriali in Milan, where she was responsible for the R&D of the digitally controlled drives section. At the end of 1995 she joined the University of Brescia as a researcher of Electronics, where she became Associate Professor of Electrical and Electronic Measurements in 2002 and Full Professor in 2016. In 2004 she created the Italian Competence Centre on Profibus and Profinet, which is still operational today. From 2013 to 2020 she is in the Board of Directors of CSMT, the main centre for technology transfer in Brescia. Since 2011 she has been a member of the Scientific Council of SPS, the Industrial Automation Exhibition. From 2013 to 2016 she was a member of the ADCOM of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society and in 2015 she was Vice President for Conferences. Since 2018, she has been the Chair of the Aggregate Course Council in Electronics and Telecommunications of the Department of Information Engineering. In 2020 she is elected Coordinator of the Doctoral College in Technology for Health. 

Scientific results

Alessandra Flammini's scientific profile is multifaceted: she started her research activity in the field of industrial research with reference to digitally controlled drives and then moved on to scientific research in the field of embedded systems electronics, then "smart" sensors and finally distributed measurement systems for industry, smart grids and smart living.

More specifically, Flammini's scientific research has focused from the outset on interface circuits for sensors and on "smart" sensors, i.e. on technologies that enable sensors to communicate their measurement information in IoT architectures. Alessandra Flammini has made a fundamental scientific contribution to the synchronisation of sensor networks, a key issue in real-time applications for industry and energy, contributing to the realisation and evolution of the IEEE1588 standard. More specifically, her scientific research activity has focused from the outset on interface circuits for sensors and on 'smart' sensors, i.e. on technologies that enable sensors to communicate their measurement information in IoT architectures, which are fundamental in so-called 'smart' systems, ranging from smart grids to smart living, areas in which Alessandra Flammini has been responsible for large-scale interdepartmental projects, with budgets in excess of €5 million, from 2013 to date. In the field of wireless technologies for IoT, her experimental studies on LoRaWAN technology are of absolute importance, which have enabled its use in distributed measurement applications for industry, as evidenced by the high number of citations of her publications on the subject. Alessandra Flammini is also an important figure in the Brescia area. In addition to having founded a research group consisting of three full professors, two associate professors and two researchers, and to having formulated new educational proposals on the topics of IoT and technologies for the digital enterprise, Alessandra Flammini has also developed the first Italian Real Time Ethernet, patented and marketed by Gefran as GDNET, and is co-author of other national and international patents that have had significant commercial value.

Editorial work and publications

She is co-author of more than 300 international scientific publications, including:

[2022] P. Ferrari, E. Sisinni, P. Bellagente, D. Fernandes Carvalho, A. Depari, A. Flammini, M. Pasetti, S. Rinaldi, I. Silva, "On the use of LoRaWAN and cloud platforms for diversification of mobility-as-a-service infrastructure in smart city scenarios", IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, Vol., ISSN 0018-9456.

[2020] E. Sisinni, P. Ferrari, D. Fernandes Carvalho, S. Rinaldi, M. Pasetti, A. Flammini, A. Depari, "LoRaWAN Range Extender for Industrial IoT", IEEE Trans. Industrial Informatics, August, 2020, Vol. 16, N. 9, pp. 5607-5616, ISSN 1551-3203, DOI 10.1109/TII.2019.2958620.

[2018] P. Ferrari, A. Flammini, E. Sisinni, S. Rinaldi, D. Brandao, M. Rocha, "Delay Estimation of Industrial IoT Applications Based on Messaging Protocols", IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, September, 2018, Vol. 67, N. 9, pp. 2188-2199, ISSN 0018-9456, DOI 10.1109/TIM.2018.2813798.

[2017] M. Rizzi, P. Ferrari, E. Sisinni, A. Flammini, "Evaluation of the IoT LoRaWAN Solution for Distributed Measurement Applications", IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, December, 2017, Vol. 66, N. 12, pp. 3340-3349, ISSN 0018-9456, DOI 10.1109/TIM.2017.2746378.

[2016] E. Sisinni, A. Depari, A. Flammini, "Design and implementation of a wireless sensor network for temperature sensing in hostile environments", Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, January, 2016, Vol. 237, pp. 47-55, ISSN 0924-4247, DOI 10.1016/j.sna.2015.11.012.

[2011] C. M. De Dominicis, P. Ferrari, A. Flammini, S. Rinaldi, M. Quarantelli, "On the Use of IEEE 1588 in Existing IEC 61850-Based SASs: Current Behavior and Future Challenges", IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, September, 2011, Vol. 60, N. 9, pp. 3070-3081, ISSN 0018-9456, DOI 10.1109/TIM.2011.2158159.

[2009] A. Flammini, D. Marioli, E. Sisinni, A. Taroni, "Design and Implementation of a Wireless Fieldbus for Plastic Machineries", IEEE Trans. Industrial Electronics, March, 2009, Vol. 56, N. 3, pp. 747-755, ISSN 0278-0046, DOI 10.1109/TIE.2008.2011602.

[2009] P. Ferrari, A. Flammini, D. Marioli, E. Sisinni, A. Taroni, "Wired and wireless sensor networks for industrial applications", Microelectronics Journal, September, 2009, Vol. 40, N. 9, pp. 1322-1336, ISSN 0026-2692, DOI 10.1016/j.mejo.2008.08.012.

[2008] P. Ferrari, A. Flammini, D. Marioli, A. Taroni, "A Distributed Instrument for Performance Analysis of Real-Time Ethernet Networks", IEEE Trans. Industrial Informatics, February, 2008, Vol. 4, N. 1, pp. 16-25, ISSN 1551-3203, DOI 10.1109/TII.2008.919016.

[2004] A. Flammini, D. Marioli, A. Taroni, "A low-cost interface to high-value resistive sensors varying over a wide range", IEEE Trans. Instrumentation and Measurement, August, 2004, Vol. 53, N. 4, pp. 1052-1056, ISSN 0018-9456, DOI 10.1109/TIM.2004.831500.

[2002] A. Flammini, P. Ferrari, E. Sisinni, D. Marioli, A. Taroni, "Sensor interfaces: from field-bus to Ethernet and Internet", Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, September, 2002, Vol. 101, N. 1-2, pp. 194-202, ISSN 0924-4247 , DOI 10.1016/S0924-4247(02)00201-7.

[1999] A. Flammini, D. Marioli, A. Taroni, "Application of an optimal look-up table to sensor data processing", IEEE Trans.Instrumentation and Measurement, August, 1999, Vol. 48, N. 4, pp. 813-816, ISSN 0018-9456, DOI 10.1109/19.779179.

Awards and prizes

She has been coauthor of award-winning papers at international conferences (ETFA2008, ISPCS2010).

IEEE Senior Member since 2010, General Chair or Technical Chair of several international conferences, she was elected member of the ADCOM of the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society from 2013 to 2016 and was Vice President for Conferences in 2015.

Member of the IEEE1588 Study Group.

Top Italian Scientists in Electrical Engeneering. 

Position/Role

Former full Professor of Ecology at University of Trieste

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Trieste in 1974, she continued her training as a research fellow in Ecology at the same university until 1981. Since that year she has been a researcher, and in 1992 she became associate professor and head of the Laboratory of Marine Biology at the University of Trieste. Since 2008 she has been a full professor of Ecology.

Scientific results

Serena Fonda Umani's main research interests concern marine ecosystem dynamics, carbon fluxes, the study of plankton ecology and marine microbial ecology. In order to conduct her studies, she has travelled to various areas of the Mediterranean Sea, the Strait of Magellan (Chile), Chesapeake Bay (USA) and the Ross Sea (Antarctica). One of the main objectives of Serena Fonda Umani's research is to estimate the carbon fluxes within the pelagic-microbial food chain (from viruses to jellyfish), in order to check whether there is selection by predators on prokaryotes (the first cellular organisms to appear on earth, characterised by the absence of a well-defined nucleus). This is possible through the metagenomic approach (the study of microbial communities directly in their natural environment) that Serena Fonda Umani and colleagues use.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored more than 200 international and national scientific publications, including:

(2016) Zoccarato L, Celussi M, Pallavicini A, Fonda Umani S. Aurelia aurita ephyrae reshape a coastal microbial community. c 7:749. 

(2015) Caruso G, La Ferla R, Leonardi M, Zaccone R, Azzaro F, Azzaro M, Decembrini F, Maimone G, Monticelli L, Caroppo C, Cavallo RA, Acquaviva MI, Narracci M, Stabili L, Marino G, Petochi T, De Angelis R, Zoppini A, Fonda Umani S, Del Negro P, Todorova NH, Karamfilov VK, Corinaldesi C, Rastelli E, Cappello S, Latini M, Danovaro R. Microbial assemblages for environmental quality assessment: knowledge, gaps and usefulness in the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Critical Reviews in Microbiology

(2013) Di Poi E, Blason C, Corinaldesi, Danovaro R, Malisana E, Fonda Umani S. Structure and interactions within the pelagic microbial food web (from viruses to microplankton) across environmental gradients in the Mediterranean Sea. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 27: 1034-1045. 

(2012) Giani M, Djakovac T, Degobbis D, Cozzi S, Solidoro C, Fonda Umani S. Recent changes in the marine ecosystems of the northern Adriatic Sea. Estuarines, Coastal and Shelf Sciences, 115:1-13. 

(2012) Fonda Umani S, Malfatti F, Del Negro P. Carbon fluxes in the pelagic ecosystem of the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea). Estuarines, Coastal and Shelf Sciences, 115:170-186.

(2010) Fonda Umani S, Malisana E, Focaracci F, Magagnini M, Corinaldesi C, Danovaro R. Disentangling the impact of viruses and nanoflagellates on prokaryotes in bathypelagic waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 418:73-85. 

(2010) Mozetič P, Solidoro C, Cossarini G, Socal G, Precali R, Francé J, Bianchi F, Smodlaka N, De Vittor C, Fonda Umani S. Recent trends towards oligotrophication of the northern Adriatic: evidence from chlorophyll a time series. Estuaries and Coasts, 33:362-375.

(2009) Danovaro R, Fonda Umani S, Pusceddu A. Climate Change and the potential spreading of marine mucilage and microbial pathogens in the Mediterranean Sea. PLoS ONE, 4(9):e7006. 

(2007) Fonda Umani S, Del Negro P, Larato C, De Vittor C, Cabrini M, Celio M, Falconi C, Tamberlich F, Azam F. Major inter-annual variations in microbial dynamics in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic Sea) and their ecosystem implications. Aquatic Microbial Ecology Journal, 46:163-175. 

(2005) Fonda Umani S, Milani L, Borme D, de Olazabal A, Parlato S, Precali R, Kraus R, Lucic D, Njire J, Totti C, Romagnoli T, Pompei M, Cangini M. Inter-annual variations of planktonic food webs in the northern Adriatic Sea. Science of the Total Environment, 353(1-3):218-231.

Awards and prizes

Serena Fonda Umani is a member of numerous scientific societies and committees, including the Scientific Committee of the Sea Park (since 2005) and the Italian Society of Ecology (SItE), of which she was elected President in 2012.

Position/Role

IMPROVEMENT & SAVING Project Leader. EU Lead Auditor Conformity Assessment CE marking

Professional career

After graduating in Chemistry at the University of Florence (1999) and a scholarship at the Interuniversity Consortium for Research on Metal-Proteins of the University of Florence, she gained professional experience in various fields, distinguishing herself for the study and optimisation of business processes and analytical methods in the pharmaceutical and environmental fields.

From 2000 to 2017 she was Technical Consultant for the Office of the Court of Florence.

From 2003 to May 2008, she worked at ALPHA ECOLOGIA Srl, obtaining ACCREDIA accreditation, optimising company processes and chemical laboratory activities.

In 2006 she obtained the certification of Internal Auditor (ISO19011) for Quality Management Systems at CSQA. 

From May 2008 to February 2016 she worked at Biochemielab Srl, first as Laboratory Manager implementing the Quality Management System with the process approach, the QA/QC EPA Standard Quality System, increasing ACCREDIA ISO17025 accreditation, digitalization of laboratory activities; then as Quality Assurance Manager dealing with the integrated quality-environment-safety system, ISO9001, ISO14001 certifications, ACCREDIA ISO17025 accreditation, optimization of business processes.

From 2016 to 2022 she held the role of Quality Assurance Manager in SAGEA Centro di Saggio Srl, International Contract Research Organization in the agri-food sector, dealing with GLP and GEP certifications as an internal auditor. He has implemented the ISO9001 Quality Management System in the company, the process approach of the Japanese Total Quality model.

In 2022 she becomes IMPROVEMENT & SAVING Project Leader, leading some standardization projects for European laboratories, projects commissioned by the European Commission DG-GROW with the CEN in Brussels, and EU Lead Auditor at a Dutch notification/certification body EFCI Register ( NB2832) authorized by the European Commission for the conformity assessment and CE marking of products for the European market.

Since 2016 she has been national president of the Food Sector of AICQ (Italian Association of Quality Culture) for the diffusion of quality in the agri-food sector and vice-president of the Testing and Calibration Laboratories Committee of AICQ for the diffusion of quality in testing laboratories.

Since 2019 she has been Green Belt Six Sigma and is an international consultant in TQM and Lean Six Sigma at COMATCH GmbH based in Berlin.

Scientific results

Since 2000, she has been an expert in the implementation of the Japanese Total Quality Management model (Toyota Way), Kaizen continuous improvement, business process analysis and Lean Six Sigma projects, and the corporate implementation of MonozukuriWG. 

She has participated in numerous presentations as a speaker and gained extensive training experience.

In particular, from 2016 to date, her activity in AICQ has allowed her to organise Training Courses and National Conferences with Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ACCREDIA, AICQ-SICEV.

Since 2018 she is a UNI/CT 003 member "Agro-food Commission" with voting rights, UNI/CT003/GL21 member "Plant Biostimulants" with voting rights, UNI/CT406 member "Fertilizers" with voting rights, UNI/CT003/GL23 member "Food Authenticity" with voting rights.

Since 2019 she is one of the managers of the European Training Project ENVIRECA-ERASMUS+ European Commission, AICQ, DU, FLA, HRC, CSM and EXELIA "Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training" for the HORECA sector.

Editorial work and publications

[2017] Gallerini S., Le GLP/BPL, il Kaizen e il Monozukuri, Magazine Qualità AICQ gen-feb 

[2016] Gallerini S., Le GLP/BPL, il Kaizen e il Monozukuri, AICQ QualitàOnLine, novembre 

[2007] Gallerini S., Salvini A., Frediani P., Homogeneous hydrogenation of ketones in the presence of H₂Ru(CO)₂(PPh₃)₂, Dalton Transaction, Issue 39

[2001], Gallerini S., Total Quality Management nel passaggio generazionale delle imprese toscane, ASFOR Toscana

[2000] Gallerini S., Salvini A., Frediani P., Homogeneous hydrogenation of ketones in the presence of H₂Ru(CO)₂(PPh₃)₂, Applied Organometallic Chemistry, 14: 570-580

[1999] Gallerini S., Salvini A., Frediani P., Homogeneous hydrogenation, XIII FECHEM International Conference on Organometallic Chemistry Book of Abstract, Lisbon

Awards and prizes

In 2016 she received the Sagea Innovation Award, an award for the implementation of Total Quality Management aimed at the pursuit of continuous Kaizen improvement.

In 2017 she received the AICQ Committees and Sectors Award, as president of the Food Sector for having actively participated in the diffusion of Quality Culture in Italy, for national training events organised with success in terms of audience and contents and for articles published in the magazines Qualità Magazine and Qualità On Line.

Position/Role

Associate researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics (OGS) in Trieste

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Siena in 1977, from 1977-1979 she carried out an internship as a graduate student at the Institute of Comparative Anatomy (Laboratory of Hydrobiology) of the University of Siena. From 1980 to 1982 she was a member of the Marine Biology, Hydrobiology and Aquaculture Cooperative, "Coipa" (Rome). The following year she was a researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, at the Benthos Ecology Laboratory based at Villa Dohrn, Ischia. In 1986 she was a post-doctoral fellow at the School of Oceanography of the University of Washington and at Friday Harbor Laboratories. Since 1992 she is first researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn. In 2014 she was awarded the national scientific qualification for Ecology (full professor) and Zoology (associate professor). Since February 2021 she has been a research associate at the Istituto Nazionale di Oceanografia e di Geofisica Sperimentale (OGS) in Trieste.

Scientific results

The research of Maria Cristina Gambi aims to study the diversity and evolutionary biology and ecology of marine benthic invertebrates with special focus on polychaetes (one of the most abundant and diverse groups of benthic assemblages) and their role as bioindicators and in the functioning of coastal benthic habitats. As part of her main results, Maria Cristina Gambi described 16 species of polychaetes new to science and a new and peculiar group of detritivores (debris consumers) in the seagrass Posidonia oceanica system of the Mediterranean and the Thalassia testudinum system in the Caribbean. She identified key species of polychaetes and other invertebrates resistant to various stress factors related to climate change, in particular to ocean acidification, that can be used as models to study acclimatization and adaptation to local conditions of this stressor and other forcing environmental factors. Actually, experimental research on climate change effects on polychaetes and zoobenthic communities are carried out both in the laboratory and in situ, utilizing submerged systems characterized by of emissions of CO₂ of volcanic origin from the bottom (gas vents) which cause a natural acidification of the marine water and represent natural laboratories to study future scenario of climate change and ocean acidification. The studies conducted in these systems by M.C. Gambi pionereed the world international research on the effects of ocean acidification in the benthic biota. 

Editorial work and publications

From2005 to 2013 Editor, and from 2014 to present Associate Editor of the International Journal Marine Ecology (Wiley-Blackwell). 

She is author of numerous scientific publications, including some books, and has edited various special issues of Marine Ecology; the most recent and relevant publications are listed below: 

(2018) Teixido N, Gambi MC, Parravicini V, Kroeker K, Micheli F, Villeger S, Ballesteros E. Functional biodiversity loss along natural CO₂ gradients. Nature Communications, 9(1). DOI.10.1038/s41467-018-07592-1.

(2018) Foo SA, ByrneM, RicevutoE, Gambi MC. The carbon dioxide vents of Ischia, Italy, a natural laboratory to assess impacts of ocean acidification on marine ecosystems: an overview of research and comparisons with other vent systems. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 56, 237-310

(2017) Vizzini S, Martínez-Crego B, Andolina C, Massa-Gallucci A, Connell SD, Gambi MC. Ocean acidification as a driver of community simplification via the collapse of higher-order and rise of lower-order consumers. Scientific Report 7, 4018. 

(2013) Kroeker K, Micheli F, Gambi MC. Ocean acidification causes ecosystem shifts via altered competitive interactions. Nature Climate Change, 3, 156-159. 

(2013) Kroeker KJ, Gambi MC, Micheli F. Altered recovery dynamics result in homogenous assemblages in an acidified ocean. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (PNAS), 110 (31): 12721-12726. 

(2011) Kroeker KJ, Micheli F, Gambi MC, Martz TR. Divergent ecosystem responses within a benthic marine community to ocean acidification. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS), 108 (35), 14515-14520. 

Awards and prizes

She is member of the Italian Society of Marine Biology (S.I.B.M.) since 1977, where she participated in the Steering Committee of the Society from 2009 to 2012 and was for various times coordinator of the Benthos Committee. She also member of the Italian Zoological Association (U.Z.I.), and the Italian Association of Oceanology and Limnology (A.I.O.L.). She has been also a member of the GOSSOE group (Group of Specialists of Southern Ocean Ecology) of the S.C.A.R.-S.C.O.R.

From 1992 to 2001 she was the national representative of the Steering Committee of the International Polychaete Association (I.P.A.) (1992-2001) and from 2001 to 2004 she has been its President.

Position/Role

Group leader of the "Molecular and Pharmaco-Epidemiology" unit at the Experimental Oncology department of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan (IEO). Faculty member of the European School of Molecular Medicine in Milan (ESMM). Adjunct professor in medical statistics at University of Milan

Professional career

She graduated in Statistics from the University of Bologna in 1993, continuing his education with a specialisation in Biometrics in 1995 at the University of Reading (UK). She joined the IEO in Milan in 1996, when the Institute was only 2 years old; she is constantly involved in research activities. In 2004 she obtained a PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Birmingham (Public Health). Since 2009 she has been Deputy Director of the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the IEO in Milan and in 2014 she became Consultant of Statistics for the Ethics Committee of Multimedica in Milan. In 2016 she became Adjunct Professor of Mean Statistics at the University of Milan and in 2017 she obtained the National Scientific Qualification to the functions of University Professor in Medical Statistics. Since 2018 she has been a faculty member at the European School of Molecular Medicine in Milan (SEMM) and Group leader of the "Molecular and Pharmaco-Epidemiology" unit at the Department of Experimental Oncology of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan (IEO).

Scientific results

Sara Gandini provides constant consultancy in a wide range of sectors, including statistical analysis of experiments and clinical studies, study designs and development of the protocols. She collaborates with researchers around the world and has conducted extensive research on the cancer epidemiology, including meta-analyses and pooled analyses, with the aim of better understanding cancer aetiology. In recent years her main interest has focused on the study of melanoma and related risk factors which has led to a change in the classification of the Lyon International Cancer Research Agency, defining exposure to the entire spectrum of ultraviolet carcinogens, including sunbed use. Sara Gandini thus came to analyse the role of vitamin D within the complex system of the human body. She is the Principal Investigator of two randomized studies that she designed and promoted to evaluate the effect of vitamin D on the prognosis of patients with melanoma and colon cancer and on the interaction between diet and intestinal microbiota.

In general, she believes in independent research and in her career she has been involved in primary prevention and study of biomarkers and also in Drug repositioning, the reuse in the oncological field of the active principle of commercially available drugs (Vitamin D, Metformin, Beta-blockers...), on which there are no economic interests and investments by pharmaceutical companies.

Editorial work and publications

Sara Gandini is the author of more than 200 articles in national and international hight impact journals, including:

(2019) Thomas AM, Manghi P, Asnicar F, Pasolli E, Armanini F, Zolfo M, Beghini F, Manara S, Karcher N, Pozzi C, Gandini S, Serrano D, Tarallo S, Francavilla A, Gallo G, Trompetto M, Ferrero G, Mizutani S, Shiroma H, Shiba S, Shibata T, Yachida S, Yamada T, Wirbel J, Schrotz-King P, Ulrich CM, Brenner H, Arumugam M,  Bork P, Zeller G, Cordero F, Dias-Neto E, Setubal JC, Tett A, Pardini B, Rescigno M, Waldron L, Naccarati A, Segata N. Metagenomic analysis of colorectal cancer datasets identifies cross-cohort microbial diagnostic signatures and a link with  choline degradation.Nat Med. 25(4):667-678. 

(2019) Wirbel J, Pyl PT, Kartal E, Zych K, Kashani A, Milanese A, Fleck JS, Voigt AY, Palleja A, Ponnudurai R, Sunagawa S, Coelho LP, Schrotz-King P, Vogtmann E, Habermann N, Niméus E, Thomas AM, Manghi P, Gandini S, Serrano D, Mizutani S, Shiroma H, Shiba S, Shibata T, Yachida S, Yamada T, Waldron L, Naccarati A, Segata N, Sinha R, Ulrich CM, Brenner H, Arumugam M, Bork P, Zeller G. Meta-analysis of fecal metagenomes reveals global microbial signatures that are specific for colorectal cancer. Nat Med. 25(4):679-689.

(2016) Le CP, Nowell CJ, Kim-Fuchs C, Botteri E, Hiller JG, Ismail H, Pimentel MA, Chai MG, Karnezis T, Rotmensz N, Renne G, Gandini S, et al. Chronic stress in mice remodels lymph vasculature to promote tumour cell dissemination. Nature Communications, 7:10634. 

(2014) Gandini S, Puntoni M, Heckman-Stoddard BM, Dunn BK, Ford L, DeCensi A, Szabo E. Metformin and cancer risk and mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis taking into account biases and confounders. Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia), 7(9):867-85. 

(2012) Boniol M, Autier P, Boyle P, Gandini S. Cutaneous melanoma attributable to sunbed use: systematic review and meta-analysis. British Medical Journal, 345:e4757. 

(2012) Zittermann A, Iodice S, Pilz S, Grant WB, Bagnardi V, Gandini S. Vitamin D deficiency and mortality risk in the general population: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 95(1):91-100. 

(2011) Gandini S, Boniol M, Haukka J, et al. Meta-analysis of observational studies of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels and colorectal, breast and prostate cancer and colorectal adenoma. International Journal of Cancer, 128(6):1414-24. 

(2010) DeCensi A, Puntoni M, Goodwin P, Cazzaniga M, Gennari A, Bonanni B, Gandini S. Metformin and Cancer Risk in Diabetic Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Cancer Prevention Research (Philadelphia), 3(11):1451-61. 

(2007) Autier P, Gandini S. Vitamin D suppl. and total mortality - A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167(16):1730-7. 

(2005) Gandini S, et al. Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma: II. Sun exposure. European Journal of Cancer, 41(1):45-60. 

(2005) Gandini S, et al. Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma: I. Common and atypical naevi. European Journal of Cancer, 41(1):28-44. 

(2005) Gandini S, et al. Meta-analysis of risk factors for cutaneous melanoma: III. Family history, actinic damage and phenotypic factors. European Journal of Cancer, 41(14):2040-59.

Awards and prizes

In 2008 she won the Bruno Martinetto award for research on cancer prevention.

In 2014 she was unanimously elected President of the independent scientific society EuroSkin that deals with primary prevention.

Since 2019 she is member of the Top Italian Women Scientist Club of Onda (Osservatorio nazionale sulla salute delle donne e di genere), an Italian observatory on women and gender health.

Position/Role

Head of the Experimental Immunopathology Laboratory of the Humanitas Clinical Institute in Milan and Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology at Humanitas University of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Milan in 1990, she specialized in immunopathology working in Italian and foreign laboratories, such as the Immunology Laboratory of the "Mario Negri" Institute of Pharmacological Research from 1990 to 2005, and the Department of Molecular Biology of the Grenoble Nuclear Studies Center for the two-year period 1994-1995. She is currently in charge of the Laboratory of Experimental Immunopathology at the Humanitas Clinical Institute. Her interests concern the cells of the immune system and the characterization of their biological activity, innate immunity to pathogens and regulation of inflammatory processes.

Scientific results

The research group in charge of Cecilia Garlanda is focused on the study of the PTX3 molecule, the innate immunity molecule involved in resistance to fungal, bacterial and viral infections, and in the regulation of inflammation. Recently the group pointed out that PTX3 creates an environment hostile to tumor growth, regulating the inflammation that is generated in the tumor microenvironment. Cecilia Garlanda also engages in pre-clinical studies and in studies aimed at the possibility of transferring the information obtained to clinical activity.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored numerous scientific publications, including:

(2015) Doni A, Musso T, Morone D, Bastone A, Zambelli V, Sironi M, Castagnoli C, Cambieri I, Stravalaci M, Pasqualini F, Laface I, Valentino S, Tartari S, Ponzetta A, Maina V, Barbieri SS, Tremoli E, Catapano AL, Norata GD, Bottazzi B, Garlanda C, Mantovani A. An acidic microenvironment sets the humoral pattern recognition molecule PTX3 in a tissue repair mode. J Exp Med, 1;212(6):905-25.

(2015) Bonavita E, Gentile S, Rubino M, Maina V, Papait R, Kunderfranco P, Greco C, Feruglio F, Molgora M, Laface I, Tartari S, Doni A, Pasqualini F, Barbati E, Basso G, Galdiero MR, Nebuloni M, Roncalli M, Colombo P, Laghi L, Lambris JD, Jaillon S, Garlanda C, Mantovani A. PTX3 is an extrinsic oncosuppressor regulating complement-dependent inflammation in cancer. Cell, 12;160(4):700-14.

(2014) Jaillon S, Moalli F,  Ragnarsdottir B, Bonavita E, Riva F,  Barbati E, Nebuloni M, Cvetko Krajinovic L, Markotic A, Valentino S,  Doni A, Tartari S, Graziani G, Montanelli A, Delneste Y, Svanborg C, Garlanda C,  Mantovani A. The humoral pattern recognition molecule PTX3 is a key component of innate immunity against urinary tract infection. Immunity, 17;40(4):621-32.

(2013) Garlanda C, Dinarello CA, Mantovani A, The interleukin-1 family: back to the future. Immunity, 12;39(6):1003-18.

(2010) Moalli F, Doni A, Deban L, Zelante T, Zagarella S, Bottazzi B, Romani L, Mantovani A, and Garlanda C. Role of complement and Fcg receptors in the protective activity of the long pentraxin PTX3 against Aspergillus fumigatus. Blood, 9;116(24):5170-80. 

(2007) Garlanda C, Riva F, Veliz T, Polentarutti N, Pasqualini F, Radaelli E, Sironi M, Nebuloni M, Zorini EO, Scanziani E, Mantovani A. Increased susceptibility to colitis-associated cancer of mice lacking TIR8, an inhibitory member of the interleukin-1 receptor family. Cancer Research, 1;67(13):6017-21.

(2005) Garlanda C, Bottazzi B, Bastone A, Mantovani A. Pentraxins at the crossroads between innate immunity, inflammation, matrix deposition, and female fertility. Annual Review of Immunology, 23: 337-366.

(2004) Garlanda C, Riva F, Polentarutti N, Buracchi C, Sironi M, De Bortoli M, Muzio M, Bergottini R, Scanziani E, Vecchi A, Hirsch A, Mantovani A. Intestinal inflammation in mice deficient in Tir8, an inhibitory member of the IL-1 receptor family. Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America, 101: 3522-3526.

(2002) Garlanda C, Hirsch E, Bozza S, Salustri A, De Acetis M, Nota R, Maccagno A, Riva F, Bottazzi B, Peri G, Doni A, Vago L, Botto M, De Santis R, Carminati P, Siracusa G, Altruda F, Vecchi A, Romani L, Mantovani A. Non-redundant role of the long pentraxin PTX3 in anti-fungal innate immune response. Nature, 420: 182-186.(2000) Hirsch E, Katanaev V L, Garlanda C, Azzolino O, Pirola L, Silengo L, Sozzani S, Mantovani A, Altruda F, Wymann MP. Central role for G protein-coupled phosphoinositide 3-kinase gamma in inflammation. Science, 287: 1049-1053.

Position/Role

She is director of the Cardiometabolic Risk Laboratory and Coordinator of human metabolic research at the Clinical Physiology Institute of the CNR of Pisa, she is also Adjunct associate professor at the Division of Diabetes, University of Texas Health at San Antonio, USA.

Professional career

After graduating in 1990 in Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Bioengineering at the University of Padua, she continued her education with a PhD in Bioengineering at the Polytechnic University of Milan and a PhD in Preventive Medicine and Community Health, specialized in Human Physiology , at the University of Texas Medical Branch of Galveston, where she was a fellow from 1991 to 1995. In that period her research focused on the physiological mechanisms that regulate the metabolism of sugars, lipids and proteins using innovative techniques based on the infusion of tracers marked with stable isotopes measured in mass spectrometry, and on their kinetics’ analysis by mathematical models. In 1995 she returned to Italy to found the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the Institute of Clinical Physiology of the CNR, in the Unit of Metabolism and Nutrition of Pisa. From 2008 to 2009 she was Director of the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory of the G. Monasterio Foundation of Pisa and then in 2009 she returned as a researcher to the CNR Clinical Physiology Institute of Pisa to the CNR, where she founded the Cardiometabolic Risk Laboratory and coordinated research metabolic in humans. In addition to research, she has also been involved in the academic career since 2011: she was first Assistant, then Associate Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Diabetes Division, in San Antonio; from 2006 to 2011 she was a contract professor at the Faculty of Engineering (a degree course in Biomedical Engineering) of the University of Pisa.
Since 2010 she has been a member of the board of directors of the American College of Nutrition (ACN) and she has been directing its European Chapter. In 2012 she founded the study group on non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis (NAFLD) of the European Society for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), and since then she has been leading it.

Scientific results

Amalia Gastaldelli is a PhD specialized in human physiology, an expert in the study of human metabolism, cardio-metabolic risk and glucose and lipid metabolism pathologies, such as insulin resistance, non-insulin-dependent diabetes and non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis. Her multidisciplinary training allowed her to carry out translational research to study human metabolism. Using tracers marked with stable isotopes and mathematical models she showed that the liver is central to proper metabolic functioning. She was among the first to show how fasting hyperglycemia in diabetic patients is mainly due to excessive hepatic glucose production by gluconeogenesis and how patients with fatty liver (NAFLD) have an altered metabolism not only in the liver, but also in the muscle and adipose tissue. She holds several European grants that study the physiopathological mechanisms of NAFLD. At the same time she was a co-investigator in many clinical trials that studied the mechanism of action of antidiabetic drugs such as: PPAR + receptor agonists (TZD), able to increase insulin sensitivity in various organs and to decrease liver fat; the agonists of the GLP-1 hormone produced by the intestine which act as incretins stimulating the production of insulin; and DPP4 enzyme inhibitors responsible for its degradation. A new line of research investigates the impact of pollutants that act as endocrine disruptors on the health of adults and children.

Editorial work and publications

Amalia Gastaldelli is an Associate Editor and a member of the Commitee for the publication of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, she is on the Editorial Board of the World Journal of Hepatology and World Journal of Diabetes, and is a reviewer for over twenty international peer review journals. She is the author of over 200 scientific articles and book chapters including:

(2016) Gastaldelli A, Gaggini M, Daniele G, Ciociaro D, Cersosimo E, Tripathy D, Triplitt C, Fox P, Musi N, DeFronzo R, Iozzo P. Exenatide improves both hepatic and adipose tissue insulin resistance: A dynamic positron emission tomography study. Hepatology, 64(6), 2028-2037.

(2016) EASL, Marchesini G, Day CP, Dufour JF, Canbay A, Nobili V, Ratziu V, Tilg H, EASD, Roden M, Gastaldelli A, Yki-Järvinen H, Schick F, EASO, Vettor R, Frühbeck G, Mathus-Vliegen L. EASL-EASD-EASO Clinical Practice Guidelines for the management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Journal of Hepatology, 64(6), 1388-1402.

(2014) Salehi M, Gastaldelli A, D'Alessio DA. Blockade of glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor corrects postprandial hypoglycemia after gastric bypass. Gastroenterology, 146(3), 669-680 e662.

(2013) DeFronzo RA, Tripathy D, Schwenke DC, Banerji M, Bray GA, Buchanan TA, Clement SC, Henry RR, Kitabchi AE, Mudaliar S, Ratner RE, Stentz FB, Musi N, Reaven PD, Gastaldelli A, Study AN. Prediction of diabetes based on baseline metabolic characteristics in individuals at high risk. Diabetes Care 36(11):3607-3612.

(2012) Bradley D, Conte C, Mittendorfer B, Eagon JC, Varela JE, Fabbrini E, Gastaldelli A, Chambers KT, Su X, Okunade A, Patterson BW, Klein S. Gastric bypass and banding equally improve insulin sensitivity and beta cell function. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 122(12), 4667-4674.

(2009) Gastaldelli A, Kozakova M, Hojlund K, Flyvbjerg A, Favuzzi A, Mitrakou A, Balkau B, Risc Investigators. Fatty liver is associated with insulin resistance, risk of coronary heart disease, and early atherosclerosis in a large European population. Hepatology, 49(5), 1537-1544.

(2007) Gastaldelli A, Cusi K, Pettiti M, Hardies J, Miyazaki Y, Berria R, Buzzigoli E, Sironi AM, Cersosimo E, Ferrannini E, DeFronzo RA. Relationship between hepatic/visceral fat and hepatic insulin resistance in nondiabetic and type 2 diabetic subjects. Gastroenterology, 133(2), 496-506.

(2006) Belfort R, Harrison SA, Brown K, Darland C, Finch J, Hardies J, Balas B, Gastaldelli A, Tio F, Pulcini J, Berria R, Ma JZ, Dwivedi S, Havranek R, Fincke C, DeFronzo R, Bannayan GA, Schenker S, Cusi K. A placebo-controlled trial of pioglitazone in subjects with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. The New England Journal of Medicine, 355(22), 2297-2307.

(2004) Gastaldelli A, Ferrannini E, Miyazaki Y, Matsuda M, DeFronzo RA, San Antonio Metabolism study. Beta-cell dysfunction and glucose intolerance: results from the San Antonio metabolism (SAM) study. Diabetologia, 47(1), 31-39.  

(2000) Gastaldelli A, Baldi S, Pettiti M, Toschi E, Camastra S, Natali A, Landau BR, Ferrannini E. Influence of obesity and type 2 diabetes on gluconeogenesis and glucose output in humans: a quantitative study. Diabetes, 49(8), 1367-1373.

Awards and prizes

During her university career, Amalia Gastaldelli received numerous awards, including over 80 readings by invitation in national and international congresses. In 1998, she was awarded the Glaxo Wellcome / EASD Burden of Diabetes prize for the study of gluconeogenesis and in 2016 she joined the Top Italian Scientist for Biomedical Sciences. She participated in many scientific commissions for the organization of national and international congresses and for the selection of international research projects (grant), and is a member of several international scientific societies.
She is also the scientific director of the European Chapter of the American College of Nutrition (ACN), a professional organization created to promote scientific research in the field of nutritional sciences; she is president of the European study group for non-alcoholic hepatic steatosis NAFLD-EASD and member of the Steering Committee of the EGIR group (European Group for the Study of Insulin Resistance).

Position/Role

Full Professor of Experimental Physics at the La SapienzaUniversity of Rome

Professional career

After obtaining a degree in Physics at the University La Sapienza of Rome in 1974, she received a training grant at the same University from 1975 to 1981. In 1978 she graduated from the School of Specialization in Physics (Nuclear Physics)(corresponding to a nowadays PhD). From 1980 to 1982 she was a two-year research  fellow at the Division of Experimental Physics of CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research). In 1981 she worked as researcher at the La SapienzaUniversity of Rome until 1988 when she became an associate professor at the University of Calabria. In 1992  and 1993 and in1999 and 2000 she returned to CERN as Visiting Scientist. In 1992 she moved as associate professor at University La Sapienza. Since 2011 she is  Full Professor of Experimental Physics at La Sapienza in Rome.

Scientific results

The research sector, in which Simonetta Gentile is dedicated, concerns the Experimental Physics of Elementary Particles. Her lines of investigation follow the Standard Model (the theory that describes three of the four known fundamental forces: the strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions, and all the elementary particles connected to them) or the Neutrino Physics, the structure functions of the nucleons, the properties of the intermediate bosons Z and W and the search for the Higgs bosons. It is currently part of the ATLAS project (A Toroidal LHC ApparatuS), one of six particle detectors built for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the particle accelerator at CERN, in Switzerland. Simonetta Gentile is also involved in research and development for particle detectors for future accelerators. During her career, she participates in experiments aimed at identifying triggers and detectors of mu-mesons (muons, sort of heavy electrons). She collaborated with the Fermi Laboratory of Batavia (Chicago) in the search for particles with charm and with NASA working  at AMS, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a detector used in particle physics installed since 19 May 2011 on the International Space Station. It is designed for the research of new types of particles (antimatter, dark matter, strange matter) through the high-precision measurement of the composition of cosmic rays. Its measures will help scientists understand the laws behind the formation of the universe.

Editorial work and publications

Publishing activities and publications she is the author of numerous international publications, including:

(2018) Gentile S. , ATLAS [ATLAS Collaboration, Authors: 2856], Observation of Higgs boson production in association with a top quark pair at the LHC with the ATLAS detector, Phys. Lett. B 784 (2018) 173.

(2018) Gentile S. , ATLAS [ATLAS Collaboration, Authors: 2856],  Evidence for the associated production of the Higgs boson and a top quark pair with the ATLAS detector,Phys.Rev. D97 (2018) no.7, 072003.

(2017) Gentile S. , ATLAS Search for the dimuon decay of the Higgs boson in pp collisions at √s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detectorPhys. Rev. Lett. 119 (2017) 051802

(2016) Gentile S.,ATLAS & CMS Collaboration, Measurements of the Higgs boson production and decay rates and constraints on its couplings from a combined ATLAS and CMS analysis of the LHCppcollision data ats√=7 and 8 TeV, JHEP 08 (2016) 045

(2015) Gentile S.,ATLAS Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top quark pair in multilepton final states with the ATLAS detector, Physics Letters B 749 (2015) 519-541

(2013) Corcella G, Gentile S. Heavy Neutral Gauge Bosons at LHC in an Extended MSSM.Nuclear Physics B, 866:293-366. 

(2012) Gentile S. Z 'production at LHC in an extended MSSM.Proceedings of Science, 36th International Conference on High Energy Physics, Melbourne, Australia. 

(2012) Gentile S. Phenomenology of new heavy neutral gauge bosons in an extended MSSM. Nuovo Cimento C, 035:349-360. 

(2012) Aad et al. [ATLAS Collaboration, Authors: 2932]. Observation of a new particle in the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson with the ATLAS detector at the LHC"G. Physics Letters B 716, 1. 

(2010) Gentile S. Systematics in charged Higgs search in ATLAS. Proceedings of Science, Third International Workshop on Prospects for charged Higgs Discovery at colliders-CHARGED2010, Uppsala, Sweden.

Position/Role

President of the Italian Climate Network. Meteorologist for Meteo Expert.

Professional career

Serena Giacomin has a degree in Physics, specialising in the Physics of the Atmosphere and Climatology. She conducts weather forecasts and in-depth environmental analysis programmes on Mediaset channels and the main national radio stations. She is a management consultant for climate risk management and a lecturer and science popularizer. Since 2017 she has been president of the Italian Climate Network, the non-profit organisation set up in 2011 to strengthen the fight against climate change by disseminating scientific content, promoting knowledge and monitoring the institutional choices made in Italy and Europe. She is the scientific director of Educazione climatica, for the OK! CLIMA.

Scientific results

Serena Giacomin's main research interests are the analysis of meteorological models for forecasting activities and research on climate parameters for climate change risk assessment and management. She is also involved in school planning and training, for teachers and students, and in professional training and consultancy, for local administrations. 

Editorial work and publications

Serena Giacomin is the author, with Luca Perri, of Pinguini all’Equatore. Non tutto ciò che senti sul clima è vero (DeAgostini 2020). She collaborated in the production of the school manual for secondary schools Scienze Live (Garzanti Scuola 2020), and wrote Meteo che scegli, tempo che trovi (Imprimatur Editore 2018).

Awards and prizes

In 2020 she received the Gelso d'oro civic award from the City of Cernusco sul Naviglio, with the following motivation: "for her example of commitment to the dissemination of scientific information and issues related to climate change and environmental sustainability, at a time when, especially the younger generations, are urging society to become more aware of the serious risks that the planet runs - and with it life - if new policies and more environmentally friendly personal lifestyles are not adopted".

In 2021 she was awarded the DonnAmbiente prize, by 5 Terre Academy, "for having contributed to creating a new communicative approach to Science through multimedia and social media, combining the scientific rigour of complex subjects such as climatology and meteorology with an authoritative but always accessible and never banal language, with a particular focus on the younger generations. Also, for her commitment in person and through the association she chairs, the Italian Climate Network, to raise awareness of the climate issue and to actively participate in building a more sustainable future for the planet".

Position/Role

Director of the Laboratory of Biology and Therapy of Tumour Metastases at IRCCS Mario Negri

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Milan in 1979, Raffaella Giavazzi qualified as a biologist. She continued her studies with a PhD in Biology and Pharmacology, at the Post-graduate School of Professional Education at the Mario Negri Institute, and a specialisation in Pharmacology at the University of Milan. After several experiences abroad, both as a researcher at the Cancer Metastasis and Treatment Laboratory of the National Cancer Institute, in Maryland, and as a university teaching assistant at the Department of Cell Biology of the M.D. Anderson Hospital and Tumor Institute, University of Texas, she came back to Italy. Since 1986 she has been head of the Laboratory of Biology and Therapy of Tumour Metastases at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research. From 2005 to 2007 she was President of the Italian Society of Cancerology and from 2008 to 2012 she was a member of the Executive Committee of the European Association for Cancer Research. Since the same year she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Trento.

Scientific results

Raffaella Giavazzi’s research interests are in the field of tumor biology and pharmacology with a specific interest in the metastatic process and tumor angiogenesis. She is involved in the pre-clinical and clinical development of new therapeutics against cancer, with particular involvement in ovarian and pancreatic cancer.

Editorial work and publications

Raffaella Giavazzi has published approximately 200 articles in the field of Cancer Research, including: 

(2018) Resovi A, Bani MR, Porcu L, Anastasia A, Minoli L, Allavena P, Cappello P, Novelli F, Scarpa A, Morandi E, Falanga A, Torri V, Taraboletti G, Belotti D, Giavazzi R. Soluble stroma-related biomarkers of pancreatic cancer.Embo Molecular Medicine, 10(8), pii: e8741, doi: 10.15252/emmm.201708741.

(2016) Cesca M, Morosi L, Berndt A, Fuso Nerini I, Frapolli R, Richter P, Decio A, Dirsch O, Micotti E, Giordano S, D’Incalci M, Davoli E, Zucchetti M, Giavazzi R. Bevacizumab-induced inhibition of angiogenesis promotes a more homogeneous intratumoral distribution of paclitaxel, improving the antitumor response. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics,15(1):125-35. 

(2014) Ricci R, Bizzaro F, Cesca M, Guffanti F, Ganzinelli M, Decio A, Ghilardi C, Perego P, Fruscio R, Buda A, Milani R, Ostano P, Chiorino G, Bani MR, Damia G, Giavazzi R. A platform of patient-derived tumor xenografts (EOC-xenografts) to recapitulate the clinicopathology and genetic alterations of ovarian cancer. Cancer Research, 74(23):6980-90. 

(2013) Rovida A, Castiglioni V, Decio A, Scarlato V, Scanziani E, Giavazzi R, Cesca M. Chemotherapy counteracts metastatic dissemination induced by antiangiogenic treatment in mice.Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, 12(10):2237-47.

(2012) Moschetta M, Pretto F, Berndt A, Galler K, Richter P, Bassi A, Oliva P, Micotti E, Valbusa G, Schwager K, Kaspar M, Trachsel E, Kosmehl H, Bani MR, Neri D, Giavazzi R. Paclitaxel enhances the therapeutic efficacy of the F8-IL2 immunocytokine to EDA-fibronectin positive metastatic human melanoma xenografts. Cancer Research, 72(7):1814-24. 

(2007) Giavazzi R, Bani MR, Taraboletti G. Tumor-host interaction in the optimization of paclitaxel based combination therapies with vascular targeting compounds. Cancer Metastasis Reviews, 26:481-88. 

(2005) Rybak JN, Ettorre A, Kaissling B, Giavazzi R, Neri D, Elia G. In vivo protein biotinylation for identification of organ-specific antigens accessible from the vasculature. Nature Methods, 2(4):291-98.

(2003) Belotti D, Paganoni P, Manenti L, Garofalo A, Marchini S, Taraboletti G, Giavazzi R. Matrix Metalloproteinases (MMP9 and MMP2) Induce the Release of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) by Ovarian Carcinoma Cells: Implications for Acites Formation. Cancer Research, 63:5224-29. 

(1998) Valoti G, Nicoletti MI, Pellegrino A, Jimeno J, Hendriks H, D'Incalci M, Faircloth G, Giavazzi R. Ecteinascidin-743 (ET-743), a new marine natural product with potent antitumor activity on human ovarian carcinoma xenografts. Clinical Cancer Research, 4:1977-1983. 

(1995) Taraboletti G, Garofalo A, Belotti D, Drudis T, Borsotti P, Scanziani E, Brown PD, Giavazzi R. Inhibition of angiogenesis and murine hemangioma growth by Batimastat, a synthetic inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases. Journal of the National Cancer Instistute, 87:293-298. 

(1993) Giavazzi R, Foppolo M, Dossi R, Remuzzi A. Rolling and adhesion of human tumor cells on vascular endothelium under physiological flow conditions. The Journal of Clinical Investigation, 92:3038-3044.

Awards and prizes

In 1981 Raffaella Giavazzi was awarded the "Fellowship for Advanced Professional Training" by the Italian Ministry of Labour and the European Economic Community. 

In 2003, she received the Researcher Career Award “Lega Italiana per la lotta contro i tumori”.

In 2012,  she received the “Giorgio Prodi” Lecturship by the Italian Cancer Society.

In 2016, she was included among the "Top Italian Women Scientists"

In 2018, seh received the Researcher Career Award “5^th Simon Karpatkin Memorial Lecture”.

Position/Role

Director of the Laboratori of Clinical Microbiology, Virology and Bioemergency of the Sacco Hospital in Milan and Associate Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences "Sacco" of the University of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Catania in 1976, she continued her training by specialising in Clinical Microbiology and Virology. In 1984 he obtained a second degree in Medicine and Surgery at the same Sicilian university. From 1976 to 1981 she was a member of the Institute of Microbiology at the University of Milan. In 1982 she was an intern in Clinical Microbiology at the London Hospital and in Oral Microbiology at the Hospital Medical School For Dentistry in London. In 1986 she became a resident in Microbiology at the University of Tennessee. Since 1991 she has been Associate Professor in Clinical Microbiology at the University of Milan. She leads several research groups dealing with bioterrorism, SARS, Ebola and infectious emergencies. He has also been a member of the National AIDS Commission since 2007. Since 2014 he has been head of the Clinical Microbiology, Virology and Bioemergency laboratory at the Sacco Hospital in Milan.

Scientific results

Within the UOC (Complex Operational Unit) Clinical Microbiology and Virology, Maria Rita Gismondo has implemented the 'bioemergency' sector consisting of a BSL3 (Bio safety level 3) laboratory and a BSL4 laboratory (one of two existing in Italy) dedicated to serious health crises. Gismondo brought together a research and operational team with the aim of providing a rapid response to infectious emergencies, both of natural origin (pandemics) and voluntary (bioterrorism). Today, the laboratory she directs is the reference point for diagnosing tropical diseases, anthrax risks and risks associated with other potentially infectious elements.

Editorial work and publications

Maria Rita Gismondo is associate editor of several scientific journals and author of numerous articles, including: 

(2016) Rimoldi SG, De Vecchi E, Pagani C, Antona C, Gismondo MR. Use of Dithiothreitol to Dislodge Bacteria From the Biofilm on an Aortic Valve in the Operating Theatre: A Case of Infective Endocarditis Caused by Staphylococcus aureus and Proteus mirabilis. The Annals of thoracic surgery, 102(4):e357-9. 

(2016) Rossotti R, Borghi V, Callegaro AP, Rusconi S, Gismondo MR. Impact of Circulating Resistance-Associated Mutations on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) efficacy: Modeling from Antiretroviral Resistance Cohort Analysis (ARCA) National Database. Journal of clinical virology: the official publication of the Pan American Society for Clinical Virology. 

(2016) Cagnoni G, Rimoldi SG, Pagani C, Gismondo MR. Can Drainage Using a Negative-Pressure Wound Therapy Device Replace Traditional Sample Collection Methods?. Surgical Infections, 17(5):577-82. 

(2016) Caruso I, Santandrea S, Gismondo MR, Sarzi Puttini P. Vaccination with endosomal unknown epitopes produces therapeutic response in rheumatoid arthritis patients and modulates adjuvant arthritis of rats. Journal of Translational Medicine, 14:162. 

(2015) Ridolfo AL, Sara Giordana Rimoldi SG, Pagani C, Gismondo MR. Diffusion and transmission of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in the medical and surgical wards of a university hospital in Milan, Italy. Journal of Infection and Public Health, 9(1):24-33. 

(2015) D'Alessandro S, Corbett Y, Ilboudo DP, Parapini S, Gismondo MR. Salinomycin and Other Ionophores as a New Class of Antimalarial Drugs with Transmission-Blocking Activity. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 59(9):5135-44. 

(2015) Vocale C, Rimoldi SG, Pagani C, Sambri V, Gismondo MR. Comparative evaluation of the new xTAG GPP multiplex assay in the laboratory diagnosis of acute gastroenteritis. Clinical assessment and potential application from a multicentre Italian study. International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 34:33-7. 

(2014) Perrone V, Cattaneo D, Radice S, Clementi E, Gismondo MR. Impact of therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretroviral drugs in routine clinical management of patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus and related health care costs: A real-life study in a large cohort of patients. ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research, 6:341-8. 

(2013) Tau P, Mancon A, Mileto D, Rusconi S, Gismondo MR. Favorable Therapeutic Response with an Antiretroviral Salvage Regimen in an HIV-1-Positive Subject Infected with a CRF11-cpx Virus. AIDS research and human retroviruses, 30(5):480-3. 

(2013) de Luca A, Dunn D, Zazzi M, Sloot, PM, Gismondo MR. Declining Prevalence of HIV-1 Drug Resistance in Antiretroviral Treatment-exposed Individuals in Western Europe. The Journal of Infectious Diseases, 207(8):1216-20.

Awards and prizes

In 2005 she was awarded the "Ambrogino d'Oro" as director of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the University Hospital "L. Sacco" in Milan. 

In 2007, she was awarded the Woman of Achievement 2007. 

In 2009, she was awarded the 'Rosa Camuna' Prize by the Lombardy Region. 

She was also appointed representative of the Ministry of Universities on the Board of Directors of the Smith Kline Foundation. 

In memory of her Norwegian microbiologist colleague Tom Bergan, she founded the Tom Bergan Study Centre, which promotes cultural and scientific initiatives, including "Donna in Salute" and the "Sportello Unico per gli anziani".

Position/Role

Senior Researcher Tenured - Principal Investigator at U-Vip Unit Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (ITT) Genova

Professional career

Monica Gori graduated in Psychology at the University of Florence in 2004 (cum laude). From 2002 to 2006 she worked at the within the VisionLab of the CNR of Pisa in David Burr’s Laboratory. In 2008 she worked in Martin Banks lab (Berkeley, California). She did her PhD in January 2009 at University of Genoa on Humanoid Technologies supervised by David Burr and Giulio Sandini. Currently Monica Gori is Tenure Track Researcher, leading the Unit for people with visual disabilities (U-Vip Unit) at the Italian Institute of Technology of Genoa.

Scientific results

Monica Gori is expert of development, multisensory integration, sensorial-motor perception and visual disability. Through her research, she studies how the sensory and multi-sensorial perception skills interact during development in children with and without disabilities. The aim of her study is to exploit this knowledge to better understand brain functions, create new rehabilitation programs and to develop new technological solutions to improve the perceptual, motor and social skills of children with sensory disabilities. From 2014 to 2017 she coordinated the European ABBI project (www.abbi.eu), whose aim is precisely the development of a new technology based on sensory-motor rehabilitation for blind and low vision children. The project involves the study and creation of a wearable sound device, similar to a bracelet, also useful for creating sound networks to be placed in environments where the blind are living, thus allowing the hearing, and not the sight, to create a spatial map in which the person can move. From 2017 to 2018 she coordinated the weDRAW European project (www.wedraw.eu) in which she proposed to develop a multisensory approach and technology for learning mathematical skills at the elementary school. weDRAW involved children and teachers in Italy, UK and Ireland. WeDraw is highly interdisciplinary,  involving engineers, psychologists, pedagogics, and industrial links. The project exploits knowledge of multisensory integration in the teaching activity of elementary schools.

Editorial work and publications

Monica Gori is the author of book chapters and numerous scientific articles in international journals, including:

(2018) Gori, Amadeo, Campus Temporal cues influence space estimations in visually impaired individuals. iScience, vol. 6, pp. 319-326.

(2018)Campus, Sandini, Concetta Morrone, & Gori. Spatial localization of sound elicits early responses from occipital visual cortex in humans. Scientific Report.

(2017) Gori, Cappagli, Tonelli, Baud-Bovy, Finocchietti. Devices for visually impaired people: high technological devices with low user acceptance and no adaptability for children Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews.

(2017) Gori, Cappagli, Baud-Bovy, & Finocchietti. Shape Perception and Navigation in Blind Adults.Frontiers  in Psychology.

(2017)Cappagli, Cocchi, & Gori. Auditory and proprioceptive spatial impairments in blind children and adults. Developmental Science, 2017.

(2016)  Cuturi, Aggius-Vella, Campus, Parmiggiani, and Gori. From science to technology: orientation and mobility in blind children and adults. Neurosci and Biobe. Reviews 2016, impact factor 10.5 citations 2 (2016) Cappagli G, Gori M. Auditory spatial localization: Developmental delay in children with visual impairments. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 53-54:391-8. 

(2016) Tonelli A, Brayda L, Gori M. Depth echolocation learnt by novice sighted people. PLoS ONE, 11(6):e0156654. 

(2016) Vercillo T, Burr D, Gori M. Early visual deprivation severely compromises the auditory sense of space in congenitally blind children. Developmental Psychology, 52(6):847-53. 

(2015) Finocchietti S, Cappagli G, Porquis LB, [...], Cocchi E, Gori M. Evaluation of the Audio Bracelet for Blind Interaction for improving mobility and spatial cognition in early blind children - A pilot study. Proceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS. 

(2015) Magnusson C, Rydeman B, Finocchietti S, [...], Baud-Bovy G, Gori M. Co-located games created by children with visual impairments. MobileHCI 2015, Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct. 

(2015) Tinelli F, Anobile G, Gori M, [...], Cioni G, Concetta Morrone M. Time, number and attention in very low birth weight children. Neuropsychologia, 73:60-9.

Awards and prizes

(2008) F1000 with the article "Gori et al. 2008; Young children do not integrate visual and haptic form information. Curr Biol, 18(9)"
(2012) TR35 Giovani Innovatori
(2015) Smart Cup Liguria October 2015 Cup for new technological solutions and start-up

Position/Role

Professor of neurology and psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco

Professional career

After graduating from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Brescia in 1993, she continued her studies through a training period in neurology at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. Subsequently, she obtained a PhD in Neuroscience at University College London and specialised in Behavioural Neurology at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center in San Francisco. In the last years Maria Luisa Gorno Tempini, besides teaching neurology in San Francisco, has been involved in the study of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular frontotemporal dementia and primary progressive aphasia (PPA), also through the use of neuroimaging techniques and language neuropsychology.

Gorno Tempini  directs the Language Neurobiology Laboratory of the UCSF Memory and Aging Center. She also co-founded the UCSF Dyslexia Center in 2015 and is a co-director of the center.

Scientific results

At the Dyslexia Center, she leads a large multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists with expertise in behavioral neurology, cognitive neuroscience, speech-language pathology and advanced neuroimaging techniques. Her work in neurodevelopmental disorders aims at discovering the distinct clinical and biological phenotypes of dyslexia and the best approach to diagnose and remediate them.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored over 170 peer-reviewed papers on the neurobiology of language disorders in scientific journals and has been invited to speak at conferences across the globe, including the American Academy of Neurology and the Italian Senate.

Awards and prizes

She is the current recipient of multiple National Institute of Health projects grants and has received a prestigious career award for mentoring scientists and clinicians on the neurobiology of language at UCSF. In 2017, she received a Weill Institute for Neurosciences Trailblazer award to study language development in children, and in 2018, she was distinguished as the Charles Schwab Endowed Professor in Dyslexia and Neurodevelopment.

Position/Role

Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of Pavia and Director of the PVsquared2 team at the Chemistry Department of University of Pavia

Professional career

Giulia Grancini received an MS in Physical Engineering in 2008 and obtained her PhD in Physics cum laude in 2012 at the Politecnico of Milan. Her experimental thesis focused on the realisation of a new femtosecond-microscope for mapping the ultrafast phenomena at organic interfaces. During her PhD, she worked for one year at the Physics Department of Oxford University where she pioneered new concepts within polymer/oxide solar cell technology. From 2012-2015, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the Italian Institute of Technology in Milan. In 2015, she joined the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) with a Co-Funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship. From 2016 to 2019, she has been awarded by the Swiss Ambizione Energy Grant providing a platform to lead her independent research group at EPFL. Since July 2019, Giulia is Associate Professor at Physical Chemistry Unit at University of Pavia, leading the PVsquared2 team, and PI of the ERCStG Project “HYNANO”aiming at the development of advanced hybrid perovskites materials and innovative functional interfaces for efficient, cheap and stable photovoltaics. 

Scientific results

The research interest of Giulia Grancini is focused on exploring the fundamental photophysical properties and dynamical processes behind advanced materials and devices, with a special attention to nanostructured semiconductors for the development of new generation solar cells.  Within this field, she contributed to reveal the fundamental light-induced dynamical processes underlying the charge generation mechanisms happening on ultrafast time scale whose understanding is paramount for a smart device optimization. In particular, she made seminal contributions in ultrafast science applied to investigate the interface physics in polymer blends, and hybrid polymer/oxide systems. With the ERC “HY-NANO” project, her recent research is focused on the design and the study of HYbrid NANOstructured multi-functional interfaces for the development of advanced photovoltaic devices based on low dimensional hybrid perovskite semiconductors. More in details, her multidisciplinary team aims at expanding the family of hybrid perovskite materials and interfaces as lego-bricks for a new generation of efficient, stable, environmentally friendly solar technology. 

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than 90 publications (h index= 44, with more than 14000 citations).

[2020] Sutanto A, Szostak R, Drigo N, Queloz V, Marchezi P, Germino J, Tolentino H, Nazeeruddin M, Nogueira A, Grancini G* In Situ Analysis Reveals the Role of 2D Perovskite in Preventing Thermal-Induced Degradation in 2D/3D Perovskite Interfaces Nano Lett. 20, 5, 3992-3998.

[2020] Queloz V. et al. Spatial Charge Separation as the Origin of Anomalous Stark Effect in Fluorous 2D Hybrid Perovskites Adv. Funct. Mater. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202000228

[2019] Grancini G*, Nazeeruddin M Dimensional tailoring of hybrid perovskites for photovoltaics Nature Rev. Materials, 4, 4-22.

[2018] Pantaler M, Cho K, Queloz V, García Benito I., Fettkenhauer C, Anusca I, Nazeeruddin M, Lupascu D, Grancini G* Hysteresis-Free Lead-Free Double-Perovskite Solar Cells by Interface Engineering ACS Energy Lett. 3, 1781-1786.

[2017] Grancini G. et al. One-Year stable perovskite solar cells by 2D/3D interface engineering. Nature Comm., 8(1) 1-8, 15684.

[2017] A. D. Jodlowski, C. Roldán-Carmona, G. Grancini, et al. Large guanidinium cation mixed with methylammonium in lead iodide perovskites for 19% efficient solar cells Nature Energy 2, 972.

[2016] Gratia, P., Grancini G.* et al. Intrinsic Halide Segregation at Nanometer Scale Determines the High-Efficiency of mixed cation/mixed halide Perovskite Solar Cells J. Am. Chem. Soc. 138 (49), 15821.

[2015] Grancini G. et al. Role of microstructure in the electron-hole interaction of hybrid lead halide perovskitesNature Photonics 9, 695-701.

[2014] D’Innocenzo V., Grancini G. et al. Excitons versus Free Charges: a Photophysical Picture of Organo-lead Tri- Halide Perovskites Nat. Commun. 5, 3586.

[2013] Grancini G. et al. Hot exciton dissociation in polymer solar cells Nature Mater. 12, 29.

[2013] Stranks S. D., Eperon G. E., Grancini G. et al. Electron-Hole Diffusion Lengths Exceeding 1 Micron in an Organometal Trihalide Perovskite Absorber Science 342 (6156), 341. 

[2012] G. Grancini, et al. Boosting Infrared Light Harvesting by Molecular Functionalization of Metal Oxide/Polymer Interfaces in Efficient Hybrid Solar Cells Adv. Funct. Mater. 22, 2160. 

Awards and prizes

In 2015 she received the prestigious National Award for Physics 2015 from EDISON, “in memoria di Francesco Somaini”. 

In 2017 she has been awarded by the IUPAP Young Scientist Prize in Optics from the International Commission of Optics for her ““deep knowledge on photophysical properties and ultrafast light-induced dynamical processes”c.

In 2018 she received the “Swiss Physical Society Award” from the Swiss Physical Society.

In 2018 she has been granted by the ERC Starting Grant HYNANO (1.5 M€) for the developement of “HYbrid NANOstructured multi-functional interfaces for stable, efficient and eco-friendly photovoltaic devices”.

In 2019 she has been nominated USERN Laureate in Physical Science. In addition, from January 2020 she is the Italian Ambassador for USERN.

In 2019 she appears among the “Highly Cited Researchers” (ranking in the top 1% by citations for field and year), Web of Science.

From 2020 she joined the “Gruppo 2003” and she is part of the Top Italian Scientist list.

Position/Role

Research Associate at INGV- National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Rome, Seismology and Tectonophysics Section. Formerly research manager at INGV, Bologna. Coordinator of the multidisciplinary activities of the Euro-Mediterranean Documentation Center for Extreme Events and Disasters.

Professional career

Trained as a medieval historian (University of Bologna) and historical seismologist, for over thirty years she has been developing historical research on earthquakes, tidal waves and volcanic eruptions in Italy and the Mediterranean area, focusing on Earth Sciences (seismology, volcanology and climatology) and engineering history.  

She has carried out and continues to carry out her research activities as manager of national projects and as a scholar. She was scientific director of the research company SGA, Storia Geofisica Ambiente in Bologna (1983-2006), then a tenured research manager at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) until 2011.  Since 2012 she has coordinated the multidisciplinary activities of EEDIs (Extreme Events and Disasters, Euro-Mediterranean Documentation Centre), aimed at both scientific dissemination and new research. 

Consultant of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency - UN) for the seismicity of North Africa and Armenia, she has contributed to improving knowledge on the seismic hazard of these areas with specific research and related publications. 

Committed to the crucial issue of risk from extreme natural events and the study of their long-term impacts, she has written several popular science books that have entered the national debate.

Scientific results

Emanuela Guidoboni has designed and directed all the historical research for the Catalogo dei Forti Terremoti in Italia e nell'area mediterranea (CFTI), from the ancient world to the 20th century, editions 1995, 1997, 2000, 2007, 2018.  The presentation of the architecture and contents of this Web-GIS, basic for seismic hazard assessments, was published in 2019 in Nature.

The method applied to historical research aimed at seismology has defined a neo-discipline of international interest, Historical Seismology, of which Emanuela Guidoboni published in 2009 the first manual, together with John Ebel: "Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Past. A Guide to Techniques in Historical Seismology" (Cambridge University Press, 2009). 

She has deepened our knowledge of ancient and medieval earthquakes and tsunamis in Italy and the Mediterranean area, shedding light on the impact of such events on the inhabited world, highlighting many previously unknown events, and developing new seismic parameters.  The results are published in "Catalogue of Ancient Earthquakes in the Mediterranean area up to 10th century", with A. Comastri and G. Traina (1994); and in "Catalogue of Earthquakes and Tsunamis in the Mediterranean area from the 11th to the 15th century", with A. Comastri (2005). 

Editorial work and publications

Emanuela Guidoboni is the author of over 200 scientific publications.

Among the articles in international journals and contributions in national works, the following works from the last ten years are worth mentioning.

(2021) Valensise G., Guidoboni E., Iervolino I. What is an exceptional earthquake? Seismological Reseaerch Letters.

(2019) Guidoboni E. Azzardo sismico, vulnerabilità e ricostruzioni nei centri storici italiani, in “Dopo la catastrofe”, editet by C. Belmonte, E. Scirocco, G. Wolf, G. Wolf, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max-Planck-Institut, Roma, pp. 30-44.

(2018) Guidoboni E. Florence: the effects of earthquakes on the artistic heritage. Method and historical sources (15^th-20^thcenturies), pp. 267-277; Florence: a first concise dossier of seismic effect on artistic heritage (15^th-20^th centuries), pp. 279-300, in  "3^rd International Conference, AISI", a cura di S. D'Agostino,  vol I, 2018, Napoli.

(2017) Guidoboni E. Disastri sismici e ricostruzioni nella storia d’Italia: l'azzardo sismico in un nodo non risolto in “Building Back Better: idee per ricostruire meglio. Individui e comunità, manufatti e paesaggio”- Sendai 2015-2030 (Nazioni Unite,) a cura di F. Esposito, M. Russo, Carrocci, Roma. 

(2016) Guidoboni E. Erdbeben und Seebeben im antiken Mittelmeerraum. Gründe für einen Dialog zwischen Seismologie und Geschichte, in “Erdbeben in der Antike”, Deutungen – Folgen – Repräsentationen, herausgegeben von  J. Borsch und L.Carrara, Mohr Siebec, Tubingen Univ.

(2015) Guidoboni E. When Towns Collapse: Images of Earthquakes, Floods, and Eruptions in Italy. Fifteenth – Nineteenth Centuries, in “Wounded Cities: The Representation of Urban Disasters in European Art (14th–20th Centuries)”, edited by M. Folin and M. Preti, chapter 2, Koninklijke Brill, NY– Leiden, pp. 33-56.

(2015) Guidoboni E., Valensise G. On the complexity of earthquake sequences: a historical seismology perspective based onthe L'Aquila seismicity (Abruzzo, Central Italy), 1315-1915. Earthquakes and Structures, 8(1): 153-184.    

Books and monographs

(2019) Guidoboni E. and Poirier  J.-P.  Storia culturale del terremoto dal mondo antico a oggi, Rubettino.                                    

(2015)  Guidoboni E., Mulargia F., Teti V. Prevedibile / Imprevedibile. Eventi estremi nel prossimo                                  futuro, Rubbettino.

(2014) Guidoboni E. and Valensise G. (eds) L’Italia dei disastri. Dati e riflessioni sugli impatti degli eventi naturali (1861-2013), Bononia University Press.

(2011) Guidoboni E., Valensise G. Il peso economico e sociale dei disastri sismici in Italia negli ultimi 150 anni (1861-2011), Bononia University Press, Bologna.

(2011) Guidoboni E., Navarra A., Boschi E. The Spiral of Climate. Civilizations of the Mediterranean and Climate Change in History, Bononia University Press, Bologna. 

Awards and prizes

In 2004 she was appointed member of the Academia Europaea for the multidisciplinary approach to seismic and volcanic hazards.

In 2016 she won the first Maiella Prize for Environmental Essays with the book Prevedibile / Imprevedibile. Eventi estremi nel prossimo futuro, Rubbettino.

In 2017 she is appointed research associate of INGV, Roa.

In 2020 she is appointed as a member of the Scientific and Steering Committees of the International Engineering History Association. 

Position/Role

Computer Science Professor at University of L'Aquila. Former Rector of University of L’Aquila (2013-2019)

Professional career

In 1981 she graduated in Information Science at the University of Pisa. In the same year she entered the Olivetti with the role of Researcher that she also maintained during the decade 1984-1994 at the CRN of Pisa. In 1994 she became full professor of computer science at the University of L'Aquila, where she later held various prestigious roles in university governance: from 1994 to 2000 she was Chairman of the Computer Science Degree Course and later Director of the Computer Science Department. In 2008 she became Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of the same university. From July 2012 to September 2013 she directed the Department of Engineering and Information Sciences and Mathematics (DISIM). Paola Inverardi was elected Director of the University of L'Aquila in the 2013/2014 academic year, a position she would hold until 31 October 2019.

Scientific results

Her main interests concern software engineering, with particular attention to the area of software architectures, which include, in addition to the structure organization of the system itself, the ways in which the different parts integrate and interact to form a single unit. In this context, she was involved in the analysis and check of both behavioral and quantitative architectural properties for distributed and mobile systems based on components. She is also actively involved in collaborating with important information technology and telecommunications industries.She regularly works as reviewer for international research agencies, foreign universities and the European Commission.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of numerous national and international publications, including:

(2011) Cortellessa V, Di Marco A, Inverardi P. Model-Based Software Performance Analysis. Springer 2011, isbn 978-3-642-13620-7. 

(2009) Pelliccione P, Inverardi P, Muccini H. CHARMY: A Framework for Designing and Verifying Architectural Specifications. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 35(3):325-346. 

(2004) Balsamo S, Di Marco A, Inverardi P, Simeoni M, Model-Based Performance Prediction in Software Development: A Survey. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 30(5):295-310. 

(2004) Muccini H, Bertolino A, Inverardi P, Using Software Architecture for Code Testing. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 30(3):160-171. 

(2003) Inverardi P, Tivoli M, Deadlock-free software architectures for COM/DCOM Applications. Journal of Systems and Software, 65(3):173-183. 

(2001) F Aquilani, S Balsamo, P Inverardi: Performance analysis at the software architectural design level. Performance Evaluation, 45(2):147-178. 

(2000) Inverardi P, Wolf AL, Yankelevich D, Static checking of system behaviors using derived component assumptions. ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology, 9 (3), 239-272. 

(1995) Inverardi P, Nesi M, Deciding observational congruence of finite-state CCS expressions by rewriting Theoretical Computer. Science, 139(1):315-354. 

(1995) Inverardi P, Wolf AL, Formal specification and analysis of software architectures using the chemical abstract machine model. IEEE transactions on Software Engineering, 21(4):373-386. 

(1993) Inverardi P, Mazzanti F, Experimenting with Dynamic Linking with Ada. Software: Practice and Experience, 23(1):1-14.

Awards and prizes

In May 2011 she  gained an honorary PhD from Mälardalen University in Sweden and, in 2013, the IEEE TCSE Distinguished Service Award "for outstanding and sustained contributions to software engineering community". Moreover she is also a member of the ACM Europe Council and of the European Academy. 

Position/Role

Physics teacher, science editor, physics textbooks author.

Professional career

Elena Joli gratueted in Physics in 1993 from the University of Bologna with a thesis on quantum gravity. She gets a DEA (Diplôme d'Études Approfondies) en Physique Theorique in Paris at the École Normale Supérieure and the Universitè de Jussieu-Paris VII in 1997. In this period, she becomes interested in epistemology and science communication and, back to Italy, in 2002 she gets a II level Master degree in Science Communication at ISAS_SISSA (International School for Advanced Studies) in Trieste, with a dissertation on the role of metaphor in science and its communication. Since 1995 she has been undertaking a permanent collaboration with the Italian publisher Edizioni Dedalo (Bari), first as a technical translator from English and French, then as a scientific consultant with the role of science editor, taking care of the publishing house's scientific dissemination series. Since 2003 she has been working with the educational publisher Zanichelli (Bologna) as an author of physics textbooks and digital materials with educational purposes for high school physics in collaboration with Professor Ugo Amaldi. Since 2001 she has been teaching physics part-time in high school. Since 2014 she has been a member of the editorial board of the scientific magazine Sapere; since 2018 she has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the Ecology Museum of the city of Cesena. In 2018, she joines Homeward Bound, a twelve-month program for women in science culminating with an expedition to Antarctica about global environmental issues including climate change.

Scientific results

Elena Joli's main areas of interest and research focused, during her activity performed at university in Bologna and in Paris, on two-dimensional models of quantum gravity for the description of black holes. Those years mark her approach to scientific issues, with a strong focus in theoretical modelling and, at the same time, an interest in the role of science communication. Then she began to deal with science communication in the publishing field, first as a translator of technical-scientific essays and articles then as a scientific editor and as an expert in physics education for different Italian publishers. He edited the Italian edition of the physics lectures that the Nobel Prize in Physics Marie Curie gave in 1907 in Paris thanks to a grant from the Centre National du livre and the French Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. Currently, she is editing the Italian translation of an essay by Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize in Physics in 2022. In 2018 she was selected as a member of an australian expedition to Antarctica with a group of female scientists from 21 different countries all over the world to carry out research on the effects of climate change, and to strengthen the influence and visibility of women in the STEMM (Science, technology, engineering, medicine and mathematics) fields. She is speaker on subjects related to climate emergency and global warming for Australian and national TV and radio broadcasts (including Maestri RaiScuola), Science Festivals (Genova, Foligno, Bookcity Milano, Polignano "Festival del libro possibile", etc), TEdX Women Navigli Milano, the Masterclass Treccani Futura, a digital hub with educational purposes etc.

Editorial work and publications

[2021] Ioli E., "The circle", Wired (Climate change issue), 98 :155-61.

[2020] Ioli E., Antartide. Come cambia il clima, Bologna: Dedalo.

[2018] Ioli E., "Le regine delle nevi: una spedizione al femminile in Antartide", Sapere, 4:10-7 https://doi 10.12919/sapere.2018.04.1 

[2013] Ioli E., Nero come un buco nero, Bari: Dedalo (traslated in French by Le Pommier and in English by World Scientific Press; (forthcoming) translation in Chinese by Daylight Publishing House).

[2007] Ioli E., “Una piccola differenza", in Sandrelli, Gouthier, Ghattas (eds), Tutti i numeri sono uguali a cinque, pp 167-170; Springer.

[2006] Gouthier D., Ioli E., Le parole di Einstein, Bari: Dedalo.

Position/Role

Cost Engineer at European Space Agency (ESA).

Professional career

Elisabetta Lamboglia graduates at University of Rome `La Sapienza` in Aerospace Engineering in 2003, including an experience of six months in maintenance engineering at Alitalia SpA technical area. In 2006 Elisabetta graduates (MSc) cum laude in Astronautic Engineering, at the School of Aerospace Engineering of `La Sapienza`, including an experience of four months as intern at the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC, European Space Agency).

In 2007 she continues as young graduate at ESTEC, when she works on analytical research and implementation of `the market effects`, modelling for multivariate data analysis, multi-criteria decision making processes, cost models enhancement and risk management assessment. She furthermore participates as systems cost chair to feasibility studies.  

In June 2009 she starts her experience at NASA Ames Research Center (Silicon Valley, California), where she earns the certificate of completion of the Space Studies Program on satellite applications (International Space University, ISU), and where she relates with more than 130 other experts and more than 40 different nationalities. At NASA she also works on the DREAM project (Disaster Risk Evaluation and Management), which customer is the World Bank, and which main objective is to explore the combination of earth observation tools, web-based and mobile data management tools, and how this combination can support and improve Disaster Risk Management.

From September 2009 to March 2010, she moves to the commercial business domain, working for a Dutch leading company in the off-shore and petrochemical sector (Heerema Marine Contractors), where she demonstrates  versatility and capability to work in different environments, such as in finance and during the very challenging years right after the 2008 financial crisis.            

In March of 2010 she returns in ESTEC as Cost Engineer, in the directorate of Technology, Engineering and Quality, and where she provides cross cutting support to the main programs of all ESA directorates. 

In 2013 she is appointed as external and independent officer at programmatic decision point for the Italian Space Agency (ISA), on the PRISMA project, which main objectives are the environmental monitoring, resource management, crop classification, pollution control, forest analysis and precision in agriculture.  

In 2015 she completes postgraduate studies in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), where she focuses on the theory and practice of global international organizations, diplomacy, and their role in international politics and related matters of concern to our society.  Selected subject areas of study are international and environmental security.

Since 2017, Elisabetta covers the role of ESA cost engineering team coordinator for the missions aimed to global monitoring and environmental security (Copernicus) and for the all ESA Earth Observation domain. 

In the year 2020 she earns several United Nations certifications, out of which `Entrepreneurship for Migrants and Refugees`, `Geospatial Information Technology (GIT) in Fragile Contexts,`, `Integrated planning for climate change and biodiversity`.

Since November 2021 she has been ESA Mentoring in the STEM Talent Girl Program, an educative project to develop talent and promote scientific–technological vocations. It is specifically addressed to women with the sole goal of inspiring and empowering girls and teenagers to continue with bright STEM careers.

Scientific results

During the elaboration of her master thesis Elisabetta contributed to the activities of the GAUSS group (School of Aerospace Engineering, University of Rome `La Sapienza`), including personal participation to the university-built microsatellite UniSat 4 launch from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan (26 July 2006). 

As young graduate, she worked on the enhancement of mathematical models for financial and risk management applications, still operational nowadays. She furthermore participated to feasibility studies of several space missions, out of which Copernicus Sentinel 5p, successfully launched in October 2017. 

In the next years, she has been the appointed cost engineer for several independent programmatic and financial evaluations, dialogues, and negotiations for implementations of projects implementation. Moreover, she coordinated and harmonized cost-working groups for the Earth Explorers` mission selection and implementation, in close cooperation with senior managers of the Agency.

She worked as external officer to the programmatic envelope and critical aspects concerning ASI PRISMA; the satellite reached its orbit in March 2019.

From 2017 to 2020 she has been full-time assigned to the Copernicus expansion program (CHIME, LSTM, CO2M, ROSE-L, CRISTAL, CIMR), which she supported in the preparatory activities for ESA Ministerial Council (Space19+) and the successful implementation kick off of each of the six missions. 

Editorial work and publications

[2018] Lamboglia E. Extensive Cost Estimating methodologies for the CDF GaiaNIR study, SECESA.

[2014] Lamboglia E. A tool for rapid and early schedule estimates, Project Control Professional.

[2011] Elisabetta Lamboglia, RACE with ME: modelling the market effects on space projects, Project Control Professional.

[2010] Lamboglia E., Belvedere G., Portelli C. Gaudenzi P., Tota V. The Effect of Technical Inputs upon the Cost Estimating Process in a Concurrent Engineering Environment, SECESA.

[2009]  Lamboglia E.,  Dyke G., Gill S., Davies R., Betorz F., Andalsvik Y., Cackler J.,Dos Santos W., Dunlop K., Ferreira I., Matsubara Y. , Nikolaidis V. , Kebe F., Ostoja-Starzewski S. , Sakita M., Verstappen N. DREAM Project: applications of Earth Observations to Disaster Risk Management, IAC 2009.

[2008] Lamboglia E., Joumier H., Gaudenzi P. Non-linear and multivariate regressions for Space Engineering parametric Cost Models, Cost Engineering International Journal, Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering.

[2008] Lamboglia E., Joumier H. van Pelt M., Ponzio P., Galano D., Montrone L., Bieler T. The Adaptation and Benefits of Cost Engineering within a Concurrent Design Environment, SECESA.

[2008] Lamboglia E. Enhanced Normalisation Process of Price References for Developing Cost Models, ISPA/SCEA Joint International Conference, 14 May 2008, Noordwijk. 

Awards and prizes

ESA Teamwork Excellence Award 2019: Copernicus High Priority Candidate Missions Phase A/B1 team  

ESA Teamwork Excellence Award 2019: Concurrent Design Facility team (Future Mission Studies)

Position/Role

Senior Researcher of the National Research Council (CNR), at the Institute of Nanotechnology (NANOTEC) in Lecce.

Professional career

After completion of her Physics Diploma at the University of Roma La Sapienza in 1995, she moved to France to do a PhD at the Université Cotê d`Azur. She obtained her PhD in Physics in December 1999. In 2000-2001, she has been INFM Post-doctoral fellow at the Physics Dept. of the University Tor Vergata in Rome. From January 2002 until November 2018, she had a researcher position at the National Research Council, in the Institute for Atmospheric Sciences and Climate. Starting from 2019, she is CNR Senior Scientist at the Institute of Nanotechnology in Lecce.

Scientific results

Alessandra is a theoretical physicist, expert of computational methods for fluid dynamics and complex flows. Starting from her PhD in 1996, her work focused on the statistical and dynamical description of turbulence, in simple and complex flows. From 2003, she studied the behaviour of turbulent suspensions of small particles, such as aerosols particles in air or cloud droplets, relevant for geophysical and engineering applications.  She participated and leaded large-scale numerical experiments within EU PRACE computing facilities. From 2006, she is the local coordinator (Unit of Lecce) of the Project “Particles and Fields in Complex flows” at the Institute of Nanotechnology (NANOTEC). She enriches the disciplinary research with physics education activities, by organising training schools and workshops for young fellows.

Editorial work and publications

Alessandra Lanotte is currently Deputy Editor at Europhysics Letters (EPL) EPS, and she was previously Associate Editor di Physics at Fluids, AIPP.

She was Guest editor of the Focus Issue "Turbulent regimes in Bose-Einstein Condensates", EPL (2021), and Focus Issue "Two-Dimensional Turbulence", Physics of Fluids (2017), and Guest Editor of the Special Issue "Flowing Matter Across the Scales", EPJE (2015), and  "Lagrangian Dynamics", Journal of Turbulence (2007).

Her publications include the following.

[2021] Panico R, Macorini G, Dominici L, Gianfrate A, Fieramosca A, De Giorgi M, Gigli G,  Sanvitto D, Lanotte A S, Ballarini D. Dynamics of a Vortex Lattice in an Expanding Polariton Quantum Fluid. Physical Review Letters 127 (4), 047401.

[2016] Biferale L, Bonaccorso F, Mazzitelli I M, van Hinsberg M A T, Lanotte A S, Musacchio S, Perlekar P, Toschi F. Coherent structures and extreme events in rotating multiphase turbulent flows. Phys. Rev. X 6, 041036.

[2015] Lanotte A S, Benzi R, Malapaka S K, Toschi F, Biferale L. Turbulence on a Fractal Fourier set. Phys. Rev. Letters 115, 264502.

[2013] Lanotte A S, Mazzitelli I M. Scalar turbulence in convective boundary layers with different entrainment fluxes. Journ. Atmos. Sci. 70, 248-265.

[2012] Baebler M U, Biferale L, Lanotte A S. Break-up of small aggregates driven by turbulent hydrodynamical stress. Phys Review E.85.025301.

[2010] Bec J, Biferale L, Lanotte A S, Scagliarini A, Toschi F. Turbulent pair dispersion of inertial particles. Journ. Fluid Mech. 645, 497.

[2009] Lanotte A S, Seminara A, Toschi F. Cloud droplet growth by condensation in homogeneous isotropic turbulence, Journ. Atmos. Sci. 66, 1685.

[2008] Arnéodo A, et al. Universal intermittent properties of particle trajectories in highly turbulent flows. Physical Review Letters 100 (25), 254504.

[2007] Bec J, Biferale L, Cencini M, Lanotte A S, Musacchio S, Toschi F. Heavy particle concentration in turbulence at dissipative and inertial scales. Phys Rev Lett. 98, 084502.

[2004] Biferale L, Boffetta G, Celani A, Devenish B J, Lanotte A, Toschi F. Multifractal statistics of Lagrangian velocity and acceleration in turbulence. Physical Review Letters 93 (6), 064502.

[2000] Celani A, Lanotte A, Mazzino A, Vergassola M. Universality and saturation of intermittency in passive scalar turbulence. Physical Review Letters 84 (11), 2385.

[1999] Lanotte A, Noullez A, Vergassola M, Wirth A. Large-scale dynamo produced by negative magnetic eddy diffusivities. Geophys. Astrophys. Fluid Dyn. 91, 131.

Position/Role

Associate professor of General Pathology at the University of Milan, group leader of the Molecular Oncology Lab, founding member of the Center for Complexity and Biosystems, University of Milan.

Professional career

After graduating in medicine in 1989 at the University of Milan and in 1995 she received a Ph. D. in physiology from the same university. From 1990 and 1991, she worked at the Institute for Pharmacological Research Mario Negri in Milan and spent nine months at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. From 1993 to 1994, she worked at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg and then in 1995 she spent five months at the Rockefeller University in New York. From 1994 to 1997 she was a fellow of  the Associazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro (AIRC). She came back to the University of Milan in 1997 and obtained tenure in 2002. 

Scientific results

In 2015, she co-founded the Center for Complexity and Biosystems at University of Milan, where she studies the fundamental mechanisms driving an healthy cell to become cancerous. In the specific case of melanoma, a very aggressive tumor that is hard to treat, here research activity lead to the discovery of a cellular subpopulation denoted as cancer stem cells (CSC).  According to her research, all melanoma cells can transform into CSC when the number of CSC falls  below a critical threshold, an effect due to the activation of a complex network on non coding microRNA. The result of this mechanism is that the number of CSC inside a tumore is held constant. This discovery might lead to reconsider the conventional therapeutic approach to cancer by eliminating the CSC that are feeding tumor growth. The current objective of Caterina La Porta’s  research is now to explore if the CSC is the correct model to describe melanoma progression, using an interdisciplinary approach combining cancer biology, theoretical physics and clinical studies, and to investigate if it is a universal model that can be used for other tumors as well. The long term goal of her research is to understand highly complex systems integrated into the human body. An additional research line focuses on the study of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular on the understanding of protein aggregation such as beta amyloid or neuroserpin and on the development of innovative diagnostic techniques.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored many international publications including:

(2018) Font-Clos F., Zapperi S., La Porta C.A.M. Topography of epithelial-mesenchymal plasticity, PNAS, 115: 5902-5907.

(2018) Chepizhko O., Lionetti M.C., Malinverno C., Scita G., Zapperi S., La Porta C. A. M. From jamming to collective cell migration through a boundary induced transition. Soft Matter, 14 (19): 3774-3782

(2018) Font-Clos F., Zapperi S., La Porta C.A.M. Gene expression signature of obesity in monozygotic twins. Physiol Meas. 39, 044008.

(2017) Font-Clos F., Zapperi S., La Porta C.A.M. Integrative analysis of pathway deregulation in obesity. Nature Publishing group: Systems Biology and Applications, 3:18.

(2017) Bertalan Z., Zapperi S., La Porta C. A. M. Modeling mechanical control of spindle orientationof intestinal crypt stem cells, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 430: 103–108.

(2017) Font F., Zapperi S., La Porta C.A.M. Integrative analysis of pathway deregulation in obesity. Nature Publishing Journal Systems Biology and Applications 3:18.

(2017) Giampietro C., Lionetti M.C., Costantini G., Mutti F., Zapperi S., La Porta C.A.M. Cholesterol impairment contributes to neuroserpin aggregation. Scientific Reports 7, 43669.

(2016) Chepizhko O, Giampietro C, Mastrapasqua E, [...] La Porta CAM. Bursts of activity collective cell migration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(41):11408-11413. 

(2016) Costantini G, Budrikis Z, Taloni A, [...] La Porta CAM. Fluctuation in protein aggregation: design of preclinical screening for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disease. Physical Review Applied, 6, 034012.

(2015) Bertalan Z, Budrikis Z, La Porta CAM, Zapperi S. Role of the Number of Microtubules in Chromosome Segregation during Cell Division. PLoS One, 10(10):e0141305.

Awards and prizes

Caterina La Porta is also a member of several national and international scientific societies, such as the (International) Metastasis Research Society, the International Angiogenesis Association, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the International Society for stem cell research (ISSCR) and the American Physical Society and Complex System Society.

In 2008, she was nominated for the "Genomic Pioneers Award".

In 2009, she was selected by Faculty of 1000 Biology for a paper published in PLoS One.