Position/Role

Full Professor at the BioRobotics Institute of the School of Advanced Studies Sant'Anna in Pisa. Professor at the National University of Singapore.

Professional career

After graduating in Computer Science at the University of Pisa in 1993, she continued her education with a PhD in Robotics at the University of Genoa in 1998. The following year she became a research fellow and then a researcher in Biorobotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa. From 2001 to 2002 she was also a visiting researcher at the Humanoid Robotics Institute of Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2006 she is associate professor and since 2014 full professor of Biorobotics at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa. She is also a professor at the National University of Singapore, in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Scientific results

Cecilia Laschi’s research interest is Biorobotics. Starting from experiences in basic robotics, she investigated bioinspired solutions for service robotics. Recently, she worked on an ambitious project grown in a tank at the Research Centre on Sea Technologies and Marine Robotics in Livorno, where the model was a common octopus, Octopus vulgaris. Studying this cephalopod’s movement, in the OCTOPUS European project, Cecilia Laschi and her team put the basis for the biomimetics of the future: designing and developing bioinspired robots, built with soft materials. The first prototype of soft robot arm imitates the muscular structure of the octopus arm and is built with siliconic materials, thanks to novel actuators giving a contraction of the muscular structure and a special braided structure inspired to the octopus connective tissue, covered by a an artificial skin with suckers. The robot arm works in water because, similarly to the octopus, it uses the mechanics of the interaction with water, mimicking the octopus arm bending and the elongation. The technologies developed by mimicking the octopus are now finding further development in many projects on several applications, ranging from marine explorations to the biomedical field, in surgery and assistance to the elderly. This research brought to the development of the new research area of soft robotics, at international level.

Cecilia Laschi’s name is also linked to another important project: in 2007 she contributed to the birth, in Tokyo, of the “RoboCasa” joint lab of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and Waseda University, where Italian and Japanese researchers could work together in frontier research. Related to her expertise in humanoid robotics is the birth of iDroid01, produced by a spin-off company of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, RoboTech srl, that she founded. iDroid01 is the first personal robot sold in parts to assemble, in eight countries, able to speak, understand basic commands, see, move its head following sounds, show feelings and especially learn, by storing behaviour schemes.

Laschi is among the inventors of another achievement of robotics in Pisa: DustBot, the dustmen robots. DustClean, which swaps street with brushes and sprays, and DustCart, a “snowman” coloured in green or blue, with two wheels, which comes to the doorstep upon call, open its stomach-drawer, receives the garbage bag and brings it out of the historical city centre. The two Italian Wall-es – on which Laschi has been worked from 2006, also with RoboTech srl – have been already put in service in an experimental session in a small village in Tuscany.

Editorial work and publications

Cecilia Laschi is author of many publications in international scientific journals (see http://www.santannapisa.it/en/personale/cecilia-laschi for the complete list), among which:

(2019) T. George Thuruthel, B. Shih, C. Laschi, M. Tolley, “Soft robot perception using embedded soft sensors and recurrent neural networks”, Science Robotics 4(26).

(2018) M. Cianchetti, C. Laschi, A. Menciassi, P. Dario, “Biomedical applications of soft robotics”, Nature Reviews Materials, 3(6), pp.143-153.

(2018) T. George Thuruthel, Y. Ansari, E. Falotico, C. Laschi, “Control Strategies for Soft Robotic Manipulators: A Survey”, Soft Robotics 5(2), pp.149-163.

(2017) C. Laschi, “Helping robots blend into the background”, Science, 358(6360), p.169.

(2017) E. Falotico, A. Berthoz, P. Dario, C. Laschi, “Sense of movement: Simplifying principles for humanoid robots”, Science Robotics, 2(13).

(2016) Laschi C, Mazzolai B. Lessons from nature: the symbiosis of morphological computation and soft robotics. IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine 23. 
(2016) Calisti M, Falotico E, Laschi C. Hopping on Uneven Terrains With an Underwater One-Legged Robot. IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters,1.1:461-468. 
(2016) Cianchetti M, Laschi C. Pleasant to the Touch: By Emulating Nature, Scientists Hope to Find Innovative New Uses for Soft Robotics in Health-Care Technology. IEEE Pulse, 7(3):34-37. 
(2016) Cauli N, Falotico E, Bernardino A, Santos-Victor J, Laschi C. Correcting for Changes: Expected Perception-Based Control for Reaching a Moving Target. IEEE Robotics and Automation Magazine, 23(1):63-70. 
(2015) Cianchetti M, Calisti M, Margheri L, Kuba M, Laschi C. Bioinspired locomotion and grasping in water: the soft eight-arm OCTOPUS robot. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 10, 035003. 
(2015) Renda F, Giorgio-Serchi F, Boyer F, Laschi C, Modelling cephalopod-inspired pulsed-jet locomotion for underwater soft robots. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 10(5). 
(2015) Calisti M, Corucci F, Arienti A, Laschi C. Dynamics of underwater legged locomotion: Modeling and experiments on an octopus-inspired robot. Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, 10(4). 
(2014) Renda F, Giorelli M, Calisti M, Cianchetti M, Laschi C. Dynamic Model of a Multibending Soft Robot Arm Driven by Cables. IEEE Transactions on Robotics, 30, 1109-1122. 
(2014) Laschi C, Cianchetti M. Soft Robotics: New Perspectives for Robot Bodyware and Control. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, 2. 
(2013) Kim S, Laschi C, Trimmer B. Soft robotics: a bioinspired evolution in robotics. Trends in Biotechnology, 31, 287-294.

Full list online.

Awards and prizes

Co-founder in 2004 of the “RoboTech srl” academc spin-off company of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, in the field of edutainment robotics. Co-author of sixteen patents, in Italy, Europe, Japan.

Position/Role

Senior researcher at National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) in Pisa (Italy)

Professional career

Sandra Leone obtained a master degree in physics from Pisa University in 1990 and a PhD from the same University in 1994. After a 2 years post-doc position, in 1997 she enters INFN-Pisa as researcher in experimental high energy physics. Since 2009 she is senior researcher in the same institute. She has the full professor qualification  (required to cover full professor positions in Italy). Since 2005 she is responsible for the organization of the Pisa European Particle Physics Masterclass for high school students. She was in the local organizing committee of 6 international congresses and was in charge of the organization of INFN local scientific seminars since 2002 until 2008.

Scientific results

Sandra Leone’s field of research is experimental particle physics. In 1989 she starts studying proton-antiproton collisions in the CDF experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider, in the US. In particular she studied the production mechanism of the W boson. In 1994-1995 she studied the top quark production and was part of the team which observed for the first time the top quark in the CDF experiment. From 1997 to 2001 she works with silicon detectors and studies their application in experiments at hadron colliders. In particular, she is responsible in this period of the construction and test of 161 elementary units of the ISL silicon detector for the CDF experiment. In the following years she commits herself to the study of associated production of WZ intermediate bosons and the search for the Higgs boson.

In 2013 she joins the ATLAS experiment at CERN. She takes part to the construction and test of the new laser calibration system for the ATLAS hadron calorimeter. Since 2015 she studies the robustness and longevity of photomultiplier tubes, in the context of the foreseen upgrades of the ATLAS detector. She was invited to present scientific results on behalf of her collaborations in plenary session in  15 international conferences and in several national conferences, physics schools, seminars and conference parallel sessions, like ‘ichep2016’, one of the most important conferences in the field of high energy physics, which was held in Chicago

Editorial work and publications

She is referee of international journals and co-author of more than 1000 international papers, among which:

(2016) CDF Collaboration. Measurement of the WW and WZ production cross section using final states with a charged lepton and heavy-flavor jets in the full CDF Run II data set. Physical Review D, 94, 032008.

(2012) CDF Collaboration. Evidence for a Particle Produced in Association with Weak Bosons and Decaying to a Bottom-Antibottom Quark Pair in Higgs Boson Searches at the Tevatron. Physical Review Letters, 109, 071804.

(2007) CDF Collaboration. First Measurement of the Ratio of Central-Electron to Forward-Electron W Partial Cross Sections in proton-antiproton collisions at center of mass energy of 1.96 TeV. Physical Review Letters, 98, 251801.

(1995) CDF Collaboration. Observation of Top Quark Production in proton-antiproton collisions with the Collider Detector at Fermilab. Physical Review Letters, 74, 2626.
(1992) Abe F, [...] Leone S, et al. Lepton Asymmetry in W-boson Decays from proton-antiproton Collisions at center of mass energy of 1.8 TeV. Physical Review Letters, 68, 1458.

Awards and prizes

Sandra Leone held several prominent roles in her field and was part of several committees. In 1995 she received an award for young researchers from the Italian Physics Society (SIF). Since 1998 she is referee of Physical Review Letters and Physical Review D journals. Since 2013 she is member of the editorial staff of “Scienza per tutti”, the official outreach web site of INFN. Since 2008 she acted in several occasions as independent expert  evaluator for the European Seventh Framework Program and Horizon2020. From 2006 to 2011 she was part of the INFN Equal Opportunity Committee.

Position/Role

Full Professor in Applied Biology, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Head of the "Proteomics of Iron Metabolism" Research Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan in 1982, Sonia Levi continued her training in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technologies of the San Raffaele Hospital. In 1984, she obtained a fellowship from the European Molecular Biology Organization at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. Two years later, she received a three-year post-doctoral research fellow to continue her research activity and, in 1989, she was hired as a researcher in the "Iron Metabolism" Research Unit of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute. In 2005 she became associate professor and then full professor of Applied Biology in the Faculty of Medicine of the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele. She is currently also Head of the research unit "Proteomics of Iron Metabolism" at the San Raffaele Institute in Milan and President of the San Raffaele University Quality Presidium.

Scientific results

Sonia Levi has been interested for years in the study of iron metabolism and associated diseases. When she was at the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory), she learned the pioneering techniques of recombinant DNA applied to protein expression. After returning to Italy, she imported these new methodologies to the "Iron Metabolism" laboratory of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where she has been successful in obtaining the recombinant human ferritins and their mutants, useful in the study of the assembly of complex protein structures. From 1992 to 2002, she continued her research in the "Protein Engineering" laboratory at the Department of Biotechnological Research (DIBIT) of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute where she developed eucariotic cellular models overexpressing iron proteins to analyze their biological functions. In 2001 she identified and isolated a new human ferritin located in the mitochondrion (small cellular organelle). The biological and functional characterization of this new protein is one of its main topics of interest. Her recent research is focused to clarify the relationship between iron and neurodegeneration. With this aim, she developed and studied cellular and animal models of neurodegenerative disease, like neuroferritinophaty, PKAN and Friedreich's ataxia. More recently, she is applying the technology of cellular reprogramming to obtain human neuronal models for the disorders defined as Neurodegeneration with Brain Iron Accumulation.

Editorial work and publications

Author of more than one hundred Italian and international publications including:

(2016) Orellana DI, Santambrogio P, Rubio A, Yekhlef L, Cancellieri C, Dusi S, Giannelli SG, Venco P, Mazzara PG, Cozzi A, Ferrari M, Garavaglia B, Taverna S, Tiranti V, Broccoli V, Levi S. Coenzyme A corrects pathological defects in human neurons of PANK2-associated neurodegeneration. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 8 (10):1197-1211. 

(2015) Maccarinelli F, Pagani A, Cozzi A, Codazzi F, Di Giacomo G, Capoccia S, Rapino S, Finazzi D, Politi LS, Cirulli F, Giorgio M, Cremona O, Grohovaz F, Levi S. A novel neuroferritinopathy mouse model (ftl 498instc) shows progressive brain iron dysregulation, morphological signs of early neurodegeneration and motor coordination deficits. Neurobiology of Disease, 81:119-33. 

(2013) Cozzi A, Santambrogio P, Privitera D, Broccoli V, Rotundo LI, Garavaglia B, Benz R, Altamura S, Goede JS, Muckenthaler MU, Levi S. Human L-ferritin deficiency is characterized by idiopathic generalized seizures and atypical restless leg syndrome. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 210(9):1779-91. 

(2009) Campanella A, Rovelli E, Santambrogio P, Cozzi A, Taroni F, Levi S. Mitochondrial ferritin limits oxidative damage regulating mitochondrial iron availability: hypothesis for a protective role in Friedreich ataxia. Human Molecular Genetics, 18(1):1-11. 

(2004) Campanella A, Isaya G, O'Neill HA, Santambrogio P, Cozzi A, Arosio P, Levi S. The expression of human mitochondrial ferritin rescues respiratory function infrataxin-deficient yeast. Human Molecular Genetics, 13(19):2279-88. 

(2002) Arosio P, Levi S. Ferritin, iron homeostasis, and oxidative damage. Free Rqical Biology and Medicine, 33(4):457-463. 

(2001) Levi S, Corsi B, Bosisio M, Invernizzi R, Volz A, Sanford D, Arosio P, Drysdale J. A Human mitochondrial ferritin encoded by an introless gene. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276(27):24437-40. 

(1994) Levi S, Santambrogio P, Cozzi A, Rovida E, Corsi B, Tamborini E, Spada S, Albertini A, Arosio P. The role of the L-chain in ferritin iron incorporation. Studies of homo and heteropolymers. Journal of Molecular Biology, 238(5):649-54. 

(1991) Lawson DM, Artymiuk PJ, Yewdall SJ, Smith JM, Livingstone JC, Treffry A, Luzzago A, Levi S, Arosio P, Cesareni G, et al. Solving the structure of human H ferritin by genetically engineering intermolecular crystal contacts. Nature, 349(6309):541-544

(1988) Levi, S., Luzzago A, Cesareni G, Cozzi A, Franceschinelli F, Albertini A & Arosio P. Mechanism of ferritin iron uptake: activity of the H-chain and deletion mapping of the ferro-oxidase site. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 263: 18086-18092.

Awards and prizes

2016-2018 Member of the “Top Italian Women Scientist”

Position/Role

Lead researcher at Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l'energia e lo sviluppo economico sostenibile (ENEA)

Professional career

I got the Master ‘s degree in Physics in 1992 from Università degli Studi di Pisa, defending a thesis in particle physics based on studies performed at CERN, in Geneva. I obtained a research fellowship from the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica della Materia (INFM) on a research program in thermonuclear fusion physics and I started my collaboration with Consorzio RFX in Padua. The collaboration was maintained also when, in1993, I obtained a permanent position at ENEA.

Between 2000 and 2002 I spent several months at Max Planck Institut für Plasmaphysik in Munich to work on the tokamak experiment ASDEX Upgrade in the framework of Mobility Program funded by EURATOM.

In 2005 I got the PhD in Energetics from Università degli Studi di Padova. From 2006 I am lead researcher, always in ENEA.

Scientific results

My activity research is in the area of thermonuclear plasma physics, which aims at producing clean energy reproducing the physics processes that occur in the stars, like the Sun, in earth laboratories.

I work mainly on the Reversed Field Pinch experiment RFX-mod, located in Padua and operated by Consorzio RFX, a consortium of CNR, ENEA, INFN, Università di Padova and Acciaierie Venete.

I participate in several international collaborations, for example with the research team of the Madison Symmetric Torus experiment (MST) in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) and with the team of Large Helical Device (LHD) located  in Toki, Japan. More recently I started a collaboration with the Joint European Torus (JET) tokamak located in Culham, in UK.

I investigate the problem of particle and energy transport in thermonuclear plasmas through data analysis and development of numerical codes. I also contribute to the organization and realization of the experiments for the collection of data.

In 2008 I partecipated to the first observation of Single Helical Axis states (SHAx), the enhanced confinement states that occur when a toroidal RFP plasma is heated by a high current.

I devoted many efforts to characterize the transport barriers  observed in SHAx states and to clarify the relationship between the transport and the magnetic turbulence.

My recent research aims at exploiting  the results of solar physics, in particular of solar flares, to advance the comprehension of SHAx states.

The other important item of research regards so called ‘isotope effect’, namely the differences between plasmas of different hydrogen isotopes. I studied the isotope effect in RFX-mod and I participate in the isotope effect studies of JET and LHD.

Recently I worked in collaboration with LHD colleagues to the development of a code able to model plasmas with multiple magnetic axes. With the help of such code, named MAxS (Multiple Axis Solver) we will be able to study energy and particle transport in presence of magnetic islands

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of numerous publications in international journals and conference proceedings, including:

[2018] F.  Auriemma, D. Lopez-Bruna, R.  Lorenzini, B. Momo, I. Predebon, Y. Suzuki, A. López-Fraguas, Y. Narushima, F. Sattin, D. Terranova ‘A novel approach to studying transport in plasmas with magnetic islands’ Nuclear Fusion 58, 096037.

[2018] C.F. Maggi, H.Weisen, J.C. Hillesheim, A. Chankin, E. Delabie, L. Horvath, F. Auriemma, I.S. Carvalho, G. Corrigan, J. Flanagan, L. Garzotti, D. Keeling, D. King, E. Lerche, R. Lorenzini et al  ‘Isotope effects on L-H threshold and confinement in tokamak plasmas,’ Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion 60, 125002.

[2016] Lorenzini R, Auriemma F, Fassina A, Martines E, Terranova D and Sattin F. Internal Transport Barrier Broadening through Subdominant Mode Stabilization in Reversed Field Pinch Plasmas, Physical Review Letters, 116, 185002.

[2015] Lorenzini R, Agostini M, Auriemma F, Carraro L, De Masi G, Fassina A, Franz P, Gobbin M, Innocente P, Puiatti ME, Scarin P, Zaniol B and Zuin M. The isotope effect in the RFX-modExperiment, Nuclear Fusion, 55, 043012.

[2012] Lorenzini R, Alfier A, Auriemma F, Fassina A, Franz P, Innocente P, Lopez-Bruna D, Martines E, Momo B, Pereverzev G, Piovesan P, Spizzo G, Spolaore M and Terranova D. On the energy transport in internal transport barriers of RFP plasmas, Nuclear Fusion, 52, 062004.

[2011] Bergerson WF, Auriemma F, Chapman BE, Ding WX, Zanca P, Brower DL, Innocente P, Lin L, Lorenzini R, Martines E, Momo B, Sarff JS and Terranova D. Bifurcation to 3D Helical Magnetic Equilibrium in an Axisymmetric Toroidal Device, Physical Review Letters, 107, 255001.

[2009] Lorenzini R, Martines E, Piovesan P, Terranova D, Zanca P, Zuin M et al. Self-organized helical equilibria as a new paradigm for ohmically heated fusion plasmas, Nature Physics, 5:570-574.

[2008] Lorenzini R, Terranova D, Alfier A, Innocente P, Martines E, Pasqualotto R, Zanca P. Single-Helical-Axis States in Reversed-Field-Pinch Plasmas, Physical Review Letters, 101, 025005.

[2007] Lorenzini R, Terranova D, Auriemma F, Cavazzana R, Innocente P, Martini S, Serianni G and Zuin M. Toroidally asymmetric particle transport caused by phase-locking of MHD modes in RFX-mod, Nuclear Fusion, 47: 1468.

Awards and prizes

In Novembre 2016, Rita Lorenzini get an invited lecture on the Improvement of the magnetic configuration in the Reversed Field Pinch through successive bifurcations at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Division of Plasma Physics, American Physical Society, Dallas, Texas.

She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the 41st European Physical Society Conference on Plasma Physics.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Plant Physiology, University of Padua

Professional career

In July 1974 she graduated in Biology from the University of Naples, Federico II. In October 1974 she won a post as a postgraduate student at the Normale University in Pisa. From 1975 to 1976 she worked in the laboratory of Developmental Genetics and Molecular Biology of Prof. Garcia-Bellido at the University of Madrid. From 1976 to 1982 she was a CNR researcher at the Institute of Mutagenesis and Differentiation in Pisa. From 1983 to 1984 she was a Research Fellow in the Dept. of Genetics and Plant Pathology at the University of Berkeley, California. In 1987 she became Associate Professor of Plant Physiology and taught, until 1990, at the University of Basilicata, and then at the University of Padua where in October 2000 she became Full Professor at the Faculty of Science, now Department of Biology.

Scientific results

Her scientific activity began with a thesis on bacterial molecular genetics, carried out at the International Institute of Genetics and Biophysics of the CNR in Naples. The activity continued with developmental genetics studies on the Drosophila model system in Madrid and then with plant somatic genetics studies in Pisa. In 1982 she started a project aiming at the isolation and characterisation of temperature-sensitive cell mutants altered in the somatic embryogenesis process of carrot (model system for plant differentiation studies). The study of alterations in plant cell differentiation was the subject of two consecutive three-year European Community programmes, which resulted in numerous publications that constituted the core of scientific production until the end of the 1990s. Subsequently, Fiorella Lo Schiavo studied mechanisms of hormone signal perception and transduction, initially of auxin and more recently of cytokinins, in different plant cell systems.  She then carried out studies on some channel proteins, in particular potassium channels, also investigating their function in some plant differentiation processes. She then investigated some basic mechanisms of organ senescence processes using cell cultures as model systems, in particular studying the final stages of programmed cell death in senescence. Recently, she analysed, by means of imaging techniques, the role of important cell signalling molecules, such as calcium and reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by abiotic stress in model plants and rice. 

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than 100 scientific papers, including:

[2018] Formentin E, Sudiro C, Perin G, Riccadonna S, Barizza E, Baldoni E, Lavezzo E, Stevanato P, Sacchi GA, Morosinotto T, Zottini M, Lo Schiavo F.   Transcriptome and cell physiological analyses in different rice cultivars provide novel insights into adaptive and salinity stress responses.Frontiers in Plant Science, 9: 204.

[2017] Teardo E, Carraretto L, Wagner S, Formentin E, Behera S, De Bortoli S, Larosa V, Fuchhs P, Lo Schiavo F, Raffaello A, Rizzuto R, Costa A, Schwarzländer M and Ildiko Szabò  Physiological characterization of a plant mitochondrial calcium uniporter in vitro and in in vivo. Plant Physiology, 173: 1-16.

[2015] D’Alessandro S, Golin S, Hardtke, Lo Schiavo F, Zottini M. The co-chaperone p23 controls root development through the modulation of auxin distribution in the Arabidopsisroot meristem. J. of Experimental Botany,  66(16): 5113-5122.

[2015] Teardo E, Carraretto L, De Bortolis S, Costa A, Behera S, Wagner R, Lo Schiavo F, Formentin E, Szabo I. Alternative splicing-mediated targeting of the Arabidopsis Glutamate Receptor 3.5 to mitochondria organelle morphology. Plant Physiology, 167 (1): 216-227.

[2014] Ruberti C, Costa A, Pedrazzini E, Lo Schiavo F, Zottini M. FISSION1A, an Arabidopsis tail-anchored protein, is localized to three subcellular compartments. Molecular Plant,7: 1393–1396,  doi: 10.1 093/mp/ssu027.

[2013] Vescovi M, Zaffagnini M, Trost P, Lo Schiavo F, Costa A. Nuclear Accumulation of Cytosolic Glyceraldehyde-3-Phoshate Dhydrogenase in cadmium-Stressed Arabidopsis Roots.Plant Physiology, 162: 333-346, ISSN: 0032-0889.

[2012] Vescovi M, Riefler M, Gessuti M, Novak O, Schmulling T,  Lo Schiavo F. Programmed cell death induced by high levels of cytokinin in Arabidopsis cultured cells is mediated by the cytokinin receptor CRE1/AHK4. Journal of Experimental Botany,  63: 2825-2832. 

[2012]Loro G, Drago I, Pozzan T,  Lo Schiavo F,  Zottini M, Costa A. Targeting of Cameleon to different subcellular compartments reveals a strict cytoplasmic/mitochondrial Ca2+ handling relationship in plant cells.Plant Journal, 71(1): 1-13.

[2011] Horie T, Brodsky DE, Costa A, Kaneko T, Lo Schiavo F, Katsuhara M, Schroeder JI. K+ transport by the OsHKT2;4 transporter from rice (Oryza sativa) with atypical Na+ transport properties and competition in permeation of K+ over Mg2+ and Ca 2+ ions. Plant Physiology, 156(3):1493-507.

[2010] Costa A, Drago I, Behera S, Zottini M., Pizzo P, Schroeder Ji, Pozzan T, Lo Schiavo F. H2O2 in plant peroxisomes: an in vivo analysis uncovers a Ca(2+)-dependent scavenging system. Plant Journal,  62: 760-772.

[2009] De Michele R, Vurro E, Rigo C.Costa A, Elviri L, Di Valentin M, Careri M, Zottini M, Sanita' Di Toppi L, Lo Schiavo F. Nitric Oxide is involved in cadmium-induced programmed cell death in Arabidopsis suspension cultures.  Plant Physiology, 150: 217-228.

[2009] De Michele R, Formentin E, Todesco M, Toppo S, Carimi F, Zottini M., Barizza E, Ferrarini A, Delledonne M, Fontana P, Lo Schiavo F. Transcriptome analysis of Medicago truncatula leaf senescence: similarities and differences in metabolic and transcriptional regulations as compared with Arabidopsis, nodule senescence and nitric oxide signalling.New Phytologist, 181: 563-575.

Awards and prizes

In 1975, she won the Scoffone-Cremona Prize for the best dissertation in Molecular Biology. 

From the 1980s onwards, she has been responsible for national (PF. Genetic Engineering, IPRA, RAISA, MIPA, Biotechnologies and PRIN) and international (EU) projects, scientific advisor to the National Science Foundation and the European Union and for various international scientific journals. 

During the four-year period '90-'94 she was general secretary of the International Association Plant Tissue Culture. 

In May 1997, she directed the NATO course "Cellular Integration of Signalling Pathway in Plant Development" (Maratea). 

From 1995 to 2002 she was on the board of the Society of Plant Physiology and from 2009 to 2014 on the board of the Society of Plant Biology. 

In September 2012 she was elected for the first time Italian delegate in the board of FESPB, now PBE (Plant Biology Europe); position renewed in February 2018. 

She has been coordinator of the teaching board, Biotechnology department, of the PhD School of Biosciences and Biotechnology at the University of Padova since its establishment until 2013. 

Since the beginning of 2014 she has been a member of the new PhD course in Biosciences at the University of Padua and referent of the "Biochemistry & Biotechnology" curriculum. 

Since 2016 she has been President of the ASN Committee for the field of Plant Physiology.

Position/Role

Vice Rector of the Orientation and Tutorship for the University of Padua and Full Professor of Developmental Psychology at the same university

Professional career

After graduating in Philosophy in 1988 and in Psychology in 1991 at the University of Padua, in 1997 she continued her education with a PhD on an international project in Developmental Psychology at the University of Leiden, in the Netherlands. Her career continued within the university: in 1998 she was a researcher in Developmental Psychology, in 2001 an associate professor and in 2005 a full professor of Developmental Psychology still at the University of Padua. Since 2007 she has been the director of the same university with a delegation to the Orientation and Tutorship, a role she still covers today.

In April 2020 she was called by the Minister of Education, Lucia Azzolina, to join the committee of experts set up at the MIUR with the task of "formulating and presenting ideas and proposals for schools with reference to the current health emergency [Covid-19], but also looking at improving the national education system".

Scientific results

Daniela Lucangeli’s main research interests concern the development and strengthening of numerical intelligence, the maturational processes in the developmental age (first and second childhood, school age and adolescence) and the learning mechanisms in typical and atypical development. She is also involved in the study of functions (language, memory, attention, emotions, metacognition, self-regulation), learning disabilities (such as dyslexia, dysorthography, dysgraphia, dyscalculia) and special educational needs. She also carries out research and studies on enhancing learning, behavioral and cognitive deficits, giftedness and high potential profiles, learning emotions and learned impotence. She has been promoting for years, with the group of researchers and scientists of the World Academy of Sciences for Learning Difficulties, a strong movement of actions for the decline of scientific research in the practices of prevention, strengthening and rehabilitation of development disharmonies. In fact, scientific research has shown that through early intervention in the different "labors" of development, it is possible to obtain the optimization of processes even in situations of possible disability (language, learning, cognitive development, etc.). The focus of her work is not only that related to the analysis of cognitive profiles and to the possible diagnosis but above all to use the best aid strategies for maximum brain plasticity. In recent times she has devoted herself to the study of circuit networks related to warm cognition and emotional learning circuits. In particular, studies aimed at highlighting the contribution of hereditary factors and cultural factors in the development of psychological processes and education. She deepens the study of cognitive functions and processes with the aim of highlighting the important implications of neuroscience in educational processes. As Director, with responsibility for tutoring, "in itinere" and "incoming" guidance from the University of Padua, she coordinates the implementation of regional and European projects aimed at guiding young people in the choice of university and professional.

Editorial work and publications

Daniela Lucangeli is editor of the journal “Difficoltà In Matematica” (Erickson) and referee for several specialized magazines. She is the author of numerous national and international publications and scientific and educational essays, including (in the last five years):

(2017) Sella F, Berteletti I, Lucangeli D, Zorzi M. Pre-school children use space, rather then counting, to infer the numerical magnitude of digits: evidence for a spatial mapping principle. Cognition, 158, 56-67. 

(2016) Sella F, Berteletti I, Lucangeli D, Zorzi M. Spontaneous non‐verbal counting in toddlers. Developmental Science, 19(2), 329-337. 

(2016) Benavides-Varela S, Butterworth B, Burgio F, Arcara G, Lucangeli D, Semenza C. Numerical Activities and Information Learned at Home Link to the Exact Numeracy Skills in 5–6 Years-Old Children. Frontiers in psychology, 7. 

(2015) Sella F, Berteletti I, Lucangeli D, Zorzi M. Varieties of quantity estimation in children. Developmental Psychology, 51(6), 758. 

(2014) Caviola S, Mammarella IC, Lucangeli D, Cornoldi C. Working memory and domain-specific precursors predicting the success in learning written subtraction problems. Learning and Individual Differences, 36, 92-100. 

(2014) Re AM, Pedron M, Tressoldi PE, Lucangeli D. Response to Specific Training for Students With Different Levels of Mathematical Difficulties. Exceptional Children, 80(3), 337-352. 

(2013) Al-Yagon M, Cavendish W, Cornoldi C, Fawcett AJ, Grunke M, Hung, LY, Jimenez JE, Karande S, van Kraayenoord CE, Lucangeli D, Margalit M, Montague M, Sholapurwala R. The Proposed Changes For DSM-5 for SLD and ADHD: International Perspectives-Australia, Germany, Greece, India, Israel, Italy, Spain, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and United States. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 46, 58-72.

(2013) Colomer C, Miranda A, Re AM, Lucangeli D. Numerical and Calculation Abilities in Children with ADHD. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 11(2), 1-15.  

(2013) Mammarella IC, Bomba M, Caviola S, Broggi F, Neri F. Lucangeli D, Nacinovich R. Mathematical difficulties in nonverbal learning disability or co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia. Developmental neuropsychology, 38(6), 418-432. 

(2013) Mammarella IC, Caviola S, Cornoldi C, Lucangeli D. Mental additions and verbal-domain interference in children with Developmental Dyscalculia (DD). Research in Developmental Disabilities, 34(9), 2845-2855.

Awards and prizes

Daniela Lucangeli is President of the Association for the National Coordination of Specialized Teachers (CNIS) and member of the Scientific Committees of numerous national and international research associations such as the Italian Association for Research and Intervention in Learning Psychopathology (AIRIPA) and the Italian Association of Psychology (AIP Development Section). Vice President for the International Development of the International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities (IARLD). Technical member of the National Observatory for Childhood and Adolescence. Scientific component of the Technical Commission appointed by the Ministry of Education for guidelines on specific learning disorders (DSA), Bes (Special Educational Needs). And he is a member of the National Commission of the CNOP (National Council of Psychologists) "Wellness at School". Vice President of the Research Foundation HPNR (Human Potential Network Research). Scientific Director of the Learning Center (28 Centers in Italy). Scientific Director of the Gate Italy Association (Gifted and Talent Education). Scientific Manager of the Regional Research Center and Educational Services for Learning Difficulties.

In 2019, she received the international Standout Woman Award "for the high profile of her studies aimed at supporting the growth and development of children and adolescents, and for her ongoing commitment shown in educational and clinical services as support for developmental vulnerabilities".

In April 2020, she was appointed to the Committee of Experts at the Ministry of Education, set up by Minister Lucia Azzolina.

Position/Role

Full professor of Pharmacology and Biotechnology and Coordinator of the Center of Excellence for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the University of Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Milan in 1973, she continued her scientific interests with a scholarship at the Institute of Pharmacology and Pharmacognosy directed by Professor Rodolfo Paoletti. Winner of the Salk Institute - University of Texas Award, she continued her education initially at the Department of Pharmacology and Neurobiology of the University of Texas, in Houston, in the United States and then at the Department of Cell Biology of the Baylor College of Medicine under the guidance of Professor Bert O'Malley. Back to Italy in 1982 as a researcher, she founded and directed a University-Industry model collaboration center, the result of an initiative by the University of Milan and the Hoffman-LaRoche Pharmaceutical Company: the Milan Molecular Pharmacology Lab (MPL). At the end of the 1980s, as an associate professor, she continued her research at the Department of Pharmacological Sciences of the University of Milan. Since 2002 she has directed the Center of Excellence on Neurodegenerative Diseases of the University of Milan, an experimental center financed by a fund organized by the Ministry of University and Research in which she is directly responsible for a research group made up of 20 researchers and young graduates. From 2006 to 2014 she founded and presided over the TOP srl, a spin-off of the University of Milan. As an expert in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology she holds various ministerial positions: she is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Italian Prime Minister in the field of Biotechnology, Biosafety and Life Sciences, of the Scientific Committee "Innovative Medicine Initiative" of the European Union, of the European ESFRI Working Group for Health and Food, of the Council of the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI) and delegate of the MIUR for the European Pilot Initiative on Joint Programming on Neurodegenerative Diseases of which she is Vice-President since 2010. She is currently nominated by the American Society of Endocrinology member of the Endocrine Society EU Task force for Endocrine Disrupters and collaborates with the Innovative Medicine Initiative2 as a member of the SSG Panel on Neurodegeneration.

Scientific results

The research carried out by Adriana Maggi has always focused on the study of the physiological activity performed by estrogens, with particular reference to non-reproductive organs. Initial studies are associated with the discovery that the estrogen receptor is present in all brain cells (oligodendrocytes, astrocytes, microglia and neurons), even in brain areas not associated with reproductive functions, but linked to the control of emotional activities (frontal cortex, hippocampus). More recently, the study of the anti-inflammatory activity of estrogens active in microglia has led to new hypotheses about the higher incidence of neurodegenerative diseases in female subjects and the role of sex in the response to different stimuli and ischemic insults. In order to better understand the action of estrogens, Adriana Maggi designed and created a unique model for the study of the action of these hormones in living organisms and for the identification of new drugs active through these receptors: the ERE reporter mouse Luc. This reporter system was subsequently used to generate other model systems for the study of other receptors (for example the PPAR receptor) and complex processes such as oxidative stress, inflammation, calcium transport, apoptosis and others. The availability of the ERE-Luc model for the study of estrogen receptor activity has shown for the first time that estrogen is very active in the liver in mammals. Recent studies show that in female organisms estrogens control hepatic metabolism and lipid synthesis in close relationship with reproductive activity. This action is fundamental in differentiating energy metabolism in mammals of the two sexes and the discovery made has significant significance not only for a better understanding of sex-dependent hepatic metabolism, but also for understanding the etiopathogenetic mechanisms of a series of diseases associated with aging and, in women, closely related to post-menopause.
The results of the research carried out have opened up a new way of understanding the metabolic differences between males and females, allowing the understanding of gender / gender differences in the prevalence of a very wide range of diseases that include most of the diseases associated with aging (from diabetes to neurodegenerative diseases) and in the hepatic metabolism of drugs and xenobiotics in general. Furthermore, the discovery of the relevance of estrogen activity in the liver suggests a new way to generate more effective postmenopausal hormone replacement formulas with fewer side effects.
The research activity of Adriana Maggi has been recognized and supported by numerous national and international funding bodies. On funding from the European Commission, the professor coordinated 4 European research consortia for the study of the physiology and aging of women and endocrine disruptors, and more recently her research was funded by the Nationals Institutes of Health with a RO1 grant for the study of the aging of women and ERC for the study of gender physiology. 

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of more thab 200 scientific publications, 6 patents and 3 monographs- Among the most recent publications:

(2017) Della Torre S, Maggi A.Sex Differences: A Resultant of an Evolutionary Pressure? Cell Metabolism, 25:499-505.

(2017) Rizzi N, Rebecchi M, Levandis G, Ciana P and Maggi A. Identification of novel loci for the generation of reporter mice. Nucleic Acids Reserach, 45:e37.

(2016) Della Torre S, Mitro N, Fontana R, Gomaraschi M, Favari E, Recordati C, Lolli F, Quagliarini F, Meda C, Ohlsson C, Crestani M, Uhlenhaut NH, Calabresi L, Maggi A. An Essential Role for Liver ERα in Coupling Hepatic Metabolism to the Reproductive Cycle. Cell Reports, 15:360-71.

(2016) Villa A, Vegeto E, Poletti A, Maggi A.Estrogens, Neuroinflammation, and Neurodegeneration. Endocrine Reviews. 37:372-402.

Benedusi V, Martini E, Kallikourdis M, Villa A, Meda C and Maggi A. Ovariectomy shortens the life span of female mice. Oncotarget  (2015) 6:10801-11.

(2014) Della Torre S, Benedusi V, Fontana R, Maggi A, Energy Metabolism and reproduction, an ancestral balance to be preserved for women health. Nature Review Endocrinology, 10:13-23.

(2012) Villa A, Della Torre S, Stell A, Cook J, Brown M, Maggi A. Tetradian oscillation of estrogen receptor α is necessary to prevent liver lipid deposition. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. 109:11806-11.

(2011) Della Torre S, Rando G, Meda C, Stell A, Chambon P, Krust A, Ibarra C, Magni P, Ciana P. and Maggi A. Amino Acid-dependent activation of liver Estrogen Receptor alpha integrates metabolic and reproductive functions via IGF-1. Cell Metabolism, 13: 205-214.

(2010) Rando G, Horner D, Biserni A, Ramachandran B, Caruso D, Ciana P, Komm B. and Maggi A. An innovative method to classify SERMs based on the dynamics of estrogen receptor transcriptional activity in living animals. Molecular Endocrinology, 24: 735-744.

(2009) Brufani M, Ceccacci F, Filocamo L, Garofalo B, Joudioux R, La Bella A, Leonelli F, Migneco LM, Bettolo RM, Farina PM, Ashcroft GS, Routley C, Hardman M, Meda C, Rando G, Maggi A. Novel locally active estrogens accelerate cutaneous wound healing. A preliminary study. Molecular Pharmaceutics, 6: 543-56.

(2003) Ciana P, Raviscioni M, Mussi P, Vegeto E, Que I, Parker MG, Lowik C and Maggi A. In vivo imaging of transcriptionally active estrogen receptors. Nature Medicine, 9: 82-6.

Awards and prizes

Adriana Maggi won many awards and recognitions during her professional career, including the Salk-Institute-University of Texas Award; the NATO Award for exchange studies, the Lecture Award of the British Endocrine Society, the Farmindustria-Telethon Research Award, the PFIZER Investigator-Initiated Research Award, the ERC Advanced Grant Award. 

Position/Role

CEO of DAXO GROUP and DAXOLAB, President of DONNE 4.0 and Vicepresident of ARTES 4.0

Professional career

Darya Majidi is an Italian-Iranian digital entrepreneur, computer scientist, expert in artificial intelligence, author, university professor, human and digital rights activist and keynote speaker. She is a pioneer and visionary of Information Technology in Italy. She has actively participated in the digital transformation of our country for over 30 years, with experiences gained in the public, private, academic and international fields. She has created startups and innovative companies, boasts merger & acquisition references among her international companies and corporates and experience in private equity and venture capital which has seen her as a protagonist in the transformation of the startups she created into structured companies. 

She is currently CEO, founder and owner of the Daxo Group, a strategic consultancy and digital transformation training company that for over 10 years has been accompanying its prestigious clients in their digital transformation and training with particular attention to female digital empowerment with a view to closing digital gender gap. Daxo Group is the first company in Italy certified with ISO 30415 with a view to implementing Diversity & Inclusion policies.

CEO and owner of Daxolab, coworking, accelerator and business incubator which to date has given life to around 20 innovative startups and hosts a unique eco-system of professionals, SMEs and large companies.

Founder and President of the Donne 4.0, supports the digital empowerment of girls and women at a national and international level. Donne 4.0 represents a unique association on the international scene in combining technological and digital knowledge and skills with aspects of ethics and soft skills.

Vice President of the ARTES 4.0 Competence Center, led by the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, supports technological transfer between companies and universities. Speaker, lecturer, mentor, and TEDx speaker and Member of the Singularity University. 

She was Councilor for Innovation of the city of Livorno, helping to transform the city into a Smart City, creating systems and services to simplify the relationship between the public administration with businesses, citizens and professional bodies. The activities carried out have received numerous national and international awards.

She was President of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Confindustria Livorno and Vice President of Confindustria di Livorno with responsibility for research and innovation. She has numerous collaborations with prestigious international universities, including the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna of Pisa, the Scuola Normale of Pisa, the Rome Business School and others.

She is a mother, a role model, an activist woman who hopes to impact the world in a concrete way.

Editorial work and publications

Darya Majidi. Donne 4.0. 2018.

Darya Majidi. Sorellanza digitale. Femminismo 4.0. 2020.

Awards and prizes

In 2021, she was mentioned  by the magazine D Repubblica as one of the 100 women who are changing the world and in 2022 by Io Donna Corriere della sera among the 10 women impacting Italy.

In October 2023, she was recognized as one of the most powerful women in the world by  Fortune Italia,  which featured her on the cover.

Position/Role

Senior researcher Bionem (Bio- and Nano-Engineering for Medicine) nanotechnology laboratories Experimental and Clinical Medicine Department, Magna Graecia, University of Catanzaro.

Professional career

Graduated from the University of Messina in Medicine and Surgery, she continued her studies at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome, where she specialized in Medical Oncology. After getting her PhD in Cell and Human Biology at the University of Messina, as winner of the two-year AIRC scholarship, she has carried out her research as contract professor at the Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro. She has collaborated with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) of Genoa in the post-doc position, for the development of devices aimed at characterizingprognostic biomarkers in cancer patients. NM in 2005 worked as consultant for the Consulate of the Italian Embassy in Nosy-Be, Madagascar, for evaluating oncological risks linked to territorial problems, especially in paediatric age. In the project "Monitoring and early diagnosis of tumours linked to exposure to environmental toxic substances in the Calabrian population", in 2009, she worked as consultor for ARPACAL - Regional Agency for Environmental Protection of Calabria. In 2011 she was a scientific consultant for the project "Centro del Farmaco" IRCS San Raffaele Pisana in Rome. 

Since 2013 she has been appointed Scientific Director of the CHARACTEX research project (Characterization of circulating tumour cells from peripheral, medullary and cord blood, and tissue tumour cells by cytometric flow evaluation and in vitro expansion). She takes part into the national project as scientific coordinator and coordinator of the Germaneto section, Magna Graecia University, for the SCENIC project (immunophenotypic characterization of circulating endothelial cells from peripheral, medullary and cord blood by cytometric flow evaluation in standardized instrumental, reagents and protocol conditions) commissioned by Becton Dickinson (BD). In 2015 she was the scientific director of the ENDOFIRE research project, (immunophenotypic characterization of circulating endothelial cells and peripheral blood exosomes by cytometric flow evaluation in patients with atrial fibrillation) and of the observational study ENXOCORE, (immunophenotypic characterization of circulating differentiated (CEC) and progenitor endothelial cells (EPC) and peripheral blood exosomes, by cytofluorimetric evaluation, in patients with acute myocardial infarction without ST segment elevation (NSTEMI). Since 1999 she has been member of the Italian Association of Medical Oncologists (AIOM) and from 2017 she has been Member of the Royal Society of Medicine. 

In 2017 she qualified as associate professor in the scientific disciplinary sectors MED06 (Medical Oncology) and MED46 (Translational Medicine) For the academic year 2017-18 she has been director and didactic coordinator of the Post-graduate Course inScreening, diagnosis,  prognosis and efficacy assessment of in vitro drugs using liquid biopsy" at the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University Magna Graecia. For the academic year 2018-19 she is director and didactic coordinator of the 1st level Master in "Liquid Biopsy in Tumours and other Complex Diseases". At BionemL@b laboratory, Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, Magna Graecia University, she works on designing and creating devices or lab-on-chips aimed at isolating and characterizing circulating tumour cells.

Scientific results

Natalia Malara has helped to develop a neoadjuvant protocol for membrane immunomodulation in patients with lung cancer to increase the anti-tumor immune reaction (degree thesis awarded with "Fondazione Bonino-Pulejo Award") and to characterize the impact of paraphysiological mechanisms linked to aging in breast cancer biology (with particular interest on alterations of cell cycle control proteins) (2004). Furthermore, she has developed innovative protocols to isolate and characterize the subset of non-haematological cells found in the blood, aimed at defining the identity of biological marker and establishing the degree of biological conformity to the pathology. In particular, she has developed a standardized protocol for the isolation and culture of circulating tumour cells for their cytofluorimetric, morpho-immunocytochemical and genetic-mutational characterization (2018). NM has helped standardizing the normal values range ​​of different biomarkers such as circulating endothelial cells, and assessing their prognostic impact in tumour and cardiovascular pathology (2018). Author of books on  oncology (2009, 2019) and holder of national and international patents (2018), NM has developed, in the field of personalized medicine, a test that investigates the in vitro sensitivity of cancer stem cells, isolated from tissue biopsies (removal of tumour tissue) and from liquid biopsies (peripheral blood sampling), to chemotherapeutic agents (2007, 2014, 2016). She developed a protocol to isolate and expand in vitro human stem cells from different sources (adult tissues and embryonic appendages) to be used in tissue regeneration (2015). She participates and collaborates in the creation of devices with nanoscale architectures (2014) for the separation and detection of biological species for applicative purposes in clinical field, with particular interest in their use in the field of personalized preventive medicine (2018).

Editorial work and publications

Natalia Malara has authored more than 80 scientific publications, including:

[2021] Ferraro E, Germanò M, Mollac R, Mollace V, Malara N, HIF-1, the Warburg Effect, and Macrophage/Microglia Polarization Potential Role in COVID-19, Pathogenesis, Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity, 8841911.

[2021] Di Vito A, Donato A, Presta I, Mancuso T, Brunetti FS, Mastroroberto P, Amorosi A, Malara N, Donato G. Extracellular Matrix in Calcific Aortic Valve Disease: Architecture, Dynamic and Perspectives, International Journal of Molecular Sciences 22(2): 913.

[2020] Aquila I, Sacco MA, Abenavoli L, Malara N, Arena V, Grassi S, Ausania F, Boccuto L, Ricci C, Gratteri S, Oliva A, Ricci P. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Pandemic: Review of the Literature and Proposal for Safe Autopsy Practice, Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine 144 (9): 1048-1056.

[2019] Gandolfo G, Temperilli F, Amoroso A. “La Medicina di Laboratorio nell’emergenza”, seconda edizione, Malara N. capitolo “Emergenze in Oncologia” e capitolo “Recenti applicazioni cliniche della citofluorimetria a flusso, in rapido sviluppo: le cellule tumorali circolanti, le cellule endoteliali circolanti, le cellule staminali circolanti” Delfino editore, Roma.

[2018] Malara N, Gentile F, Coppedè N, Coluccio ML, Candeloro P, Perozziello G, Ferrara L, Giannetto M, Careri M… et al.  Superhydrophobic Lab-on-chip exploring protonation state in secretome assess personalized onset-risk of sporadic tumour. Nature Precision Oncology 2:26/2018.

[2018] Lanuti P, Simeone P, Rotta G, Almici C, Avvisati G, Azzaro R, Bologna G, Budillon A, Di Cerbo M, …Malara N …et al. Standardized flow cytometry network study for the assessment of circulating endothelial cell physiological ranges. Sci Rep. Apr 11;8(1):5823. 

[2016] Malara N, Trunzo V, Foresta U, Amodio N, De Vitis S, Roveda L, Fava M, Coluccio ML, Macrì R…et al. Ex-vivo characterization of circulating colon cancer cells distinguished in stem and differentiated subset provides useful biomarker for personalized metastatic risk assessment. Journal of Translational Medicine 14(1) 12/2016.

[2016] Malara N, Guzzi G, Mignogna, C, Trunzo V, Camastra C, Della Torre A, Di Vito A, Lavecchia A M… et al.  Non-invasive real-time biopsy of intracranial lesions using short time expanded circulating tumor cells on glass slide: Report of two cases.BMC Neurology 16(1) 12/2016

[2015] Malara N, Musolino G, Trunzo V, Minniti AM, Cristodoro L, Polistina M, Renzulli A, Mollace V. Novel application of mesenchymal stem cells from mammary artery. International Journal of Cardiology 182C:466-468 01/2015. 

[2014] Malara N. “Il Tessuto Tumorale”, editore Eurolink, distributore Feltrinelli 

[2014] Malara N, Givigliano F, Trunzo V, Macrina L, Raso C, Amodio N, Aprigliano S, Minniti A M, Russo… et al.  In vitro expansion of tumour cells derived from blood and tumour tissue is useful toredefine personalized treatment in non-small cell lung cancer patients.Journal of biological regulators and homeostatic agents 28(4):717-31.

[2014] Malara N,Coluccio ML, Limongi T, Asande M,  Trunzo V, Cojoc G, Raso C, Candeloro P, Perozziello  G….et al. Folic Acid Functionalized Surface Highlights 5-Methylcytosine-Genomic Content within Circulating Tumor Cells.Small 07/2014; 10(21). 

Awards and prizes

In 1994 she received the Umberto Bonino & Maria Sofia Pulejo Messina Foundation Award.

In 1997 she received the AIRC (Italian Association for Cancer Research) award.

In 2010 she received the "Artemisia" award for cancer research from the Rhegium Julii Association.

In 2014 she received the '"Giovanni Scarcea" award for cancer research.

Position/Role

Chief of the Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation Department of the "Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli" Hospital in Reggio Calabria

Professional career

She graduated in Medicine at the University of Messina in 1978 and she became a Nephrology Specialist in 1983 at the same University.  She spent 2 years (1981-1982) as a Clinical Scientist at the Renal and Transplantation Unit of the Western Infirmary in  Glasgow (Scotland).

She has attended several Courses in Hypertension, Clinical Epidemiology and Molecular Genetics at the  Erasmus University in  Rotterdam (The Netherland).  In addition, she has attended many other international and High Quality Nephrology Courses. Since 2001, she is recognised by the European Society of Hypertension as a Hypertension Specialist.

Scientific results

Her fields of interest are Hypertension, CV complications in renal patients including dialysis patients, renal disease progression, Epidemiology of Renal disease and molecular genetics of renal diseases and Hypertension.  

She is involved in many national and international research studies such as "Lung Water by Ultra-Sound (US) guided treatment to prevent death and cardiovascular complications in high-risk end stage renal disease patients with cardiomyopathy (LUST STUDY)". The aim of this study is to create a database with clinical tests performed in very high-risk dialysis patients in order to investigate the impact of volume expansion  which is a well-known CV and renal risk factor.

The LUST Study is a randomized clinical trial aimed at testing whether the application of chest US may reduce mortality, heart failure,  myocardial  infarction,  progression  of  cardiac  disease  and  hospitalizations  in  dialysis  patients  with myocardial ischemia (a history of myocardial infarction with or without ST elevation or unstable angina, acute coronary  syndrome  documented  by  ECG  recordings  and cardiac  troponins  or  stable  angina  pectoris  with documented coronary artery disease by prior coronary angiography or ECG) and/or stage III-IV NYHA heart failure over a 2 years follow-up.

Francesca Mallamaci is Chairwoman of the ERA-EDTA working Group EURECA-m. She has contributed to building up a large registry of European dialysis patients in order to identify and validate traditional and non-traditional CV risk factors.

Editorial work and publications

Francesca Mallamaci is Associate Editor of the journal Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation and Editor Emeritus of Journal of Nephrology, the official English-language journal of the Italian Society of Nephrology (where she was Editor in Chief from 2006 to 2012). 

She is the author of numerous articles published in national and international scientific journals, including:

(2019) Mallamaci F, Tripepi G, D'Arrigo G, Borrelli S, Garofalo C, Stanzione G, Provenzano M, De Nicola L, Conte G, Minutolo R, Zoccali C. Blood Pressure Variability, Mortality, and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients. Clinical Journal of American Society of Nephrology, 14(2):233-240.

(2018) Mallamaci F, Tripepi R, D'Arrigo G, Porto G, Versace MC, Marino C, Sanguedolce MC, Testa A, Tripepi G, Zoccali C. Long-term blood pressure monitoring by office and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure in renal transplant patients: a longitudinal study. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 34(9):1558-1564.

(2018) Mallamaci F, D'Arrigo G, Tripepi R, Leonardis D, Porto G, Testa A, Abd ElHafeez S, Mafrica A, Versace MC, Provenzano PF, Tripepi G, Mancini P, Zoccali C. Office, standardized and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure and renal function loss in renal transplant patients. Journal of Hypertension, 36(1):119-125.

(2017) Mallamaci F, Tripepi G. Pulmonary congestion and hypertension in hemodialysis patients, Giornale Italiano di Nefrologia, 34(Suppl 69):36-40.

(2016) Mallamaci F. Highlights of the 2015 ERA-EDTA congress: chronic kidney disease, hypertension. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 31(7):1044-6.

(2016) Mallamaci F, Torino C, Tripepi G. Physical exercise in haemodialysis patients: time to start. Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation, 31(8):1196-8.

(2016) Mallamaci F, Tripepi R, Leonardis D, Mafrica A, Versace MC, Provenzano F, Tripepi G, Zoccali C. Nocturnal Hypertension and Altered Night-Day BP Profile and Atherosclerosis in Renal Transplant Patients. Transplantation, 100(10):2211-8.

(2015) Mallamaci F, Testa A, Leonardis D, Tripepi R, Pisano A, Spoto B, Sanguedolce MC, Parlongo RM, Tripepi G, Zoccali C. A genetic marker of uric acid level, carotid atherosclerosis, and arterial stiffness: a family-based study. American Journal of Kidney Diseases, 65(2):294-302.

(2015) Mallamaci F, Tripepi R, Leonardis D, Mafrica A, Versace MC, Provenzano F, Tripepi G, Zoccali C. Nocturnal Hypertension and Altered Night-Day BP Profile and Atherosclerosis in Renal Transplant Patients. Transplantation, 100(10):2211-8.

(2015) Mallamaci F, Testa A, Leonardis D, Tripepi R, Pisano A, Spoto B, Sanguedolce MC, Parlongo RM, Tripepi G, Zoccali C. A genetic marker of uric acid level, carotid atherosclerosis, and arterial 

Awards and prizes

Several of Professor Mallamaci's abstracts have received awards at national and international conferences such as the European Renal Association (ERA-EDTA) and the American Society of Nephrology Congress.

In the field of chronic renal failure, she is ranked 19th in the international ranking created and periodically updated by the University of Baltimore EXPERTSCAPE. 

In 2014, he chaired the Scientific Committee of the National Congress of the Italian Society of Nephrology. She is also a member of the Scientific Committee of the European Congress of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation (ERA-EDTA) in Vienna in 2016 and of the same committee for the congress to be held in Madrid in 2017. Francesca Mallamaci was also formally invited to represent the European Society of Nephrology, Dialysis and Transplantation at the European Society of Paediatric Nephrology and American Society of Nephrology Congresses in 2015.

Position/Role

Associate professor of Developmental Psychology, University of Padova

Professional career

She graduated in Psychology in 2002 at the University of Padova and obtained the PhD in 2006. During her PhD she spent periods as visiting scholar at the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Canada), and at the University of Gent (Belgium). In 2008 she became a Lecturer (assistant professor) in developmental psychology at the University of Padova. She has been a visiting researcher at the Universitè Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) in 2013, at Liverpool John Moores University (UK) in 2017, and at the Goldsmith University of London (UK) in 2018. In 2013 she co-founded a university clinical centre specialized in diagnosis and intervention of children with neurodevelopmental disorders (Lab.D.A). Since 2017 she is the clinical supervisor of a new centre (Lab.D.A. Nord). She established and directed since 2014 a post-graduate course in Developmental disorders and psychopathologies to train specialized practitioners (University of Padova).

Scientific results

Since the beginning of her research career, she has examined the Nonverbal learning disability, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by low visuospatial skills and good verbal abilities. She became a leading researcher on this topic, publishing several research on peer review journals. Due to these, in 2017, she has been invited from the Columbia University, (Institute of Psychiatry, New York, USA) to be part of the international committee, aimed to include the Nonverbal learning disability in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5). Her current research projects focus on studying differences and similarities of the Nonverbal learning disability and other neurodevelopmental disorders, such as ADHD and Autism spectrum disorder.

Other research interests also involve the analysis of cognitive processes (such as visuospatial working memory) in relation to academic achievement, specifically mathematics. Recently, she collaborated with the University of Cambridge (UK) in studying the development of mathematics anxiety and its relation with maths performance.

Overall, her applied scientific results, other than have been published on international peer review journals have been developed in standardized tests and intervention materials with specialized publishers.

Editorial work and publications

Irene C. Mammarella is Academic Editor of PlosOne and is in the Editorial board of international scientific journals, such as Educational Psychology, Learning and Individual Differences e Journal of Experimental Child Psychology.

She is author of many international publications, here are listed some of them:

[2018] Cardillo, R., Menazza, C. & Mammarella, I. C. Visuoconstructive Abilities and Visuospatial Memory in Autism Spectrum Disorder Without Intellectual Disability: Is the Role of Local Bias Specific to the Cognitive Domain Tested?Neuropsychology. doi: 10.1037/neu0000472

[2018] Mammarella, I. C., Donolato, E., Caviola, S., & Giofrè, D. Anxiety profiles and protective factors: A latent profile analysis.Personality & Individual Differences, 124, 201-208. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2017.12.017

[2018] Mammarella, I. C., Caviola, S., Giofrè, D. & Szücs, D. The underlying structure of visuospatial working memory in children with mathematical learning disability.British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 36, 220-235 doi: 10.1111/bjdp.12202

[2017] Mammarella, I. C., Caviola, S., Giofrè, D., & Borella, E. Separating math from anxiety: The role of inhibitory mechanisms.Applied Neuropsychology: Child, doi: 10.1080/21622965.2017.1341836

[2016] Hill, F., Mammarella, I. C., Devine, A., Caviola, S., Passolunghi, M. C. & Szücs, D. Maths anxiety in primary and secondary school students: Gender differences, developmental changes and anxiety specificity.Learning and Individual Differences, 48, 45-53. 

[2016] Mammarella, I. C., Ghisi, M., Bomba, M., Bottesi, G., Caviola, S., Broggi, F. & Nacinovich, R. Anxiety and depression in children with Nonverbal learning disabilities, reading disabilities, or typical development.Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49, 130-139. 

[2015] Mammarella, I. C., Hill, F., Devine, A., Caviola, S., & Szücs, D. Math anxiety and developmental dyscalculia: A study on working memory processes.Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 37, 878-887.

[2014] Mammarella, I. C., & Cornoldi, C. An analysis of the criteria used to diagnose children with Non-verbal learning disabilities (NLD).Child Neuropsychology, 20, 255-280. 

[2014] Mammarella, I. C., Giofrè, D., Caviola, S., Cornoldi, C., & Hamilton, C. Visuospatial working memory in children with Autism: The effect of semantic global organization. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35, 1349-1356.

[2013] Mammarella, I. C., Bomba, M., Caviola, S., Broggi, F., Neri, F., Lucangeli, D., & Nacinovich, R. Mathematical difficulties in nonverbal learning disability or co-morbid dyscalculia and dyslexia.Developmental Neuropsychology, 38, 418-432.

[2013] Mammarella, I. C., Borella, E., Pastore, M., & Pazzaglia, F. The structure of visuospatial memory in adulthood.Learning and Individual Differences, 25, 99-110.

Awards and prizes

Irene C. Mammarella is member of several international associations: APS (Association for Psychological Science), MCLS (Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society), EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction), IARLD (International Academy for Research in Learning Disabilities).

She is member of the Directive board of the Italian association for learning disorders (Airipa) and member of the Italian psychological association (AIP), developmental and education.

Since 2017 is member of the panel for updating the national guidelines of Specific learning disorders, organized by the Italian Association of Dyslexia (AID).

Recently, in 2018, she co-founded the Italian association of the Nonverbal learning disability (AIDNV) and the international Society for research on learning disorders (SRLD).

Position/Role

Associate professor at the University of Cagliari and at the National Institute of Nuclear Physics.

Professional career

After graduating in Physics at the University of Cagliari in 1999, she completed her training with a PhD in Physics at Oxford University which she obtained in 2003. In the same year she continued her studies with a post-doc in England again, first at Oxford and then at the University of Liverpool. From 2000 to 2006, she worked as a Scientific Associate with the Fermilab laboratory in Chicago, in the United States. In 2007, she returned to Italy, to Cagliari, as a researcher at the INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics) and, the following year, at the University. From 2012 to 2013 she collaborated with the CERN laboratory in Geneva. In 2015 she won an ERC Consolidator Grant with the CNRS (Center National de la Recherche Scientifique) and moved to Orsay, Paris, until the end of 2016. In 2016 she was also visiting professor at the University of Cambridge, UK. In 2017 she became associate professor at the University of Cagliari. She is currently involved in the study of heavy ion physics with the LHCb experiment at CERN and leads a research team of six post-docs, two students and two researchers divided between Orsay and Cagliari.

Scientific results

In 2002, together with her colleagues from the CDF experiment (Collider Detector at Fermilab) she observed the decay of the W and Z bosons (fundamental particles of the Standard Model) into electrons and measured the production cross section and the ratio for the first time to that energy, publishing the work in her PhD thesis. In 2003 she worked with a group of 14 people dedicated to the research of chargino and neutralino supersymmetric particles in their leptonic decay, coming to coordinate them and publishing the best world limit at that time on their mass and production cross section. In 2007 she became a member of the LHCb (Large Hadron Collider beauty) collaboration – the LHC accelerator experiment of the CERN, that aims to measure the parameters of the CP-violation and decays and rare phenomena related to hadrons in which the beauty quark can (b quark) can be found - at CERN in Geneva. She participated in several studies on the production of associated states of quark-antiquark (quarkonia) by publishing several works on the subject and collaborating with expert theorists of the field. From 2009 to 2013 she became the person responsible for that physics in the experiment. In 2015 she founded a new research group within LHCb opening the way to precision measurements of Quark Gluon Plasma at high speed, her current field of research.

Editorial work and publications

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

(2017) Aaij R, Manca G et al. [LHCb Collaboration]. Study of prompt D⁰ meson production in pPb collisions at √s_nn = 5 TeV, Journal of High Energy Physics, 1710, 090.

(2014) Manca G. Review on quarkonia production at LHC, International Journal of Modern Physics A, 29, 1430014.

(2013) Aaij R, Manca G et al. [LHCb Collaboration]. Production of J/Ψ and Υ mesons in pp collisions at √s = 8 TeV, Journal of High Energy Physics, 1306, 064.

(2013) A.A. Alves Jr., G. Manca et al. [LHCb Muon Collaboration]. Performance of the LHCb muon system, Journal of Instrumentation, 8, P02022.

(2012) Aaij R, Manca G et al. [LHCb Collaboration]. Measurement of Υ production in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV, European Physical Journal C, 72, 2025.

(2011) Aaij R, Manca G et al. [LHCb Collaboration] Measurement of J/Ψ production in pp collisions at √s = 7 TeV. European Physical Journal C, 71, 1645.

(2010) Anelli M, Manca G et al. [LHCb Muon Collaboration]. Performance of the LHCb muon system with cosmic rays, Journal of Instrumentation ,5, P10003.

(2007) Aaltonen T, Manca G et al. [CDF Collaboration]. Search for chargino-neutralino production in pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 191806.

(2008) Aaltonen T, Manca G et al. [CDF Collaboration]. Search for supersymmetry in pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV Using the tri-lepton signature of Chargino-Neutralino production, Physical Review Letters, 101, 251801.

(2005) D. Acosta, G. Manca et al. [CDF Collaboration]. First measurements of inclusive W and Z cross-sections from Run II of the Tevatron collider, Physical Review Letters, 94, 091803.

(2007) Abulencia A, Manca G et al. [CDF Collaboration]. Measurements of inclusive W and Z cross-sections in pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV, Journal of Physics G, 34, 2457.

She is a reviewer of the journals Journal of High Energy Physics and European Physical Journal.

Awards and prizes

In 2005 she won the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council fellowship for two years. In 2015 she gained a 5 years ERC Consolidator Grant for a total of 1.9 million euros. Since 2016 she is part of the AcademyNet network.
She is on the list of Top Italian Scientists since 2012.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Social Psychology at the Università Cattolica in Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Philosophy with a specialization in Human Sciences at the Università Cattolica of Milan in 1999, she continued her education at the same university with a PhD in Social and Developmental Psychology, during which she collaborated in research and training activities of the University Center for Studies and Research on the Family. From 2003 to 2005 she was a research fellow in Social Psychology at the Department of Psychology of the Università Cattolica of Milan. From the following year until 2016 she was a researcher in Social Psychology at the Faculty of Education of the Università Cattolica. In 2008 she was a visiting professor at the University of Tennessee, in the Child and Family Studies department and in 2016 she held the same position in the department of Psychology at the University of Sussex. In 2009 she was selected as a consultant at the Research Methods and Data Analysis office of the United Nations (UN), Office of Internal Oversight Services (New York). Since 2016 to 2019 she is associate professor and since 2019 full professor of Social Psychology at the Faculty of Education of the Università Cattolica of Milan.

Scientific results

Claudia Manzi studies identity construction and development processes, in particular identity motivations, adult identity, identity related to transition, ethnic prejudice, family differentiation, cross-cultural psychology. She collaborated on these issues with the Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, in Colombia, in 2007, for a study on identity changes in transition periods, and in the same year with the Center for the Study of Youth and Political Violence, 'University of Tennessee, where she participated in the final phase of data analysis and publication of the results of a project coordinated by the World Health Organization's Program for Child and Adolescent Health and Development. Since 2008 she has participated in the international research team for the cross-cultural research project "Motivated identity construction in cultural context" funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Finally, since 2014 she is a member of the international research team "World Relationship Study", funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Editorial work and publications

Since 2011 Claudia Manzi is a member of the Editorial Board of the Encyclopaedia of Quality of Life Research (Ed. A. Michalos), Springer of New York and referee of international journals of excellence as Journal of Personality, Journal of Marriage and Family, Journal of Adolescence, Journal of Early Adolescence, Self and Identity, Psychology of Individual Differences, Social Psychology.

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

(2017) Manzi C, Roccato M, Paderi F, Vitrotti S, Russo S. The social development of right-wing authoritarianism: The interaction between parental autonomy support and societal threat to safety. Personality and Individual Differences, 109: 1-4. 

(2015) Manzi C, Roccato M, Russo S. What buffers right-wing authoritarian responses to threat? An experimental study to test the moderation of meaning. Personality and Individual Differences, 83:117-121. 

(2015) Manzi C, Parise M, Iafrate R, Sedikides C, Vignoles VL. In so far as you can be part of me: The influence of intrusive parenting on young adult couple identity. Self & Identity, 14: 5, 570-582. 

(2014) Manzi C, Brambilla M. Identity change. In A. Michalos (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research, Dordrecht, Netherlands, Springer, 2167-2168. 

(2014) Manzi C, Ferrari L, Rosnati R, Benet-Martinez V. Bicultural Identity Integration of Transracial Adolescent Adoptees: Antecedents and Outcomes. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, 45(6):888-904. 

(2013) Brambilla M, Manzi C, Regalia C, Verkuyten M. Religiosity and Prejudice: Different Patterns for Two Types of Religious Internalization. The Journal of Social Psychology, 153:486-498. 

(2011) Scabini E, Manzi C. Family Processes and Identity. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, and V. L. Vignoles (Eds), Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, New York: Springer, 565-584. 

(2010) Manzi C. Identità adulta nella letteratura psicosociale. In E. Marta, C. Regalia (Eds.), Identità in relazione. Le sfide odierne dell'essere adulto. Milano: The McGraw-Hill Companies, 17-31. 

(2010) Manzi C, Vignoles V, Regalia C. Accommodating a new identity: Possible selves, identity change, and well-being across two life-transitions. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40:970-984. 

(2006) Manzi C, Vignoles V, Regalia C, Scabini E. Cohesion and enmeshment revisited: Family differentiation, identity, and psychological well-being in two European cultures. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 68: 673-689.

Awards and prizes

Since 2007 Claudia Manzi has been a member of the European Association of Social Psychology, since 2009 of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology and since 2014 of the Italian Association of Psychology, section of Social Psychology.

Position/Role

Operations and Project Engineer at RHEA Group for the European Space Agency (ESA).

Professional career

Cecilia Marasini graduated at University of Pisa in Telecommunications Engineering in 2001, including a six months scholarship in electromagnetic computation at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden and an internship of 3 months in Hewlett Packard Consultant. In 2001, she starts her professional carrier as System and Software engineer at Motorola Technology Centre in Torino, where she was part of the interoperability testing team to support the integration of dual mode UMTS/GSM and 3G terminals in mobile service network. Her interest in applied electromagnetic research took her back to the academic world and from 2004 to 2007 she carried out her Ph.D. project at TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific research) and Eindhoven University of Technology. She was then a research scientist in the Radar and Electronic Warfare group at TNO until 2009. 

In 2010 she moved to the space engineering field and joined the RHEA Group the European Space Agency (ESA-ESTEC, The Netherlands) in the directorate of Human and Robotics Exploration Spaceflight (HRE). Since then, she covers the role of Operations and Project Engineer. She contributed to the establishment and programmatic management of the USOCs (User Support Operations Centres) network for running and implementing European payloads on the International Space Station (ISS), elaborating on payloads operations concepts and ESA ISS operations processes. She contributed to the set-up and implementation of the Science Data Centre and HRE Data Archive for storing, valorising and publishing ISS ESA experiments data.   

In 2019 and 2022, she served the ESA Houston Liaison Office for extended period as ESA representative in the ISS Mission Management Centre at NASA Johnson Space Centre (Houston, Texas).   

In 2021, she takes an operations engineering leading role to the definition of ESA Gateway Operations concepts as next step for operability of ESA modules in Moon orbit. 

She has been promoting STEM subjects in primary and medium years schools in Italy and The Netherlands, by presenting her experience to inspire the young generations and girls in particular.  

Scientific results

Marasini’s scientific profile is various as she started her research in the electromagnetic computation techniques while performing her master thesis in Telecommunications engineering and extended her research in efficient computation techniques for antenna design by holding a PhD only after a period in the telecommunications sector as young professional. The main research activity was based on coding an efficient computation using the Galerkin Method of Moments to represent the antenna and by applying a Swarm optimization function with the aim of maximizing the antenna gain and minimizing the Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR).

Later, she extended her interest towards the space sector, mainly working into the definition of operations concepts for execution of the European ISS experiments and payloads, and recently for the ESA Gateway provided elements.  

With the objective to centralize the ISS Scientific Data from European founded experiments and payloads, she worked towards the definition and implementation of the Science Data Archive / HRE Data Archive, contributing to the establishment of processes, products and deliverables and managing the service contract associated with that.   

She extended her interdisciplinary skills and her experience in working in international environments by taking the representative role into the ISS Mission Management Center for ESA.  

Editorial work and publications

She author and co-author of various international publications, including: 

[2022] C. Marasini, A. Nitsch, T. Sheasby, ‘Implementing a Lean Operational Set-up for Gateway ESA Modules’, for presentation at International Astronautical Congress IAC 2022.

[2021] A. Laveron, C. Marasini, et. All, ‘The HRE Science Data Center: A new entity for storing, valorising and publishing the data coming from ESA experiments’, International Astronautical Congress, IAC 2021.

[2018] C. Marasini, A. Nitsch, ‘Implementing Experiments and Science Operations on ISS with a Network of Operations Centres’, Human Spaceflight and Weightlessness Science Workshop, Toulouse, France.

[2011] C. Leone, A. Rogovich, C. Marasini, S. Genovesi and A. Monorchio, ‘A dynamic particle swarm optimization for the design of loaded wire antennas’, IET Microwave, Antennas and Propagation Journal.

[2010] C. Marasini, A New Approach for Wire Antennas Design – Problem formulation and numerical implementation of Galerkin MoM embedded in a Particle Swarm Optimization Process, LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Germany, 2010, ISBN 978-3-8383-4153-8

[2009] C. Marasini and E.S.A.M. Lepelaars, ‘Static magnetic signature translation’, 6th International Marine Electromagnetics Conference, MARLEC 2009.

[2009] C. Marasini, E. S. A. M. Lepelaars and A. P. M. Zwamborn, ‘Interpolation algorithm for fast evaluation of EM coupling between wires’, Applied Computational Electromagnetic Society (ACES) Journal, vol.24 n.3.

[2008] C. Marasini, ‘Efficient Computation Techniques for Galerkin MoM Antenna Design, Ph.D. Dissertation’, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, June 2008, ISBN 978-90-386-1874-6

[2007] A. Rogovich, C. Marasini, A. Monorchio, E. S. A. M. Lepelaars and P. A. M. Zwamborn. ‘Design of Wire Antennas by Using an Evolved Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm’. Invited paper at International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications, ICEAA ’07.

[2007] C. Marasini, E. S. A. M. Lepelaars and P. A. M. Zwamborn, ‘Interpolation Algorithm for Fast Evaluation of EM Coupling between Wires’. Paper presentation at International Symposium on Electromagnetic Theory, EMTS ’07.

[2005] C. Marasini, E. S. A. M. Lepelaars and P. A. M. Zwamborn, ‘Analysis of the resonant behavior of a complex loaded wire by using the Exact Kernel MoM’. Paper presentation at International Conference on Electromagnetics in Advanced Applications, ICEAA ’05.

[2000] C. Marasini, A. Freni, P-S Kildal, ‘Analysis of mictrostrip antenna on a corrugated multilayer structure by using CG-FFT method and G1DMULT algorithm’, Antenna & Propagations AP2000, Millennium Conference.

Awards and prizes

In 2019 she received the certificate of Excellence, RHEA Group in appreciation for 10 years of service.

Position/Role

Senior researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, INGV), National Earthquake Centre; Responsible for data analysis for seismic surveillance and monitoring

Professional career

After graduating in Geology at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1991, she continued her studies through a specialization scholarship (1992-1993) in Seismology at the United States Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA, USA. In 1994 she continued her specialization at the University of L'Aquila, Department of Physics and then at the National Institute of Geophysics (ING) of Rome, which in 2000 became the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV). She developed her skill as researcher at INGV first on a temporary position, and then on a permanent position. In 2003 she became senior researcher and started coordinating projects and researchers’ groups.

Since 1998 she participated to the seismic surveillance, first as a seismologist in charge of the ipocentral locations, with the target of alerting the Civil Protection, a service interrupted during the maternity periods in 2000 and 2002; then, in 2015, she qualified also as a tsunami alert operator and finally, today, she works in the shifts as responsible of the communication to the Civil Protection Department (DPC).

From 2007 to 2014 she coordinated a research group consisting of 25 researchers studying geodynamics and the structure of the interior of the Earth. Between 2009 and 2013 she was the coordinator of the mobile seismic network of the National Earthquake Center and she was involved in the organization of earthquake emergency response activities. Since 2014 she is responsible for a group (about 25 persons) of technicians and researchers working on data analysis for surveillance and seismic monitoring.

She coordinated important national and international projects involving Italian, European and US institutions and universities such as the RETREAT project (2002-2007), the Messina 1908-2008 project (2007-2009), the INGV-DPC Test project sites for detailed multidisciplinary monitoring (2007-2009), the AlpArray project (2015-2018). She is responsible for some of the activities that INGV carries out for the DPC and of the agreement between INGV and the Civil Protection Agency of the Lazio Region. She always participated in the INGV outreach activities with the schools, the public and the media.

Scientific results

Her scientific interests have focused in recent years, on the analysis of seismic sequences for the characterization of active fault systems and for understanding the possible variation of the earth's Crust physical parameters during the occurrence of the sequences themselves. For 15 years, she has been dealing with the analysis of shear wave splitting to define the seismic anisotropy and the state of deformation of the Crust and of the Earth's Mantle. This analysis allows to characterize the crustal fracture field and to define its relations with the active stress field and with the presence of fluids. The characterization of the seismic anisotropy, when done on waves that travel in the Earth's Mantle, allows us instead to formulate geodynamic models on a regional scale: the subduction zone of the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, where the Ionic plate deeps below the Calabrian arc, was the first region of the Earth's mantle where was observed a toroidal flow of the mantle at the edges of the subducting plate (Civello and Margheriti 2004).

During the years of her training she studied site effects: how the seismic waves are amplified and modified by the surface geology especially when there are incoherent deposits, irregular topographical conformation of the area interested by seismic shaking. In 1993, she was among the pioneers in using the recordings of environmental vibrations (seismic noise) to characterize the response of sites that had recorded the 1989 San Francisco earthquake.

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of about 70 international scientific publications, including:

(2016) Baccheschi P, Pastori M, Margheriti L, Piccinini D. Shear wave splitting of the 2009 L'Aquila seismic sequence: fluid saturated microcracks and crustal fractures in the Abruzzi region (Central Apennines, Italy). Geophysical Journal International, 204 (3): 1531-1549.doi: 10.1093/gji/ggv536

(2014) Margheriti L, Lucente FP, Park J, Pondrelli S, Levin V, Steckler MS, Baccheschi P, Salimbeni S. Large-scale coherent anisotropy of upper mantle beneath the Italian peninsula comparing quasi-Love waves and SKS splitting. Journal of Geodynamics, DOI: 10.1016/j.jog.2014.07.007

(2014) Govoni A, Marchetti A, De Gori P, Di Bona M, Pio Lucente F, Improta L, Chiarabba C, Nardi A, Margheriti L, Piana Agostinetti N, Di Giovambattista R, Latorre D, Anselmi M, Ciaccio MG, Moretti M, Castellano C, Piccinini D. The 2012 Emilia seismic sequence (Northern Italy): Imaging the thrust fault system by accurate aftershocks location Tectonophysics. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2014.02.013

(2013) Salimbeni S, Pondrelli S, Margheriti L. (2013). Hints on the deformation penetration induced by subductions and collision processes: Seismic anisotropy beneath the Adria region (Central Mediterranean).Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, DOI: 10.1002/2013JB010253

(2011) Baccheschi P, Margheriti L, Steckler M S & Boschi E. Anisotropy patterns in the subducting lithosphere and in the mantle wedge: A case study—The southern Italy subduction system. Journal of Geophysical Research, 116, B08306.

(2010) Lucente FP, Gori PD, Margheriti L, Piccinini D, Bona MD, Chiarabba C, Agostinetti NP. Temporal variation of seismic velocity and anisotropy before the 2009 MW 6.3 L'Aquila earthquake. Italy: Geology, 38:1015–1018, doi: 10.1130/G31463.1.

(2004) Civello S and Margheriti L. Toroidal mantle flow around the Calabrian slab (Italy) from SKS splitting, Geophysical Reserach Letters, 31, L10601, doi:10.1029/2004GL019607.

(2000) Margheriti L, Azzara MR, Cocco M, Delladio A and Nardi A. Analysis of borehole broad-band recordings: Test sute in the Po basin, Northern Italy. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 90, 6:1454-1463.

(1996) Margheriti L, Nostro C, Cocco M and Amato A. Seismic anisotropy beneath the northern Apennines (Italy) and its tectonic implications. Geophysical Reserach Letters, 23; 20:2721-2724.

(1994) Margheriti L, Boatwright J, Wennerberg L. A comparison of Coda and S-wave spectral ratios as estimates of site response in the Southern San Francisco Bay area. Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, 84, 6:1815-1830.

Position/Role

Geriatrician at the Italian Auxiological Institute "Mosé Bianchi" in Milan

Professional career

After obtaining a degree in Medicine and Surgery, at the University of Milan, from 1976 she continued her training as a researcher in Internal Medicine until 1991. From 2007 to 2010 she directed the experimental research laboratory on aging of the IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italian and University of Milan and of the Department of Medical and Rehabilitative Sciences with Geriatric-Cardio-Vascular specialization of the IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano. Until 2014 she was responsible for the School of Specialization in Geriatrics, and for the Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Sciences of the Health Professions.  From 2010 to 2016 she directed the U.O.C. (complex operating unit) of Geriatrics at the Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan in agreement with the University of Milan, where during the same period she taught as associate professor of Geriatrics at the Department of Clinical and Community Sciences. Since 2020, she has been a geriatrician at the Auxiologico "Mosé Bianchi", the Italian Auxiological Institute's scientifically oriented hospital and care centre in Milan.

Scientific results

Daniela Mari has been leading the Milan research group that studies cardiovascular risk factors and their genetic variants in longevity and centenarians, and neurodegenerative diseases in the elderly for many years. During the period spent as head of the experimental research laboratory on aging of the Italian Auxological Institute of Milan, Daniela Mari and colleagues focus on the study of the genetic bases of longevity, investigating the characteristics of a large number of seventy-year-old children of centenarians. To this end they also resort to DNA methylation analysis, or to an epigenetic modification of DNA, a process which consists in the binding of a methyl group (a carbon atom bound to three hydrogen atoms) to a nitrogenous base. They also investigate the dose-effectiveness relationship of oral anticoagulant therapy (TAO) in the elderly, genetic and non-genetic risk factors in cerebrovascular diseases and the influence of obesity and metabolic status on aging and age-related diseases.

Editorial work and publications

Daniela Mari is Associate Editor in the Editorial Board of the Journal of Gerontology & Geriatrics (JGG).

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

(2016) Esposito S, Mari D, Bergamaschini L, et al. Pneumococcal colonization in older adults. Immunity & Ageing, 13(1).

(2016) Abbate C, Trimarchi PD, Rotondo E, Mari D, et al. Spontaneous confabulations in amnestic-mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer’s disease: a new (yet old) atypical variant?. Neurocase.

(2016) Muscogiuri D, Mari D, et al. 25 Hydroxyvitamin D Deficiency and Its Relationship to Autoimmune Thyroid Disease in the Elderly. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(9):850.

(2016) Abbate C, Caputo L, Damanti S, Mari D, et al. Reversible Parkinson's Dementia Associated with Withdrawal of Androgen-Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

(2016) Arosio B, Casati M, Gussago C, Mari D, et al. Adenosine Type A2A Receptor in Peripheral Cell from Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease, Vascular Dementia, and Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: A New/Old Potential Target. Journal of Alzheimer's disease, 54(2):1-9.

(2016) Ogliari G, Smit RAJ, van der Spoel E, Mari D, et al. Thyroid Status and Mortality Risk in Older Adults With Normal Thyrotropin: Sex Differences in the Milan Geriatrics 75+ Cohort Study. The Journals of Gerontology Series A Biological Sciences and Medical Sciences.

(2016) Dionigi Rossi P, Bilotta C, Consonni D, Mari D, et al. Predictors of clinical events occurring during hospital stay among elderly patients admitted to medical wards in Italy. European Journal of Internal Medicine, 32.

(2016) Gussago C, Arosio B, Guerini F, Mari D, et al. Impact of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms in centenarians. Endocrine.

(2016) Oldoni E, Fumagalli GG, Serpente M, Mari D, et al. PRNP P39L Variant is a Rare Cause of Frontotemporal Dementia in Italian Population. Journal of Alzheimer's disease: JAD, 50(2).

(2015) Hovath S, Pirazzini C, Bacalini MG, Mari D, et al. Decreased epigenetic age of PBMCs from Italian semi-supercentenarians and their offspring. Aging, 7(12).

Daniela Mari is also the author of the popular scientific essay A spasso con i centenari.. L'arte di vivere bene invecchiando (Il Saggatiore, 2017).

Awards and prizes

Daniela Mari obtained a grant from the MIUR, the Ministry of Health and the Lombardy Region for studies on haemostasis, the genetics of aging and longevity. Since 2010  she has been a member of the Regional table for the appropriateness in Medicine and of the "Fundamental Group" Regional Technical Table of the Directorate General for Health of the Lombardy Region. In 2012 she received the position of "Scientific Expert" of the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche for the review of research projects. Since 2013 she has been member of the register of auditors for the evaluation of ministerial programs and research products (ANVUR), since the same year she is part of the European Commission's Action-Group A3 “European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Aging: Action For Prevention Of Functional Decline And Frailty ”. Daniela Mari is also a partner in the European study: MID- FRAIL Study FP7-Health 2011.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Numerical Analysis at the University of Pavia

Professional career

After graduating in Mathematics at the University of Pavia in 1970 she has been fellow first, and then Researcher of C.N.R. at the Istituto di Analisi Numerica in Pavia (now IMATI-CNR) from 1973 to 1990.  Since 1990 she is Full Professor of Numerical Analysis, at the Faculty of Science of the University of Genova until 1993, and then at the Engineering Faculty of the University of Pavia. Currently, she is professor emerita of Numerical Analysis at the Department of Mathematics of the University of Pavia.

Scientific results

The field of interest of Luisa Donatella Marini is, generally speaking, the analysis of numerical schemes for the solution of elliptic partial differential equations (of second and fourth order) by means of different kinds of finite element methods: conforming, non-conforming, hybrid, mixed, and equilibrium. More specifically, she applied finite element techniques for the treatment of problems coming from various applications: semiconductor device simulation, electromagnetism, fluid-dynamics, structural mechanics. Particular emphasis was given to the approximation of non-coercive problems, which lead to develop various techniques for stabilizing Galerkin formulations, for applications to domain decomposition methods with non-matching grids, and to advection dominated problems. In the last decade she was particularly interested in developing and analyzing schemes based on Discontinuous Galerkin methods, for the discretization of various applied problems, such as Darcy flows, advection-diffusion problems, and Reissner-Mindlin model for plate problems. The more recent production is devoted to a new technique, the Virtual Element Method, for the discretization of Pde's  with applications.

Editorial work and publications

L. Donatella Marini serves or has served as Associate Editor of various journals:  SISC (SIAM Journal on Scientific and Statistical Computing) from 1988 to 1993,  CMAME (Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering) since 2001,  IMA Journal of Numerical Analysis, since 2017, the Italian Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics since 2008, and is member of the Advisory Board of CAMES (Computer Assisted Methods in Engineering and Sciences) since 2014.  She is also reviewer for other numerous important international journals, and evaluator for national and international proposals.

She authored over 100 publications on international journals. Several of her journal articles are among the most cited in mathematics. Below five selected publications. For a complete list I refer to my webpage: http://arturo.imati.cnr.it/marini

[2002] Unified analysis of Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Elliptic Problems. SIAM Journal on Numerical Analysis, 39(5):1749-1779 (with Arnold DN, Brezzi F, Cockburn B). 

[1985] Marini LD. Two families of mixed finite elements for second order elliptic problems. Journal of Numerical Mathematics, 47:217-235 (with Brezzi F, Douglas J jr.,).

[2013] Basic principles of Virtual Element Methods. Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences, 23(1):199-214 (with Beirão da Veiga L, Brezzi F, Cangiani A, Manzini G, Russo A.). 

[2013]Virtual Elements for linear elasticity problems, SIAM J. Numer. Anal. 51(2):794-812 (with  Beirão da Veiga L, Brezzi F).

[2014] The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Virtual Element Method, Math. Models Methods. Appl. Sci. 24(8):1541-1573 (with Beirão da Veiga L, Brezzi F, Russo A).

Awards and prizes

She was awarded the Turner-Kirk Distinguished Visiting Fellowship for the GCS programme at the Isaac Newton Institute (Cambridge, UK), July-December 2019, is Member of the scientific committee of the 20th International Conference on Finite Elements in Flow Problems (FEF 2019, Chicago), is representative of SIMAI (The Italian Society of Applied and Industrial Mathematics) in the General Assembly and Managing Board of the European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS) since 2014,  has been Chair of the committee for the ICIAM (The International Council for Industrial and Applied Mathematics)  Collatz prize in 2015. In 2010 she was elected a member of the European Academy of Science (EURASC), where she also serves as a member of the scientific committee of the Division of Mathematics (March 2018-March 2021). She has been member of the Committee for PhD programs at the University of Pavia from 1999 to 2009, and then Director of the Doctoral School of  “Scienze e Tecnologie A. Volta” of the University of Pavia from 2009 to 2013. In 2012 she delivered the inaugural lecture for the opening of the academic year at the University of Pavia.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Geodesy and Geomatics in the degree courses in Civil Engineering, Safety and Civil Protection and Aerospace at the University of Rome La Sapienza. CEO of SurveyLAb srl.

Professional career

After graduating in Physics in 1987 with a thesis on the LAGEOS satellite mission for the study of Earth’s crust movements in the Mediterranean Area, she continued her education with a PhD in Geodetic and Topographical Sciences at the University of Bologna, discussing a thesis on Spatial Geodesy Techniques (SLR and GPS) applied to the Study of Deformations. In 1992 she became a researcher at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. From 2003 to 2005 she was Visiting Scientist at the USGS in Reston (Virginia), where she worked on projects for the integration of GPS/INS data for the georeferencing of data acquired through aerial surveys. Since 2001, she has been an associate professor at the Faculty of Civil and Industrial Engineering at the University of Rome La Sapienza and, since 2020, a full professor at the Department of Civil, Building and Environmental Engineering at the same university.

In 2008 she founded the spin-off of Sapienza Survey Lab dedicated to the development of innovative systems for the control of the territory and civil infrastructures using in situ sensors and satellite observations (GNSS and DInSAR). He is currently CEO of Survey Lab.

Scientific results

Maria Marsella's main activity is research on geodetic and geomatic techniques for land monitoring and civil infrastructure protection. She is an expert in the acquisition and processing of earth observation data with optical and SAR sensors and spatial geodesy data.She carried out studies and research for the development of interpretative and forecasting models in areas subject to hydrogeological risk and in active volcanic areas, basing on the integration of aerial and satellite remote sensing data with in situ measurements.She coordinated numerous research projects funded by national bodies such as the MIUR, the Italian Space Agency, the Civil Protection Department of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, and European projects under the EU programs FP7 and H2020.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than one hundred publications, including:

(2016) Scifoni S, Bonano M, Marsella M, Sonnessa A, Tagliafierro V, Manunta M. On the joint exploitation of long-term DInSAR time series and geological information for the investigation of ground settlements in the town of Roma (Italy). Remote Sensing of Environment, 182:113-127 3.

(2015) Palenzuela JA, Marsella M, Nardinocchi C, Pérez JL, Fernández T. Landslide detection and inventory by integrating LiDAR data in a GIS environment. Landslides, 12(6):1035-1050,9.

(2015) Marsella M, D’Aranno PJV, Scifoni S, Sonnessa A, Corsetti M. Terrestrial laser scanning survey in support of unstable slopes analysis: the case of Vulcano Island (Italy). Natural Hazards, 78(1):443-459,5.

(2012) Marsella M, Baldi P, Coltelli M, Fabris M.The morphological evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco since 1868: reconstructing the effusive activity at Stromboli volcano. Bulletin of Volcanology, 74,1:231-248.

(2009) Proietti C, Coltelli M, Marsella M, Fujita E. A quantitative approach for evaluating lava flow simulation reliability: LavaSIM code applied to the 2001 Etna eruption. Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems,10,9.

(2008) Manunta M, Marsella M, Zeni G, Sciotti M, Atzori S, Lanari R. Two-scale surface deformation analysis using the SBAS-DInSAR technique: a case study of the city of Rome Italy.International Journal of Remote Sensing, 29,6:1665-1684.

(2008) Baldi P, Coltelli M, Fabris M, Marsella M, Tommasi P. High precision photogrammetry for monitoring the evolution of the NW flank of Stromboli volcano during and after the 2002-2003 eruption. Bulletin of Volcanology, 70,6:703-715.

(2007) Vicari A, Herault A, Del Negro C, Coltelli M, Marsella M, Proietti C. Modeling of the 2001 lava flow at Etna volcano by a cellular automata approach. Environmental Modelling & Software, 22,10:1465-1471.

(2005) Baldi P, Fabris M, Marsella M, Monticelli R. Monitoring the morphological evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco during the 2002 - 2003 Stromboli eruption using multi-temporal photogrammetry. ISPRS, Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, 59,4:199-211.

(2002) Baldi P, Bonvalot S, Briole P, Coltelli M, Gwinner K, Marsella M, Puglisi G, Remy D. Validation and comparison of different techniques for the derivation of digital elevation models and volcanic monitoring (Vulcano Island Italy). International Journal of Remote Sensing, 23,22:4783-4800.

Awards and prizes

In 2017 she was called to join the Scientific Technical Committee for the Government Commissioner for the rebuilding in the territories affected by the 24 August 2016 earthquake at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. In March 2016 Survey Lab, of which she was CEO, won the H2020 SME Instrument-Phase II-Space Call with the IMODI project (Monitoring by using satellites the stability of buildings and infrastructure). From 2011 to 2014 she was an expert for the Research Quality Assessment (VQR-ANVUR). Between 2002 and 2013 she was an expert evaluator of projects for the Aeronautics and Space Call of the European Commission's FP6 and FP7 framework programmes for technological development. In 2002 and 2003 and again in 2017 she collaborated with the National Civil Protection Department for the management of the Stromboli Emergencies 2002-03 and 2017. She is a member of the Management Board of the Aerospace Research Center of Sapienza (CRAS).

Position/Role

Director of Research Development & Strategy at Medicaltech srl. President emerita of Talent4Rise

Professional career

After the graduation in computer science, she continues her studies with a specialization in cybernetics / artificial intelligence and electronic systems engineering. Since 1989 she has been a researcher at the Central Research Laboratory of an important and innovative Italian telecommunications company. Then she started her contribution to some international standardization committees, in particular the one related to the VHDL language. Since 1993 she has been manager of R&D projects on areas related to logical synthesis automation tools, using expert systems, neural networks, fuzzy logic and project coordinator, in an international context, for the research and application of video encoding and decoding algorithms. Since 2000 she has been responsible for Multimedia Content Delivery projects and Network Architectures. In 2013 he coordinated activities related to telemedicine and energy saving for the smart city in collaboration with Monzino and Milano Ricerche Cardiology Center. In 2014 she won a public selection for titles for a Collaboration with the University of Milan at the Department of Pharmacological and Biomolecular Sciences. In 2013 she founded, with a group of colleagues, an association of women (Talent4Rise, which, under her direction, would become a founding member of the Triulza Foundation, civil society pavillon for EXPO2015). The aim is to provide visibility to female STEM talents. She held the position of Chairwoman and member of the General Council of the Triulza Foundation until 2016. Next she was appointed Chairwoman Emerita and Vice President and, during the same period, she was appointed as Strategic Marketing Director for an ICT company. Since 2014 she has been a member of the Board of Directors of an in-house company of a municipality in the Milan hinterland that groups together local pharmacies.
 

Scientific results

For about 30 years Mirella Mastretti has been dealing with innovative areas both as a researcher and a teacher of advanced training, and as manager in academia, civil society and ICT companies contexts. Her activities involved the coordination of funded projects at national and international level. Member of international scientific and standardization committees, she contributed to the VHDL language definition, to original logical synthesis tools (patented) implementation and to innovative algorithms for audio/video, AI (Artificial Intelligence) applications and neural networks. 

She always managed projects and opportunities to liven up the debate on innovation in health and life-science, the role of science and technology in the society, with particular focus on methods, tools and technologies, to ensure a good quality of life and assistance for chronic or elderly people and for inclusive training; all this has been carried out in a context of "sharing economy" that sees the collaboration between companies, the academic world and the third sector

Editorial work and publications

[1990] Antoniazzi S., Mastretti M. An Interactive Environment for Hardware/Software System Design at the Specification Level. Microprocessing and Microprogramming, vol. 30. 

[1991] Antoniazzi S., Mastretti M. An Architectural Design Support Environment for High-Performance Digital Systems. Microprocessing and Microprogramming, vol.32. 

[1994 ]Balboni A., Mastretti M., Stefanoni M. Static Analysis of VHDL ModelEvaluation. Proceedings of EURO-VHDL. 

[1995] Mastretti M., Sturlesi M. Tomasello S. Static Analysis of VHDL Code: Simulation Efficiency and Complexity. Proceedings VHDL: Champions of the Second Generation, San Diego, California.

[1995] Mastretti M., Sturlesi M. Tomasello S., Busi M., Sarvello R. VHDL Quality: Syhtnesizability, Complexity and Efficiency Evaluation. European Design Automation Conference with EURO-VHDL ’95, Brighton, September.

[1996] Mastretti M., Sturlesi M., Tomasello S. Quality Measures and Analysis: A Way to improve VHDL Models, Hardware Component Modeling. Kluwer Academic Publisher.

[1996] Mastretti M., Sturlesi M. Tomasello S., Busi M., Sarvello R. Static Analysis of VHDL Code: the SAVE project. Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Achieving Quality in Software (AquIS’96).

[1996]Mastretti M. Current Issues in Electronic Modeling. Kluwer Academic Publisher.

[1998] Mastretti M., Paolillo E., Di Bello P., Mercandalli D. Technologies for the Information Society, Developments and Opportunities, IOS Press.

[1999] Boscolo M., Mastretti M., Paolillo E. Technology as the Catalyst of Users' Acceptance in Electronic Commerce. Flexible Working, New Network Technologies, pp. 121-132.

[2015] Mastretti M. Best Practices for EXPO2015, Tecniche Nuove.

[2016] Mastretti M. Impresa che funziona - come finanziare ricerca e innovazione con i fondi pubblici, Sandit.

Awards and prizes

In 1989 she received the 'Milano Ricerche' award.

In 2012 she received the "Progetto Regione Lombardia" award (SURE-SMAU).

In 2014 she received the "Milan Chamber of Commerce Award" for the Rise2Up project.

In 2015 she was appointed "Digital champion", ambassador of innovation, by Riccardo Luna, at the request of the Prime Minister.

In 2016 she was appointed President Emeritus of Talent4Rise.

Position/Role

Associate Director for Robotics and Director of the Bioinspired Soft Robotics Laboratory at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT)

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences at the University of Pisa in 1995, she joined the Biophysics Institute of the National Research Council (CNR), where she worked on environmental issues and in particular on mercury pollution. From 1997 to 1998 she attended a master in Environmental Management and Control (EMAS) at the Sant’Anna High School in Pisa (SSSA), with an internship at the Office for Foreign Risks of Civil Responsibility and Accidents, of Assicurazioni Generali SpA of Trieste. The following year she was a research assistant at the Research Center in Microengineering (CRIM Lab) of the Sant'Anna High School in Pisa, a position she held until 2004. From the same year until 2009 she was a Biomedical Engineering Researcher at the same Sant’Anna High School. In November 2009 she became Team Leader at the Micro Bio-Robotics Centre (CMBR) of the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa. In 2011 she obtained a PhD in Microsystems Engineering at the University Tor Vergata of Rome. In the same year she became coordinator of the CMBR at the IIT, a position she held until March 2021, when she became Associate Director for Robotics and Director of the Boinispired Soft Robotics Laboratory, also at the IIT.

Scientific results

Barbara Mazzolai’s research field is soft and bioinspired robotics, an evolution of robotics that involves the use of non-rigid materials inspired by the living world, in particular invertebrate animals and plants. During her time at the CRIM Lab of the Sant'Anna High School, she founded a new research area specifically dedicated to microtechnologies and robotics applicable to the environment and agri-food, playing the role of project manager of European projects such as Octopus, aimed at developing a soft robot inspired by Octopus vulgaris, and DustBot, a network of autonomous robots that can be used to collect door-to-door waste and improve urban hygiene. Arriving at the head of IIT's Micro Bio-Robotics Center, she founded a new research line in the field of bio-inspired robotics and soft robotics called "Plantoid", which aims at the realization for the first time in the world of robots inspired by movements, to the sensorial and communication skills of plants and their roots for soil exploration and environmental monitoring. 

Editorial work and publications

Barbara Mazzolai is a member of the editorial group of various scientific journals, including Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, Soft Robotics, Biomimetics, Robotics & Automation Letters, Frontiers in Bionics and Biomimetics, Micro-BioRobotics.

She is the author of numerous publications in international scientific journals, such as:

(2016) Laschi C, Mazzolai B, Cianchetti M. Soft robotics: Technologies and systems pushing the boundaries of robot abilities. Science Robotics, 1:(1). 

(2016) Larson C, Peele B, Li S, Robinson S, Totaro M, Beccai L, Mazzolai B, Shepherd R. Highly stretchable electroluminescent skin for optical signaling and tactile sensing. Science, 351(6277): 1071-1074. 

(2016) Argiolas A, Puleo GL, Sinibaldi E, Mazzolai B. Osmolyte cooperation affects turgor dynamics in plants. Scientific Reports, 6. 

(2016) Mazzolai B, Mattoli V. Robotics: Generation soft. Nature, 536 (7617), 400-401.

(2014) Sadeghi A, Tonazzini A, Popova L, Mazzolai B. A Novel Growing Device Inspired by Plant Root Soil Penetration Behaviors. PLoS ONE, 9:(2). 

(2014) Sinibaldi E, Argiolas A, Puleo GL, Mazzolai B. Another lesson from plants: the forward osmosis-based actuator. PLoS ONE, 9(7): e102461. 

(2014) Tramacere F, Kovalev A, Kleinteich T, Gorb SN, Mazzolai B. Structure and mechanical properties of Octopus vulgaris suckers. Journal of the Royal Society Interface, 11: 91, 20130816. 

(2013) Tramacere F, Beccai L, Kuba M, Gozzi A, Bifone A, Mazzolai B. The Morphology and Adhesion Mechanism of Octopus vulgaris suckers. PLoS ONE, 8(6): e65074. 

(2012) Mazzolai B, Margheri L, Cianchetti M, Dario P, Laschi C. Soft robotic arm inspired by the octopus. II. From artificial requirements to innovative technological solutions. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics, 7 025005. 

(2011) Mazzolai B, Mondini A, Corradi P, Laschi C, Mattoli V, Sinibaldi E, Dario P. A Miniaturized Mechatronic System Inspired by Plant Roots. IEEE Transaction on Mechatronics, 16(2), 201-212.

Awards and prizes

In 2010 Barbara Mazzolai received the "Marisa Bellisario" award for the scientific and management activity of the "DustBot" project, in 2013 she was awarded the Pio Manzù Prize with the Medal of the Senate of the Italian Republic for her commitment as a scientist for the creation of technologies that open new paths to sustainable development. In 2015 she received, for the same reasons, the Genoa international award: a woman out of the chorus.

In September 2021 she is  named among the 50 most inspiring Italian women in the world of technology with the award InspiringFifty for Italy. 

Position/Role

Vice President BT Security EMEA & APAC at BT

Professional career

Graduated in computer science and mathematics from Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv, she later obtained an MBA in technology and innovation from Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa.

From 2003 to 2008 she worked at Avnet Information Security & Risk Management as VP Products and Services. In 2008 he worked in Eurekify, with the role of Vice President EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa). From 2009 to 2015 she is in CA Technogies, with the initial role of EMEA Sales Director and then Head of Security Strategy, also in EMEA. From 2016 to 2018 she is in HP, where she leads the ESS (Enterprise Security Services) activities as Head of South EMEA. In March 2018 he joined BT, where he leads a pan-European team of security experts protecting some of the world's most important and complex organisations against the ever-increasing cyber threats. 

Scientific results

Hila Meller has developed a significant experience along the years applying methods of Cyber Security both in military and defence environments as well as in the commercial and civilian space. She is recognized as one of the first pioneering experts of Security for ERP systems, acting as a special Security advisor for more than 30 projects. She developed a significant experience in the area of Identity and Access Management, contributing to the creation of a start-up which was later acquired by CA Technologies. In BT she gained additional experience related to Cyber Intelligence use cases and the application of Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Security scenarios.

She is often invited to attend as keynote speaker at Information Technology conferences and trade exhibitions. Some past examples include: RSA Conference in San Francicso, Kuppinger Cole EIC conference in Munich, Cyberweek in Tel Aviv, Security summit in Milan  and Forum PA in Romea.

Position/Role

Psychologist and Psychotherapist at the Child Neuropsychiatric Unit of the Scientific Institute for Research and Healthcare Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome

Professional career

After her Master Degree in Developmental Psychology and Education at “La Sapienza” in Rome, she attended a Diploma Course in Psychopathology of Learning at the University of San Marino. Since 1998, she has been carrying out clinical and research activities at the Scientific Institute for Research and Healthcare Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. In 2004, she got a Ph.D in Cognitive Science and Rehabilitation. In 2016 she took a postgraduate diploma in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and in 2018, she got a national qualification as Full Professor in General Psychology, Psychobiology, and Psychometry.

Scientific results

Her field of interests concerns the link between behavior and brain in several neurodevelopmental disorders, such as specific learning disorders, language disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disabilities. She is now coordinating a research team on the study of innovative rehabilitative perspectives as the use of non-invasive brain stimulation for neurodevelopmental disorders.  She has produced over than sixty peer-reviewed publications, several books and chapters for the neuropsychological assessment of children with neurodevelopmental disorders

Editorial work and publications

She has authored numerous scientific publications in national and international journals, including: 

[2018] Costanzo F, Rossi S, Varuzza C, Varvara P, Vicari S, Menghini D. Long-lasting improvement following tDCS treatment combined with a training for reading in children and adolescents with dyslexia. Neuropsychologia. 

[2018] Menghini D, Armando M, Calcagni M, Napolitano C, Pasqualetti P, Sergeant JA, Pani P, Vicari S. The influence of Generalized Anxiety Disorder on Executive Functions in children with ADHD. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 268(4):349-357.

[2016] Costanzo F, Varuzza C, Rossi S, Sdoia S, Varvara P, Oliveri M, Giacomo K, Vicari S, Menghini D^.. Evidence for reading improvement following tDCS treatment in children and adolescents with Dyslexia. Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience, 34(2):215-26.

[2016] Costanzo F, Varuzza C, Rossi S, Sdoia S, Varvara P, Oliveri M, Koch G, Vicari S, Menghini D. Reading changes in children and adolescents with dyslexia after transcranial direct current stimulation. Neuroreport, 27(5):295-300. 

[2015] Costanzo F, Menghini D, et al. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Treatment in an Adolescent with Autism and Drug-Resistant Catatonia. Brain Stimulation 8(6).

[2015] De Crescenzo F, Licchelli S, Ciabattini M, Menghini D, et al. The use of actigraphy in the monitoring of sleep and activity in ADHD: A meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews 26. 

[2014] Varvara P, Varuzza C, Sorrentino AC, Vicari S, Menghini D. Executive functions in developmental dyslexia. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8:120. 

[2013] Costanzo F, Menghini D, Caltagirone C, Oliveri M, Vicari S. How to improve reading skills in dyslexics: the effect of high frequency rTMS. Neuropsychologia, 51(14):2953-9. 

[2012] Costanzo F, Menghini D, Caltagirone C, Oliveri M, Vicari S. High frequency rTMS over the left parietal lobule increases non-word reading accuracy. Neuropsychologia, 50(11):2645-51. 

[2011] Menghini D, Costanzo F, Vicari S. Relationship between brain and cognitive processes in Down syndrome. Behavior Genetics, 41(3):381-93. 

Awards and prizes

In 1998, she obtained the Fellowship Award granted by Pio Sodalizio dei Piceni (Rome).

In 2010, she won a Grant by the Foundation Jerome Lejeune for studying the cerebral correlates of Down Syndrome. 

In 2012, she was funded by the Ministry of Health (Young Italian Researchers Grant) for studying innovative therapeutic approaches in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Position/Role

Director of research at Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica, Osservatorio Astronomico di Palermo

Professional career

Physics degree at the Palermo University (1983)

CNR fellowship (1985), to spend a period at Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics - Cambridge (MA).

Scholarship from the Institute for Interdisciplinary Applications of Physics of the CNR (1986-87).

PhD in Physics at the University of Palermo (1991) with a thesis on the background emission in the band 0.16-3.5 keV.

From 1991, astronomer at the Astronomical Observatory of Palermo. She spent a period at the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the University of Chicago thanks to a CNR / NATO Senior scholarship.

Today she is a Director of research and from 2012 to 2017 she was director of the Palermo Astronomical Observatory, a research facility of the National Institute of Astrophysics.

Giusi Micela has been member of several scientific teams for the study of the ESA space missions (Eddington, Plato, EChO, ARIEL) and of national and international projects from ground and from space. She has been the national responsible of the project funded by MIUR “A Way to Other Worlds – WOW”.  Moreover, she won a few EU programs, that allowed several European scientists to work at the Palermo Observatory. She is a member of the board of the Fundacion Galileo Galilei, of the board of the Gal Hassin, and of the International Advisory Committee of the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC), in Barcelona. Finally, she is member of the board of the PhD  Physics course at the Palermo University.

Scientific results

Her scientific activity is focused on the study of the physics of the upper stellar atmosphere and related themes. In particular, she was among the first researchers to carry out researches on the coronae of young stars through observations of open clusters and star formation regions with space missions (Einstein, Rosat, Chandra, XMM/Newton), determining how the high energy radiation in these stars is much more intense than today in the Sun. She has then dealt with the young stars, including star-forming regions and physical processes that govern the formation of stars in various bands of energy, and young stars in the solar neighborhood, highlighting how the region around the Sun was the site of a star formation episode over the last billion years.

Today, she works on extra-solar planets, in particular on the search of rocky planets around stars smaller than the Sun and on the study of star-planet interactions. She is co-investigator of the HARPS-N spectrograph at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, today the best instrument for the search of exoplanets in the northern hemisphere.  Finally, she is co-principal Investigator and Italian responsable for the ARIEL mission, an ESA mission for the observations of exo-planetary atmospheres.

Editorial work and publications

Giuseppina Micela is author of more than 300 papers published on international journals. In addition, she carries out activities of dissemination of astronomy, and in particular has published the book  Nascita e morte delle stelle per la collana "Farsi un'idea" for the series "Farsi un’idea" of “Il Mulino”. 

Selected papers:

[2016] Affer L, Micela G, Damasso M, Perger M, Ribas I et al. HADES RV program with HARPS-N at the TNG. GJ 3998: An early M-dwarf hosting a system of super-Earths, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 593, 117. 

[2015] Reale F, Gambino A F, Micela G, Maggio A, Widemann Th, Piccioni G. Using the transit of Venus to probe the upper planetary atmosphere, Nature Communications, 6, 7563.

[2013] Pepe F, Cameron Collier A, Latham, DW, Molinari E, Udry S, Bonomo A, Buchhave LA, Charbonneau,D, Cosentino R, Dressing CD, Dumusque X, Figueira P, Fiorenzano AFM, Gettel S, Harutyunyan A, Haywood RD, Horne K, Lopez-Morales M, Lovis C, Malavolta L, Mayor M, Micela G et al. An Earth-sized planet with an Earth-like density, Nature, 503, 7476:377-380.

[2012] Caramazza M, Micela G, Prisinzano L, Sciortino S, Damiani F, Favata F, Stauffer JR, Vallenari A, Wolk SJ. Star formation in the outer Galaxy: coronal properties of NGC 1893, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 539, 74.

[2008] Penz T, Micela G, Lammer H. Influence of the evolving stellar X-ray luminosity distribution on exoplanetary mass loss, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 477, 309-314.

[2006] Cecchi-Pestellini C, Ciaravella A, Micela G, Stellar X-ray heating of planet atmospheres, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 458:L13-L16.

[2003] Favata F, Micela, G. Stellar Coronal Astronomy, Space Science Reviews, 108, 577-708.

[1993] Micela G, Sciortino S, Favata F. Stellar birthrate in the Galaxy - Constraints from X-ray flux-limited surveys, Astrophysical Journal, 412:618-624.

[1988] Micela G, Sciortino S, Vaiana GS, Schmitt JHMM, Stern RA, Harnden FR Jr, Rosner R. The Einstein Observatory survey of stars in the Hyades cluster region, Astrophysical Journal, 325:798-819.

[1985] Micela G, Sciortino S, Serio S, Vaiana GS, Bookbinder J, Golub L, Harnden FR Jr, Rosner R. Einstein X-ray survey of the Pleiades - The dependence of X-ray emission stellar age, Astrophysical Journal, 292:172-180.

Awards and prizes

Giuseppina Micela has been a member of numerous scientific teams for the study of European Space Agency missions (Eddington, Plato, EChO, ARIEL) and other national and international projects from the ground and space. She has been national responsible for the MIUR-funded project "A Way to Other Worlds - WOW". She was also the winner of several European Commission programmes, which allowed several European researchers to carry out their activities at the Palermo Observatory. 

Today she is a member of the patronage of the Fundacion Galileo Galilei, which manages the Galileo National Telescope located in the Canary Islands, a member of the Board of Directors of the Gal Hassin Participation Foundation, and of the International Advisory Committee of the Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC), in Barcelona. Finally, he is a member of the board of lecturers in Physics at the University of Palermo.

Position/Role

Researcher in Pharmacology, University of Camerino

Professional career

Dr.  Micioni Di Bonaventura graduated at the University of Camerino (MC), Italy in 2008 with a degree in Pharmacy. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Chemical, Pharmaceutical Sciences and Biotechnology from the University of Camerino in 2012, after working one year at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. She received her postdoctoral training at University of Zurich, at University of Camerino and at Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York.

Dr. Micioni Di Bonaventura is currently a Researcher in Pharmacology at University of Camerino.

Scientific results

The main research interests of Maria Vittoria Micioni Di Bonaventura focus on the study of eating disorders. During her PhD, she worked on behavioral pharmacology to develop a new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of binge eating episodes. Binge eating is a central feature of many eating disorders, including bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and anorexia nervosa binge/purge subtype, characterized by compulsive consumption of a large quantity of palatable food in a short period of time. The aim of these studies is to elucidate how caloric restrictions and stress may contribute to the generation and maintenance of an eating disorder, testing several compounds in a preclinical model. One of the main target of Maria Vittoria Micioni Di Bonaventura is to identify the triggering causes of these disorders in order to develop an effective drug therapy. Her latest research project is focused on the development of a new pharmacological approach to treat obesity and bingeing-related eating disorders, studying the role of the adenosine: an important modulator in the central and peripheral nervous system.

Editorial work and publications

Author of several scientific publications including:

(2018) Pucci M, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Zaplatic E, Bellia F, Maccarrone M, Cifani C, D'Addario C. Transcriptional regulation of the endocannabinoid system in a rat model of binge-eating behavior reveals a selective modulation of the hypothalamic fatty acid amide hydrolase gene. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 52(1):51-60. 

(2018) Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Ubaldi M, Giusepponi ME, Rice KC, Massi M, Ciccocioppo R, Cifani. Hypothalamic CRF1 receptor mechanisms are not sufficient to account for binge-like palatable food consumption in female rats. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50(10):1194-1204.

(2017) Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Lutz TA, Romano A, Pucci M, Geary N, Asarian L, Cifani C. Estrogenic suppression of binge-like eating elicited by cyclic food restriction and frustrative-nonreward stress in female rats. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 50(6):624-635.

(2016) Pucci M, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Giusepponi ME, Romano A, Filaferro M, Maccarrone M, Ciccocioppo R, Cifani C, D'Addario C. Epigenetic regulation of nociceptin/orphanin FQ and corticotropin-releasing factor system genes in frustration stress-induced binge-like palatable food consumption. Addiction Biology, 21(6):1168-1185. 

(2016) Romano A, Tempesta B, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Gaetani S. From Autism to Eating Disorders and More: The Role of Oxytocin in Neuropsychiatric Disorders. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 9:497. 

(2015) Pucci M, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, et al. P.1.a.021 Genetic and epigenetic regulation of cannabinoid receptor type-1 in obesity. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 25, 2, S169-S170. 

(2015) Cifani C, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Pucci M, D'Addario C. Regulation of hypothalamic neuropeptides gene expression in diet induced obesity resistant rats: Possible targets for obesity prediction?. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 9, 187. 

(2015) Bedse G, RomanoA, [...] Micioni di Bonaventura MV, et al. Inhibition of Anandamide Hydrolysis Enhances Noradrenergic and GABAergic Transmission in the Prefrontal Cortex and Basolateral Amygdala of Rats Subjected to Acute Swim Stress. Journal of Neuroscience Research, 93(5):777-87. 

(2014) Di Francesco A, Falconi A, Di Germanio C, Micioni di Bonaventura MV, et al. Extravirgin olive oil up-regulates CB1 tumor suppressor gene in human colon cancer cells and in rat colon via epigenetic mechanisms. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 26(3):250-8. 

(2014) D'Addario C, Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Pucci M, Romano A, Gaetani S, Ciccocioppo R, Cifani C, Maccarrone M. Endocannabinoid signaling and food addiction. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Revviews, 47:203-24. 

(2014) Micioni Di Bonaventura MV, Ciccocioppo R, Romano A, Bossert JM, Rice KC, Ubaldi M, St Laurent R, Gaetani S, Massi M, Shaham Y, Cifani C. Role of bed nucleus of the stria terminalis corticotrophin-releasing factor receptors in frustration stress-induced binge-like palatable food consumption in female rats with a history of food restriction. Journal of Neuroscience. 20;34(34):11316-24. 

Awards and prizes

Maria Vittoria Micioni Di Bonaventura has received numerous awards for her national and international academic career.

In 2013 she received the Farmindustria- Società Italiana di Farmacologia (SIF) award for her scientific production in the field of pharmacology. 

In 2014 she won three travel awards for papers presented at two congresses: the 9th Federations of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Forum of Neuroscience and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Workshop for Junior Scientists in Europe and the 12th International Summer School of Neuroscience "Dopamine", of the Federation of European Pharmacological Societies (EPHAR), SIF and the Italian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology (SINPF). 

In 2014 she was also selected for the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) InEurope Short Stay Program that she carried out in Zurich, to study the influence of ovarian hormones during binge eating episodes. 

In 2015 she was awarded both during the Joint Meeting European Behavioural Pharmacology Society (EBPS) - European Brain and Behaviour Society (EBBS) for the results obtained during the research period in Zurich, and at the 9th World Congress IBRO in Rio de Janeiro, for the study presented during the congress on the role of adenosine in the control of binge eating episodes. In 2016 she won the "L'Oréal-UNESCO Prize for Women and Science 2016" as part of the "For Women in Science" Programme of the "Fondation l'Oréal" in collaboration with L'Oréal Italia and UNESCO.

In 2017 she received by the Italian Society of Pharmacology the "Merck Sharp Dohme corporation award" for the best 5 pharmacological research projects.

Position/Role

Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Messina and Visiting Professor at the Université Paris-Sud

Professional career

Since the degree in Physics in 1998 when she was 22, the Ph.D. in Physics and the European Doctorate for Users of Large Experimental Systems in Grenoble (France) in 2002, she carried out her research at several international laboratories. In 2003 she was an ATER researcher at the University of Lille (France), where from 2008 to 2010 she was a UNESCO-L'Oréal For Women in Science International Fellow. In 2011 she got the “qualification aux fonctions de professeur des universités” in section 28 and in 2016 in section 64 in France. In 2012 she was a European Molecular Biology Organization International Fellow at the Institut de Biochimie et Biophysique Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Université de Paris-Sud XI (France). In 2013 she got the national scientific qualification as a Full Professor in Experimental Physics, becoming in 2015 a Professor of Experimental Physics at the University of Messina. Since July 2016 she is Visiting Scientist at the Université Paris Sud (France).

Scientific results

Federica Migliardo is a biophysicist carrying out her research in the domain of life sciences in the context of various international collaborations. Her research activity focuses mainly on the study of biological processes such as bioprotection, denaturation and stabilization of biomolecules, and more recently some infectious diseases (tuberculosis and schistosomiasis) and neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson), with the aim of determining their molecular mechanisms and to understand the role of natural bioprotectors.

The idea of the research moves from the observation that different “extremophiles” (organisms loving the extreme) show extraordinary survival abilities under harsh conditions thanks to a particular sugar, trehalose, which can be used as a natural and innovative agent to protect and stabilize systems of biomedical and pharmaceutical interest, such as proteins, stem cells, plasma, antibodies and vaccines. Experimental studies, carried out through the synergistic application of complementary techniques, such as neutron and light spectroscopy, have shown that the sugar deforms the structure of water by preventing the formation of ice, thus protecting living beings from freezing, and it is also able to cover biological molecules creating a rigid environment that protects them from adverse environmental conditions.

The in-depth knowledge of the unique properties of trehalose has paved the way for new studies on some diseases for which there is no definitive solution yet. Trehalose can be used in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, as it is able to inhibit the aggregation of proteins, such as the alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s syndrome, which in these diseases show anomalous behaviors, improving motor functions and raising life expectancy. On the other hand, trehalose is linked to particular fatty acids in the outer membrane of the tuberculosis bacterium, a membrane that creates a sort of barrier between the bacterium and the antibiotics, increasing its resistance; the goal of this research is to make this barrier more fragile and therefore more permeable to drugs that will be much more effective. The same philosophy is used in the study of schistosomiasis, parasitosis that represents the second tropical disease, since the parasites protect themselves from the attacks of our immune system thanks to a very special external membrane that passes nutrients but not drugs.

Editorial work and publications

She is coauthor of more than 170 scientific articles published in international journals, including:

[2017] Migliardo F, Angell CA, Magazù S. Contrasting dynamics of fragile and non-fragile polyalcohols through the glass, and dynamical, transitions: A comparison of neutron scattering and dielectric relaxation data for sorbitol and glycerol, Biochimica Biophysica Acta - General Subjects, 1861, 3540.
[2015] Migliardo F, Salmeron C, Bayan N. Mobility and temperature resistance of trehalose mycolates as key-characteristics of the outer membrane of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics, 33, 447.
[2014] Bousset L, Brewee C, Melki R, Migliardo F. Dynamical Properties ofa-Synuclein in Soluble and Fibrillar Forms by Quasi Elastic Neutron Scattering, BBA - Proteins and Proteomics, 1844, 1307.
[2014] Migliardo F, Tallima H, El Ridi R. Is There a Sphingomyelin-Based Hydrogen Bond Barrier at the Mammalian Host-Schistosome Parasite Interface?, Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics, 68, 359.
[2013] Fenimore PW, Frauenfelder H, Magazù S, McMahon BH, Mezei F, Migliardo F, Young RD, Stroe I. Concepts and Problems in Protein Dynamics, Chemical Physics, 424, 2.
[2011] Magazù S, Migliardo F, Parker SF. Vibrational Properties of Bioprotectant Mixtures of Trehalose and Glycerol, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 115, 11004.
[2007] Lishchuk SV, Lokotosh TV, Magazù S, Malomuzh NP, Migliardo F. Role of the orientation disorder in the formation of fragility of glassy water and glycerol-like liquids, Physical Review E, 76, 061504.
[2007] Magazù S, Migliardo F, Ramirez-Cuesta AJ. Concentration Dependence of Vibrational Properties of Bioprotectant/Water Mixtures by Inelastic Neutron Scattering, Journal of Royal Society Interface, 4, 167.
[2005] Lerbret A, Bordat P, Affouard F, Descamps M, Migliardo F. How Homogeneous are the Trehalose, Maltose and Sucrose Water Solutions? An Insight from Molecular Dynamics Simulations, Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 109, 11046.
[2003] Vertessy BG, Magazù S, Mangione A, Migliardo F, Brandt A. Structure of Escherichia coli dUTPase in Solution: A Small Angle Neutron Scattering Study, Macromolecular Bioscience, 3, 477.

Awards and prizes

Federica Migliardo has received several international and national awards and recognitions, such as the International BioVision for Life Sciences 2011 Prize, the UNESCO-L'Oréal For Women in Science 2008 International and 2005 National Fellowships, the International EUWIIN (European Union Women Inventors) and Innovators Network) Special Recognition Award 2007, the Sapio Award for Italian Research 2006, the Prize for the best PhD thesis in neutron spectroscopy of the National Institute of Physics of Matter 2003 and the Award for the best Italian graduate in Italy of the Italian Physical Society 2001.

Position/Role

Full Professor in Medical Genetics at Department of Health Sciences of Università degli studi di Milano, La Statale, Italy. 

Director of the Complex Structure of Medical Genetics, ASST "Santi Paolo e Carlo", Milan.

Professional career

In 1987 she graduated in Biological Sciences, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, University of Milan. In 1993 she specialised in Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milan. In 1999 she obtained a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences, University of Milan. From 1987 to 1995 she was AIRC researcher, at the Department of Experimental Oncology, IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan. 
In 1999 she became a permanent university researcher, at the University of Milan, where she started her academic career, first as an associate professor and then as a full professor.
From 2011 to 2021 she has been working on a contract basis at the Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan.
From 2011 to 2017 she is director of the School of Specialisation in Medical Genetics.
Since 2012 she is in charge of the Unit "Coordination of Research Laboratories, Genomics and Bionformatics Platform, Scientific Direction, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milano." Research area: new generation sequencing for the study of genetic conditions without clinical diagnosis and rare conditions; creation of the biobank of biological material from more than 2000 pregnancies; epigenetic studies on the effect of maternal nutrition during pregnancy and on fetal growth.
Since 2016 she has been a member of the Ethics Committee as an expert in genetics at the National Cancer Institute, Milan.
In 2019 October-November she is Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, NY, Mailman School of Public Health as part of the Rise Cross Neurod, Motor neuron centre project.
Since 2020, she is a member of the scientific coordination of the non-profit foundation FAST Italia (Angelman syndrome patients' association) for the creation of the first European biobank of biological material from Angelman syndrome patients and their parents, in collaboration with the "C. Besta" Institute in Milan an New York University, Center for Neural Science (professor C. Alberini).

Scientific results

Prof. Miozzo deals with genetic predisposition to cancer, genomic alterations in tumours, and placental genomic defects associated with intrauterine growth defects.

Editorial work and publications

Author of more than 140 peer-reviewed scientific publications in PubMed and Scopus  

She is an academic editor of PloS One since 2012 and a member of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health since 2020.

High-impact publications

[1992] Sozzi, G, Miozzo, M., Donghi, R. Delia Porta, G.Pierotti, M.A Deletions of 17p and p53 Mutations in Preneoplastic Lesions of the Lung. Cancer Research, 52(21),6079-82.

[1992] Pierotti, M.A., Santoro, M., Jenkins, R.B. et al. Characterization of an inversion on the long arm of chromosome 10 juxtaposing D10S170 and RET and creating the oncogenic sequence RET/PTC. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 89(5):1616-20.

[1995] Sozzi, G, Miozzo, M., Pastorino, U., Porta, G.D., Pierotti, M.A. Genetic Evidence for an Independent Origin of Multiple Preneoplastic and Neoplastic Lung Lesions. Cancer Res, 55:135-40 

[2002] Miozzo M, Simoni G. The role of imprinted genes in fetal growth. Biol Neonate. 81(4):217-28.

[2004] Invernizzi, P., Miozzo, M., Battezzati, P.M., Gershwin, M.E., Podda, M. Frequency of monosomy X in women with primary biliary cirrhosis. Lancet,  363(9408): 533-35. 

[2004] Sirchia SM, Tabano S, Monti L, Recalcati MP, Gariboldi M, Grati FR, Porta G, Finelli P, Radice P, Miozzo M. Misbehaviour of XIST RNA in breast cancer cells. PLoS One. 24(5):e5559.

[2007] Miozzo, M., Selmi, C., Gentilin, B., Podda, M., Invernizzi, P.Preferential X chromosome loss but random inactivation characterize primary biliary cirrhosis. Hepatology.46(2):456–62.

[2019] Paganini L, Hadi LA, Chetta M, Rovina D, Fontana L, Colapietro P, Bonaparte E, Pezzani L, Marchisio P, Tabano SM, Costanza J, Sirchia SM, Riboni L, Milani D, Miozzo M. A HS6ST2 gene variant associated with X-linked intellectual disability and severe myopia in two male twins. Clin Genet. 95(3):368-74.

[2020]  Ellinghaus, D., Degenhardt, F. et al Genomewide association study of severe covid-19 with respiratory failure. New England Journal of Medicine, 383:1522-34 

[2020] Marfia G, Navone S, Guarnaccia L, Campanella R, Mondoni M, Locatelli M, Barassi A, Fontana L, Palumbo F, Garzia E, Ciniglio Appiani G, Chiumello D, Miozzo M, Centanni S, Riboni L.  Decreased serum level of sphingosine-1-phosphate: a novel predictor of clinical severity in COVID-19. EMBO Mol Med. 14:e13424.

[2020] Fontana L, Bedeschi MF, Cagnoli GA, Costanza J, Persico N, Gangi S, Porro M, Ajmone PF, Colapietro P, Santaniello C, Crippa M, Sirchia SM, Miozzo M, Tabano S. (Epi)genetic profiling of extraembryonic and postnatal tissues from female monozygotic twins discordant for Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. Mol Genet Genomic Med. 8(9):e1386.

[2021] Rondinone O, Murgia A, Costanza J, Tabano S, Camanni M, Corsaro L, Fontana L, Colapietro P, Calzari L, Motta S, Santaniello C, Radaelli T, Ferrazzi E, Bosari S, Gentilini D, Sirchia SM, Miozzo M. Extensive Placental Methylation Profiling in Normal Pregnancies. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 22(4):2136-55

Awards and prizes

In 2009, she received the Premio Isimbardi 'Giornata della Riconoscenza' Provincia di Milano awarded for her scientific and teaching career.

Position/Role

Interface Manager at Cherenkov Array Telescope. First Italian Woman to lead an expedition to Antarctica. Expert of leadership & extreme project management.

Professional career

She holds a master degree in Civil engineering (university of Pisa, Italy) and a MBA at MIP (Graduate School of Business of Politecnico di Milano). From 2002 to 2008 she had been working as Energy Manager and Interface Manager at PNRA (National Italian Programme for Antarctic Research), where she had been developing sustainability strategies and operations for the scientific missions to Antarctica. From 2008 to 2010 she had been appointed twice as Expedition leader at the Italian and French Antarctic research Station Concordia. In 2013, she is back to Antarctica as Head of Logistics fro the French Institute IPEV. In 2015 She had been appointed again Expedition Leader at the Belgian research Station Princess Elizabeth (first Zero Emission Building in Antarctica). Besides Polar missions, she had been working in different organisational domains: Innovation & Digital Broadcast Industry in United Kingdom, Sustainability strategies in Italy, and more recently in developing partnership for innovation between China and Italy. She funded Complexity Aware, a consultancy company for the enterprises interested into the so called  “Antarctic mindset”, namely the capability to cope (and to prosper) under the pressure of uncertainties: “Under the pressure of extreme environment you can’t afford neither to be worried nor to be wrong; instead, you must quickly learn how to be effective and overcome difficulties!” 

She currently work as consultant for companies and as Interface Manager at Cherenkov Array Telescope gGmbH.

Scientific results

In her 5 mission to Antarctica (she can be defined an explorer of sec.), Chiara Montanari managed all scientific and logistic activities, including emergency operations and media relationships. A mission to Antarctica is a huge investment from the government to deliver innovation and research programmes in complex situations and hard environment. Due to her skills in leadership and management, despite the high risks of  these operations,  she successfully completed each mission and all the expected results for their programme.  Particularly, she managed several times the operations in one of the most extreme place on earth (Concordia station is settled on the Antarctic Plateau, at 4000 m altitude and temperatures between -50°C in summer and -80°C in winter, and the team is made of 70 people in a multidisciplinary-multicultural environment). Furthermore, she had been acknowledged by the Belgium government for the diplomacy and the effectiveness of the Belgian mission, where she faced the unexpected event of a sabotage at the arrival. On the basis of these experiences and her research in organisational theories, she funded Complexity Aware, a consultancy company for the enterprises interested into the so called  “Antarctic mindset”(a methodology on negotiations and adaptive problem solving), and she is currently working as consultant.

Editorial work and publications

In 2015 she published the  book Cronache dai ghiacci. 90 giorni in Antartide (Mondadori), in which she proposed the extreme ecosystem of Antarctica as a metaphor for the current business world, namely, coping with continuous changes, high risks and tremendous uncertainty.

Awards and prizes

First Italian Woman to lead an expedition to Antarctica. 

In 2014 she had been awarded by the city of Milan with “Ambrogino d’oro” (civic medal) for her engagement in boosting Technological Transfer, Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Position/Role

Senior Researcher, Photonics Micro and Nanostructures Laboratory Head at the ENEA Research Center of Frascati (RM), Italy

Professional career

Senior research physicist (Physics Degree at University of Rome, La Sapienza, 1984). After three years of employment in the R&D Division of the Telespazio S.p.A., a spatial telecommunication company, in Rome, since 1988 she has worked as permanent researcher at the ENEA Research Center of Frascati (RM). Starting in 2010 she is responsible of the Photonics Photonics Micro and Nanostructures Laboratory. In August 2008 she was Visiting Researcher at the Federal Technological University of Paranà, in Brasil. In 2013 she got the National Scientific Qualification as University Full Professor for Experimental Physics of Matter.

Scientific results

She has more than 30 years of experience in the field of optical properties of point defects in insulating materials and light-emitting organic and inorganic thin films for photonic devices (laser, LED, OLED, optical waveguides and microcavities) and novel radiation detectors for imaging and dosimetry, applied in scientific, medical and nuclear fields. She was the coordinator of an ESPRIT European project (1996-97) and the scientific leader of several projects and tasks at national and internal level, performed in collaboration with Universities, research institutions and Italian and foreigner industries. The relevance of the results obtained on the study of point defects in thin films and their application in novel miniaturized optical devices and solid-state radiation detectors is attested by numerous communications to congresses, among them invited lectures in prestigious international symposia. She is coinventor of several national and international patents.

Editorial work and publications

She published more than 200 scientific articles on international journals with referees, among them:
 

[2017] Piccinini M, Nichelatti E, Ampollini A, Picardi L, Ronsivalle C, Bonfigli F, Libera S, Vincenti MA and Montereali RM. Proton beam dose-mapping via color centers in LiF thin film detectors by fluorescence microscopy, Europhysics Letters, 117:37004-1-5. 

[2016] Montereali RM, Bonfigli F, Piccinini M, Nichelatti E, Vincenti MA. Photoluminescence of colour centres in lithium fluoride thin films: from solid-state miniaturised light sources to novel radiation imaging detectors, Journal of Luminescence, 170:761-769.

[2016] Fastampa R, Missori M, Braidotti MC, Conti C, Vincenti MA, Montereali RM. Temperature behaviour of optical absorption bands in colored LiF crystals, Results in Physics, 6:74-75.

[2015] Piccinini M, Ambrosini F, Ampollini A, Picardi L, Ronsivalle C, Bonfigli F, Libera S, Nichelatti E, Vincenti MA and Montereali RM. Photoluminescence of radiation-induced color centers in lithium fluoride thin films for advanced diagnostics of proton beams, Applied Physics Letters, 106: 261108_1_4.

[2014] Chiamenti I, Bonfigli F, Gomes ASL, Michelotti F, Montereali RM and Kalinowski HJ. Optical characterization of femtosecond laser induced active channel waveguides in lithium fluoride crystals, Journal of Applied Physics, 115, 2:023108-1-7.

[2013] Francini R, Montereali RM, Nichelatti E, Vincenti MA, Canci N, Segreto E, Cavanna F, Di Pompeo F, Carbonara F, Fiorillo G, Perfetto F. Optical characterization at liquid Argon temperature of Tetraphenyl-butadiene films on glass and specular reflector substrates in the VUV-VIS range of wavelengths, Journal of Instrumentation, JINST 8:P09006.

[2012] Montereali RM, Bonfigli F, Menchini F and Vincenti MA. Optical spectroscopy and microscopy of radiation-induced light-emitting point defects in lithium fluoride crystals and films, Low Temperature Physics 38, 8:779-785, doi: 10.1063/1.4740241; Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur 38, 8:976-984.

[2010] Montereali RM, Almaviva S, Bonfigli F, Cricenti A, Faenov A, Flora F, Gaudio P, Lai A, Martellucci S, Nichelatti E, Pikuz T, Reale L, Richetta M, Vincenti MA. Lithium Fluoride Thin Films Detectors for Soft X-Ray Imaging at High Spatial Resolution, Nuclear Instruments and Methods, A, 623:758-762.

[2007] Sekatskii SK, Dietler G, Bonfigli F, Loreti S, Marolo T, Montereali RM. Subwavelength-Size Local Fluorescent Sources based on Color Centers in LiF for Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy, Journal of Luminescence, 122-123:362-364. 

[2004] Montereali RM, Gambino S, Loreti S, Gagliardi S, Pace A, Baldacchini G, Michelotti F. Morphological, Electrical and Optical Properties of Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with a LiF/Al Cathode and an Al-Hydroxyquinoline/Diamine Junction, Synthetic Metals, 143: 171-174.

Awards and prizes

She is permanent member on the International Advisory Committee of the DIM (Defects in Insulating Materials) conference series and of the technical and organizing committees of several national and international workshops and symposia.
 

Position/Role

Professor of Human Physiology University of Pisa

Professional career

After graduating in Physics in 1977 from the University of Pisa, she continued her training in both physics and biology. This initial multidisciplinary interest, which combines a quantitative and computational approach to the study of neuronal and perceptual sensory processes, is a distinguishing feature of her scientific activity, leading her to achieve important and internationally recognised results. In 1981 she did a postgraduate course in Biophysics at the Scuola Normale Superiore. She then spent about 5 years at the Psychology Department of the University of Western Australia, completing her training in the field of behavioural sciences. During this post-doctoral period her interest in understanding perceptual mechanisms and their simulation with mathematical and computational methods was strengthened. In 1987 she moved to Pisa where she continued her research activity, first as a researcher of General Physics at the Scuola Normale Superiore and later as First Researcher at the Institute of Neurophysiology of the CNR. In 2000 she became full professor of Psychobiology at the Faculty of Psychology of the Free University Vita-Salute S Raffaele. She founded the specialist degree course in Cognitive Neuroscience, the only one in Italy, for the Faculties of Psychology, Philosophy and Medicine. Since 2008 she has been Professor of Human Physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Pisa.

Scientific results

Maria Concetta Morrone's research activity mainly concerns the study of neuronal mechanisms in the human being for the exploration and representation of space and time. In particular, she has studied how the brain can give perceptual stability to the world despite the fact that it is perceived through extraordinarily mobile organs, such as the eyes. His studies show a strong interaction between perceived space and time, similar to the phenomena of physics. Knowledge of the circuits and mechanisms operating in nervous systems has two important connections with applied sciences: on the one hand, transactional research in medicine (where theoretical hypotheses can be immediately tested in practice and where clinical experience provides guidance and continuous support for research), and on the other hand, research in robotics. Both disciplines are included in the research interests and have led to the development of diagnostic methods for medicine and the development of computational models for image recognition and the representation of perceptual space, which are useful in artificial vision systems.

Editorial work and publications

Concetta Morrone has published more than 180 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals like the Naturecluster, Neuron, Current Biology, Trends in Neurosciences, PLoSand Journal of Neuroscience,as well as dozens in archival specialized journals like Vision Researchand Journal of Vision.

Her below a selection:

(2015) Biagi L, Crespi SA, Tosetti M, Morrone MC. BOLD Response Selective to Flow-Motion in Very Young Infants. PLoS Biology, 13(9):e1002260. 

(2007) d'Avossa G, Tosetti M, Crespi D, Biagi L, Burr DC, Morrone MC. Spatiotopic selectivity of BOLD responses to visual motion in human area MT.Nature Neuroscience, 10(2):249-55. 

(2000) Morrone MC, Tosetti M, et al. A cortical area that responds specifically to optic flow, revealed by fMRI.Nature Neuroscience, 3:1322-1328. 
(1998) Neri P, Morrone MC, Burr DC. Seeing biological motion. Nature, 395(6705):894-6. 

(1997) Ross J, Morrone MC, Burr DC. Compression of visual space before saccades.Nature, 386(6625):598-601. 

(1995) Morrone MC, Burr DC, Vaina LM. Two stages of visual processing for radial and circular motion.Nature, 376(6540):507-9. 

(1994) Burr DC, Morrone MC, Ross J. Selective suppression of the magnocellular visual pathway during saccadic eye movements. Nature, 371(6497):511-3. 
(1988) Morrone MC, Burr DC. Feature detection in human vision: a phase-dependent energy model.Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences, 235(1280):221-45. 

(1986) Morrone MC, Ross J, Burr DC, Owens R. Mach bands are

 phase dependent. Nature, 324: 250-253.

(1986) Morrone MC, Burr DC. Evidence for the existence and development of visual inhibition in humans. Nature, 321(6067):235-7.

Awards and prizes

In 2014 Concetta was elected a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, the Italian equivalent of the American Academy of Science or the Royal Society of London. Other honors and prizes include the Campbell Awardfor Australian Neuroscience (1984), the National Prize for Physiopathologyfrom the Accademia dei Lincei(2002), the Perception Lecture(Budapest: 2004), and the Kofka Prize in Development and Perception(Giessen: 2011). In 2014 she was awarded an ERC-IDEA advanced grant, a distinction of excellence in Europe. In 2019 she was awarded the 2019 Ken Nakayama Medal for Excellence in Vision Science.

Position/Role

Head of the Laboratory for medical research and consumer involvement of the Department of Public Health at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research IRCCS

Professional career

After graduating in Biological Sciences from the University of Milan in 1982, she specialised in Pharmacological Research at Mario Negri. Initially a researcher in the fields of Clinical Pharmacology and Clinical Epidemiology, since 1987 she has been involved in projects on the active participation of citizens and patients in the health debate, on medical-scientific information and training, and in research projects and partnerships with voluntary associations.

From 2006 to 2009 she was a member of the Ethics Committee of the IRCCS Multimedica, from 2007 to 2013 president of the Ethics Committee of the Azienda USL of Bologna and in 2013 of the Provincial Ethics Committee of Reggio Emilia.

Paola Mosconi is a founding member, vice-president and European delegate of EUROPA DONNA Italia, an opinion movement for the fight against breast cancer, present in 46 European countries. She is president of the Nerina and Mario Mattioli Onlus Foundation for research in the field of gynaecological oncology. She was vice-president of the Alessandro Liberati Association - Italian Cochrane Network, an association founded to contribute to the dissemination and growth of the culture of effectiveness and appropriateness in the field of health. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the AIOM Foundation, EUPATI Italia, Pofferi Foundation and of the Technical and Scientific Committee of Acto-Alleanza contro il tumore ovarico. 

Scientific results

As head of the "Research Laboratory on Citizens' Involvement in Health Care" at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Paola Mosconi is responsible for planning, coordinating and analysing the results of various research activities aimed at the involvement and participation of the general population, or specific patient groups and their representatives, in public health choices and decisions. She was, and is, responsible for operational units in medical and scientific research programmes, aimed, for example, at the early diagnosis of breast cancer, through the promotion of correct information on mammography screening, the promotion of an information model for people suffering from multiple sclerosis on the use of drugs and tests for diagnostic and prognostic purposes, the involvement of people suffering from AIDS/HIV for the development of an agenda of priorities in health care, assistance, prevention, information and research.

In particular, Paola Mosconi is an expert in research methodology (consensus conferences, citizens' juries, guidelines, ad hoc surveys with associations, surveys on knowledge/attitudes/behaviour of citizens/patients, pathology registers, reviews), information (assessment of the type of information provided and to be provided on screening, diseases and treatments, ways of communicating health information also through the development of websites, development of decision-making tools, development of leaflets for the general population), training (courses on clinical research methodology for activists of voluntary associations), design of projects to assess the quality of life and health of citizens and the degree of satisfaction with the National Health Service.

Editorial work and publications

Paola Mosconi erves as referee for several scientific journals and she has published numerous articles in international and national journals. Here below, a seletion:

(2017) Roberto A, Colombo Cinzia, Candiani G, Giordano L, Mantellini P, Paci E, Satolli R, Valenza M, Mosconi P. Personalised informed choice on evidence and controversy on mammography screening: protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMC Cancer, 17:429.

(2016) Mosconi P, Colombo C, Satolli R, Carzaniga S. Involving a citizens’ jury in decisions on individual screening for prostate cancer. PLOS One; 11: e0143176.

(2016) Mosconi P, Antes G, Barbareschi G, Burls A, Demotes-Mainard J, Chalmers I, Colombo C, Garattini S, et al. A European multi-language initiative to make the general population aware of independent clinical research: The European Communication on Research Awareness Need project. Trials, 17:19.

(2015) Mosconi P, Castellani C, Villani W, Satolli R. Cystic fibrosis: to screen or not to screen? Involving a Citizens’ jury in decisions on screening carrier. Health Expectations, 8: 1956.

(2013) Mosconi P, Roberto A. Non-publication of large randomized clinical trials: cross sectional analysis. BMJ, 347: f7590.

(2013) Donati S, Satolli R, Colombo C, Senatore S, Cotichini R, Da Cas R, Spila Alegiani S, Mosconi P. Informing women on menopause and hormone therapy: Know the menopause a multidisciplinary project involving local healthcare system. PLOS One, 8 (12).

(2012) Mosconi P, Roberto A. Open-access clinical trial registries: An Italian scenario. Trials; 13: 194.

(2012) Mosconi P, Lionello L, Di Spazio L, Alberghini L. Are the voice of women and men equally represented in ethics committees? An Italian survey. J Clinical Research Bioethics, 3: 129.

(2012) Colombo C, Moja L, Gonzalez-Lorenzo M, Liberati A, Mosconi P. Patient empowerment as a component of health system reforms: rights, benefits and vested interests. Internal and Emergency Medicine; 7: 183.

(2007) Mosconi P, Colombo C, Satolli R, Liberati A. PartecipaSalute, an Italian project to involve lay people, patients’ associations and scientific-medical representatives on the health debate. Health Expectations, 10: 194.

(2004) Mosconi P, Buchanan M, Kyriakides S, Fernandez-Marcos A, Horvatin J, O'Connell D, Zernik N, EUROPA DONNA. EUROPA DONNA: has strenght in its heterogeneity. European Journal of Cancer; 40: 1145.

(1998) Apolone G, Mosconi P. The Italian SF-36 Health Survey: Translation, validation and norming. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 51: 1025.

Position/Role

Group Leader at Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (Germany).

Professional career

Raffaella Mulas obtained her Master's degree at the University of Bonn in 2017, and her PhD at Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) in 2020. After a postdoc at the Alan Turing Institute of London, she was awarded a Minerva Fast Track Fellowship from the Max Planck Society and became the group leader of the “Spectral Hypergraph Theory” research group at the MPI MiS. Starting from March 2023, she will be an Assistant Professor in Applied Mathematics at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Scientific results

Raffaella Mulas' research focuses on network sciences, and in particular on the spectral theory of graphs and hypergraphs. Her results are mostly in pure mathematics, but she has many interdisciplinary collaborations that allow her to work also on applications, for instance to physics and biology.

Editorial work and publications

[2022] Mulas R, Horak D, Jost J. Graphs, Simplicial Complexes and Hypergraphs: Spectral Theory and Topology. In: Higher-Order Systems, Understanding Complex Systems, F. Battiston and G. Petri (eds.), Springer.

[2022] Mulas R, Kuehn, C, Böhle T, Jost J. Random walks and Laplacians on hypergraphs: When do they match?. Discrete Applied Mathematics, 317:26-41.

[2022] Galuppi F, Mulas R, Venturello L. Spectral theory of weighted hypergraphs via tensors. Linear and Multilinear Algebra, DOI: 10.1080/03081087.2022.2030659.

[2021] Mulas R, Zhang D. Spectral theory of Laplace operators on oriented hypergraphs. Discrete Mathematics, 344(6):112372.

[2021] Mulas R. A Cheeger Cut for Uniform Hypergraphs. Graphs and Combinatorics, 37: 2265-2286.

[2021] Abiad A, Mulas R, Zhang D. Coloring the normalized Laplacian for oriented hypergraphs. Linear Algebra and Its Applications, 629:192-207.

[2021] Mulas R, Casey MJ. Estimating cellular redundancy in networks of genetic expression. Mathematical Biosciences, 341:108713.

[2020] Mulas R, Kuehn C, Jost J. Coupled dynamics on hypergraphs: Master stability of steady states and synchronization. Physical Review E, 101(6):062313.

[2019] Jost J, Mulas R. Hypergraph Laplace operators for chemical reaction networks. Advances in Mathematics, 351:870–896.

Awards and prizes

In 2020, she was awarded the Prize "Donna di Scienza Giovani" (Woman of Science Young). In 2021, she was  awarded a Minerva Fast Track Fellowship from the Max Planck Society, and in the same year, she was elected Member of the Elisabeth-Schiemann-Kolleg.

Moreover, she won a Science Slam Prize from the Max Planck Society PhD-net in 2018, for her outreach activity. For an illustration she made, in 2021 she was awarded the First Prize at the Mathematics and Diversity Art Competition of the University of Southampton.

Position/Role

Full professor of Industrial and Technological Chemistry and Executive Vice-Rector at the Polytechnic of Milan.

Professional career

She graduated in Chemical Engineering at Politecnico of Milan, then continued her education with a Ph.D. in Industrial Chemistry from University of Milan, and with a post doctorate at Politecnico of Milan. In 2002 she became assistant professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. In 2007 she became an associate professor, while since 2008 she moved to the Department of Energy, where she is now a full professor.

Since 2018 she is coordinator of the degree program board for Chemical Engineering (Bachelor and Master level) and Ingegneria della Prevenzione e della Sicurezza nell’Industria di Processo (Master level) at Politecnico di Milano. Since 2019 she is Vice Dean of the School of Industrial and Information Engineering at Politecnico of Milan. Since 2023 she is Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Strategic Plan Implementation

Scientific results

Environmental catalytic processes and energy sources are among the main scientific interests of Isabella Nova. Specifically, she studies the catalytic technologies for the control of pollutant emissions from lean combustion exhaust gas, photo-electrochemical processes for the splitting of water into hydrogen and oxygen, and the conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals.

She is currently working with Daimler AG (DE), MTU (DE), FPT (I), Johnson Matthey (UK), Polytechnic of Milan, and in EU-H2020 projects.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more than 130 national and international scientific articles, of 4 international patents, co-editor of 6 special issues of Catalysis Today (Elsevier) and 1 book (Springer), co-author of more than 250 congress communications to conferences.

She was invited to present the results of her work to more than 20 national and international universities or research centers, and to act as a keynote or plenary speaker at more than 10 international conferences.

Awards and prizes

Her scientific work in the field of environmental catalysis has led to several awards, such as the invitation to give lectures to important international conferences and research centers of universities and international companies, the invitation to act as editor for several volumes dedicated to study of catalytic processes for the removal of polluted substances (Catalysis Today, Elsevier Ed.) and a book dedicated to SCR technology for the control of NOx emissions on board vehicles (Springer), to the participation in the Editorial Board of the magazine Applied Catalysis B: Environmental (Elsevier).

She also received some prizes, including the Young Scientists Prize in the 13th International Congress on Catalysis, in Paris (2004), the Glenn Award for the San Diego Meeting of the Fuel Chemistry Division (2005), the K-idea award from the Kilometro Rosso and the Energy award from Schneider Electric for the patent "Apparatus and process for reducing the content of nitrogen oxides in exhaust gases of combustion systems" (2009).

In 2018 she was included in the Inspiring 50 Italy list.

Position/Role

Associat professor of Ophthalmology at La Sapienza University of Rome and Manager at of the Ophtalmic Emergency Room at D.A.I. Testa Collo, General Hospital  Umberto I in Rome

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Bari in 1988, she continued her studies by specialising in Ophthalmology at La Sapienza University of Rome. In 1993 she won a three-year scholarship from the Istituto Superiore di Sanità for research on the fight against AIDS abroad (Barcelona, Spain).

In 1996 she graduated from the European Board of Ophthalmology. At the same time she continued her training and research, first as an adjunct professor and then in 1998 as a researcher.

Since 2011 she has been Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the La Sapienza University of Rome, where she also carries out research activities and is responsible for the educational pathway of the students of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy and Ophthalmology residents. Also in 2011 she became first level manager at the Policlinico Umberto I, where she is currently in charge of the Ophthalmic Emergency Department. 

Scientific results

Her scientific interests were initially focused on pharmacological therapies of ocular complications of HIV and the use of laser technologies for the correction of ametropia. Currently her studies are particularly focused on the physiopathological roles of intravitreal therapies of diabetic macular oedema and retinal vascular occlusion regulating vascular growth factors in the framework of a Clinical Trials.gov NCT02257333 National Register Retinal Venous Thrombosis and Atherosclerosis (HEART VISION).

Elena Pacella together with her research group, as highlighted in her publications, was among the first researchers in Italy to demonstrate that the intravitreal administration of slow-release cortisone molecules (device) has an important anti-inflammatory effect,  they block the production of the cascade of inflammation mediators (prostaglandins and thromboxanes derived from the synthesis of arachidonic acid) and thus retinal neovascularisation in diabetics with macular oedema that does not respond to anti-VEGF, improving visual function and also blocking complications, for the period of therapy, if we consider that currently 13% of diabetics in full activity suffer from visual impairment.

Editorial work and publications

Elena Pacella is founder and editorial board of the scientific journal Senses&Sciences  Since 2016 she is a member of the editorial board of the scientific journal La Clinica Terapeutica.

She is referee of Cineca research projects for the following journals: Clinical Ophthalmology, Clinical Interventions in Aging, International Medical Case Reports Journal, Clinical Optometry, Patient Preference and Adherence, Therapeutics and Clinical Risk Management. 

She has signed numerous scientific publications, including:

2017) Pacella F, La Torre G, Basili S, Autolitano M, Pascarella A, Lenzi T, Pacella E. Comparison between "early" or "late" intravitreal injection of dexamethasone implant in branch (BRVO) or central (CRVO) retinal vein occlusion: six-months follow-up. Cutaneus and Ocular Toxicology, 36(3):224-230. doi: 10.1080/15569527.2016.1254648. Epub 2017 Jan 11.

(2016) Pacella F, Romano MR, Turchetti P, Tarquini G, Carnovale A, Mollicone A, Mastromatteo A, Pacella E. An eighteen-month follow-up study on the effects of Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant in diabetic macular edema refractory to anti-VEGF therapy. International Journal of Ophthalmology, 9(10):1427-1432. eCollection 2016.

(2016) Pacella F, Agostinelli E, Carlesimo SC, Nebbioso M, Secondi R, Forastiere M, Pacella E. Management of anterior chamber dislocation of a dexamethasone intravitreal implant: a case report. Journal of Medical Case Reports,10(1):282.

(2016) Pacella E, Mipatrini D, Pacella F, Amorelli G, Bottone A, Smaldone G, Turchetti P, La Torre G. Suspensory Materials for Surgery of Blepharoptosis: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies. PLoSOne, 11(9):e0160827. doi: 0.1371/journal.pone.0160827. eCollection 2016. Review.

(2016) Grancara S, Dalla Via L, García-Argáez AN, Ohkubo S, Pacella E, Manente S, Bragadin M, Toninello A, Agostinelli E. Spermine cycling in mitochondria is mediated by adenine nucleotide translocase activity: mechanism and pathophysiological implications. Amino Acids, 48(10):2327-37. doi: 10.1007/s00726-016-2264-6. Epub 2016 Jun 2.

(2016) Pacella F, Ferraresi AF, Turchetti P, Lenzi T, Giustolisi R, Bottone A, Fameli V, Romano MR, Pacella E. Intravitreal Injection of Ozurdex(®) Implant in Patients with Persistent Diabetic Macular Edema, with Six-Month Follow-Up. Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases, 8:11-6. doi: 10.4137/OED.S38028. eCollection 2016.

(2015) Pacella E, Pacella F, De Paolis G, Parisella FR, Turchetti P, Anello G, Cavallotti C. Glycosaminoglycans in the human cornea: age-related changes. Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases, 7:1-5. doi: 10.4137/OED.S17204. eCollection 2015.

(2015) Taurone S, Ripandelli G, Pacella E, Bianchi E, Plateroti AM, De Vito S, Plateroti P, Grippaudo FR, Cavallotti C, Artico M. Potential regulatory molecules in the human trabecular meshwork of patients with glaucoma: immunohistochemical profile of a number of inflammatory cytokines. Molecular Medicine Reports, 11(2):1384-90. doi: 10.3892/mmr.2014.2772. Epub 2014 Oct 27.

(2014) Fehér J, Kovács I, Pacella E, Radák Z. Correlation of the microbiota and intestinal mucosa in the pathophysiology and treatment of irritable bowel, irritable eye, and irritable mind syndrome. Orvosi Hetilap, 155(37):1454-60. doi: 10.1556/OH.2014.29987. Review. Hungarian.

(2014) Pacella E, Arrico L, Santamaria V, Turchetti P, Carbotti MR, La Torre G, Pacella F.  Dorzolamidechlorhydrate versus acetazolamide in the management of chronic macular edema in patients with retinitis pigmentosa: description of three case reports. Ophthalmology Eye Disease, 6:21-6. doi: 10.4137/OED.S13617. eCollection 2014.

(2014) Pacella E, Nisi G, Campana M, Pacella F, Mazzeo F, Brandi C, De Santi MM, Malagnino V, Tanganelli P, D'Aniello C. Histological and ultra-structural effects of rapid muscle expansion through intramuscular administration of carbon dioxide: an intra-operative study in an animal model. European Review for Medical Pharmacology Sciences, 18(3):416-20.

Awards and prizes

In 2010 she received the "Kallistos Award" for scientific and medical research,

In 2018 she was insiegned of the prize "Professionalism and Competence" by SAPIENTIA MUNDI Foundation.

Position/Role

Researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the National Research Council of Italy (ISAC-CNR)

Professional career

Elisa Palazzi gets her Laurea degree in Physics in 2003 and a PhD in Physical Modelling for Environmental Protection in 2008, both from the University of Bologna and in collaboration with the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council (ISAC-CNR). During that period, she works mainly on the measurement of air pollutants in urban areas using remote sensing techniques and on the development of modelling tools to correctly analyse and interpret these measurements.  At ISAC-CNR she carries out a post-doctoral research that includes a contract founded by the European Space Agency (ESA) aimed at studying the atmospheric circulation and its changes by means of satellite measurements of long-lived atmospheric gases. These studies bring her closer to the later research activities, focused on climate and climate change, which Elisa Palazzi has been undertaking since 2011, when she becomes permanent staff researcher at ISAC-CNR, based in Turin. Since then, she has been studying climate change in mountain regions, focusing on elevation-dependent warming and high-altitude changes in precipitation, and analysing their impacts on water resources, which are very relevant for low-land regions too. She currently co-coordinates an international network of mountain studies called GEO-GNOME (Group on Earth Observations-Global Network for Observations and Information in Mountain Environments) and an Initiative of the European Climate Research Alliance (ECRA) on the changes in the hydrological cycle. She is currently author and co-author of 52 peer-reviewed papers (Scopus database).

Scientific results

Elisa Palazzi began her research activity at CNR, in Bologna, during the work performed for her Laurea degree and her PhD, working on the development and application of radiative transfer models, based on the Monte Carlo techniques, for the interpretation of remote sensing measurement of atmospheric trace gases performed with passive remote sensing (DOAS technique). Those years mark an approach which will characterize even later the research performed by Elisa Palazzi, that is, an integration between measurements and models. From 2009 to 2011, funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), she was principal investigator of a project included in the ESA "Changing Earth System Network" programme, in which she used satellite measurements of long-lived trace gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, CFC) to diagnose the characteristics of atmospheric transport through the subtropical and polar dynamical barriers. Since 2011, she works on the study of the climate system and in particular on climate change and variability in high altitude regions that are considered sentinels of the changing climate. Her research focuses on the so-called elevation-dependent warming mechanism, and on observed and projected changes in precipitation, both influencing the mountain cryosphere. She is author and co-author of several peer-reviewed papers and she co-coordinates an international research network for the retrieval of climate data in high-altitude regions.

Editorial work and publications

Elisa Palazzi is  Editor of the Section “Remote Sensing of the Water Cycle” in the Journal Remote Sensing – MPDI, since 2019.

She is co-editor (with Antonello Provenzale and Klaus Fraedrich) of the book The Fluid Dynamics of Climate(CISM International Centre for Mechanical Sciences 564, Courses and Lectures, Springer, 2016).

12 Most relevant publications:

[2020] Rangwala I, Palazzi E, Miller JR. Projected Climate Change in the Himalayas during the Twenty-First Century.In: Dimri A., Bookhagen B., Stoffel M., Yasunari T. (eds) Himalayan Weather and Climate and their Impact on the Environment. Springer, Cham

[2019] Regine H, Golam R, [...], Palazzi E et al. High Mountain Areas. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

[2019] Palazzi E, Mortarini L, Terzago S, von Hardenberg J. Elevation-dependent warming in global climate model simulations at high spatial resolution, Clim Dyn 52: 2685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-018-4287-z.

[2018] Pasetto D, Arenas-Castro S, Bustamante J, [...], Palazzi E, et al. , Integration of satellite remote sensing data in ecosystem modelling at local scales: practices and trends, Methods Ecol Evol. 2018; 9: 1810– 1821. https://doi.org/10.1111/2041-210X.13018

[2017] Terzago S, von Hardenberg J, Palazzi E, Provenzale A. Snow water equivalent in the Alps as seen by gridded data sets, CMIP5 and CORDEX climate models, The Cryosphere, 11, 1625-1645, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-1625-2017.

[2017] Palazzi E, Filippi L, von Hardenberg J, Insights into elevation-dependent warming in the Tibetan Plateau-Himalayas from CMIP5 model simulations, Clim. Dyn., 48 (11-12), 3991-4008.

[2015] Pepin N, Bradley RS, [...], Palazzi E, et al. Elevation- dependent warming in mountain regions of the world. Nature Climate Change, 5 (5), pp. 424-430. DOI: 10.1038/nclimate2563.

[2015] Turco M, Palazzi E, von Hardenberg J, Provenzale A, Observed climate change hotspots. Geophys. Res. Lett., 42, 3521–3528. doi: 10.1002/2015GL063891.

[2015] Palazzi E, Von Hardenberg J, Terzago S, Provenzale A. Precipitation in the Karakoram- Himalaya: a CMIP5 view, Climate Dynamics, Vol 45, pp. 21-45, DOI: 10.1007/s00382-014- 2341-z.

[2014] Filippi L, Palazzi E, Von Hardenberg J, Provenzale A. Multidecadal variations in the relationship between the NAO and winter precipitation in the Hindu Kush-Karakoram, Journal of Climate, 27 (20), pp. 7890-7902. DOI: 10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00286.1.

[2014] D'Onofrio D, Palazzi E, Von Hardenberg J, Provenzale A, Calmanti S. Stochastic rainfall downscaling of climate models, Journal of Hydrometeorology, 15 (2), pp. 830-843. DOI: 10.1175/JHM-D-13-096.1.

[2013] Palazzi E, Von Hardenberg J, Provenzale A. Precipitation in the hindu-kush karakoram himalaya: Observations and future scenarios, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 118 (1), pp. 85-100. DOI: 10.1029/2012JD018697

Awards and prizes

Italian Prize “Premio Gian Giacomo Drago e Fausta Rivera Drago” obtained in 2017 awarded by the “Istituto Lombardo Accademia di Scienze e Lettere” to a researcher (less than 40 years old) for his/her relevant research on the theme of climate change and its effects on the environment and human health.

Position/Role

Research Director at the Earthquake Department of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology, Rome headquarters

Professional career

After graduating in Geology from the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1985, she qualified as a geologist in 1986. She then worked at the Geological Survey of Italy; since 1987 she has been a researcher at the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Rome, and in 2000 she became Director of Research. In 1991-1992 and 1997-1998 she was a visiting scientist at the United States Geological Service in Menlo Park, California. Since 2013 she has decided to reduce her research activities in order to serve INGV, covering roles of responsibility and internal management. From 2013 to 2016 she is director of the Rome1 Section, Seismology and Tectonophysics. She currently directs the Earthquake Structure with tasks of planning, development and verification of research activities.

Scientific results

Daniela Pantosti's main area of research is Earthquake Geology and Paleoseismology (the study of geological records of past earthquakes), research activities that provide an important contribution to seismic hazard estimates. These disciplines, which are concerned with characterising the seismicity of a region on the basis of the 'footprints' left by past earthquakes on the landscape and in the geology, were entirely new in Italy in the late 1980s. Thanks to the support of INGV, Daniela Pantosti was able to introduce them to Italy, using them for the first time to study the Irpinia fault responsible for the 1980 earthquake. By observing the development of fault segmentation and recurrence models, the characterisation of seismogenic sources and their seismic behaviour, the estimation of seismic hazard is much more reliable. Given the excellent results, these studies have developed enormously and have become an integral part of the scientific process. As a result of these successes, Pantosti has participated and been responsible for national and international projects concerning seismic and tsunami hazard definition in Italy, the Mediterranean, California, Central and South America and New Zealand.

Editorial work and publications

Daniela Pantosti is associated editor for several scienific jurnals as for example Tectonophysics, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Journal of Earthquake Engineering, Italian Journal of Geosciences. 

She co-authored numerous scientific publications, including:

(2018) Villani, F., Pucci, S., Civico, R., De Martini,P. M., Cinti, F. R., & Pantosti, D.  Surface Faulting of the 30 October 2016 Mw 6.5 Central Italy Earthquake: Detailed Analysis of a Complex Coseismic Rupture, Tectonics, 37(10): 3378-3410.

(2018) Cinti, F. R., Civico, R., Blumetti, A. M.,Chiarini, E., La Posta, E., Pantosti, D., et al. Evidence for surface faulting earthquakes on the Montereale fault system (Abruzzi Apennines, central Italy). Tectonics, 37(9): 2758–2776. 

(2017) Villani, F., L. Improta, S. Pucci, R. Civico, P.P.G. Bruno and D. Pantosti. Investigating the architecture of the Paganica Fault (2009 Mw 6.1earthquake, central Italy) by integrating high-resolution multiscale refraction tomography and detailed geological mapping, Geophysical Journal International, 208(1): 403–423.

(2016) Emergeo W.G.: Pucci S. , De Martini P.M. , Civico R. , Nappi R. , Ricci T. , Villani F. , Brunori C.A. , Caciagli M. , Sapia V. , Cinti F. R. , Moro M. , Di Naccio D. , Gori S. , Falcucci E. , Vallone R. , Mazzarini F. , Tarquini S. , Del Carlo P. , Kastelic V. , Carafa M. , De Ritis R. , Gaudiosi G. , Nave R. , Alessio G. , Burrato P. , Smedile A. , Alfonsi L. , Vannoli P. , Pignone M. , Pinzi S. , Fracassi U. , Pizzimenti L. , Mariucci M.T. , Pagliuca N. , Sciarra A. , Carluccio R. , Nicolosi I. , Chiappini M. , D’ajello Caracciolo F., Pezzo G. , Patera A. , Azzaro R. , Pantosti D., Montone P. , Saroli M. , Lo Sardo L.  , Lancia M., Coseismic effects of the 2016 Amatrice seismic sequence: first geological results. Annals of Geophysics, 59, Fast Track 5.

(2016) Pucci S. , R. Civico, F. Villani, T. Ricci, E. Delcher, A. Finizola, V. Sapia, P. M. De Martini, D. Pantosti, S. Barde-Cabusson, E. Brothelande, R. Gusset, C. Mezon, S. Orefice, A. Peltier, M. Poret, L. Torres and B. Suski (2016). Deep electrical resistivity tomography along the tectonically active Middle Aterno Valley (2009 L’Aquila earthquake area, central Italy), Geophysical Journal International 207(2): 967–982.

(2015) R. Civico, C. A. Brunori, P. M. De Martini, S. Pucci, F. R. Cinti, and D. Pantosti Liquefaction susceptibility assessment in fluvial plains using airborne lidar: the case of the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence area (Italy), Natural Hazards ad Earth System Science, 15(11): 2473–2483.

(2015) Civico R., S. Pucci, P.M. De Martini, D. Pantosti (2015). Morphotectonic analysis of the long-term surface expression of the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake fault (Central Italy) using airborne LiDAR data. Tectonophysics 644–645:108-121.

(2015) Civico R., D. Pantosti, S. Pucci, P.M. De Martini (2014). The Contribution of Airborne LiDAR Data to the Assessment of Surface Faulting Hazard for Lifelines Crossing Active Faults: An Example from the Central Apennines, Italy, in G. Lollino et al. (eds.), Engineering Geology for Society and Territory. Volume 5.

(2014) Papadopoulos G.A., E. Gràcia, R. Urgeles, V. Sallares, P. M. De Martini, D. Pantosti, M. González, A. C. Yalciner, J. Mascle, D. Sakellariou, A. Salamon, S. Tinti, V. Karastathis, A. Fokaefs, A. Camerlenghi, T. Novikova, A. Papageorgiou. Historical and pre-historical tsunamis in the Mediterranean and its connected seas: Geological signatures, generation mechanisms and coastal impacts. Marine Geology, 354: 81–109.

(2013) Clark KJ, Cochran UA, Berryman KR, Biasi G, Langridge R, Villamor P, Bartholomew T, Litchfield N, Pantosti D, Marco S, Van Dissen R, Turner G, Hemphill-Haley M. Deriving a long paleoseismic record from a shallow water Holocene basin next to the Alpine fault, New Zealand. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 125(5-6): 811-832. 

Awards and prizes

In 1995 she receives the ILP Edward Flinn award for "her contribution to the study of the Paleoseismology and Holocene Tectonics several parts of the World”

Position/Role

Full Professor of Psychology at the University of Milano Bicocca.

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan, in 1981 she began a specialization course in Neurology at the same university which ended in 1985. From 1986 to 1989 she was engaged in a research doctorate in Psychobiology (Neuropsychology sector). Later, from 1992 to 1993, she was admitted to the first year of the Postgraduate School of Psychiatry. Since 1982 she has been an internal doctor at the Institute of Neurological Clinic of the University of Milan where she won the CIBA-Geigy scholarship for the study of "Cognitive Functions in the brain-injured" in 1984. Thanks to her studies she won a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Neurological Clinic of the University of Fribourg (Germany). In 1988 she was in Cambridge where she worked first with a scholarship from the European Science Foundation and then paid by the Medical Research Council until 1991. In 1991 she returned to Italy permanently and worked at the Neurological Clinic of the San Paolo Hospital in Milan. In 1998 at the University of Palermo she became associate professor of Physiological Psychology. Since 2004 she has been a full professor at the University of Milan Bicocca. Her academic experience was enhanced by the appointment as director of the psychology department at the same university from 2002 to 2008, while she was coordinator of the PhD in Experimental Psychology, Linguistics and Cognitive Neuroscience from 2007 to 2012. From 2010 to 2013 she was President of Doctoral School in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience and secretary of the School of Specialization in Neuropsychology. Since May 2016 she has been president of the Italian Society of Neuropsychology.

Scientific results

The main research topics of Costanza Papagno are language disorders in patients with focal and degenerative brain injuries, with particular reference to abstract-concrete dissociation, to the development of language in children with a cochlear implant (an electronic artificial ear capable of restoring the auditory perception in people with severe deafness), the effects of transcranial electrical stimulation (tDCS) and short-term memory disorders. One of Papagno's and colleagues' recent discoveries concerns the "hooked fasciculus", a bundle of fibers that (among other things) acts as a "bridge", connecting the two areas of the brain that are used to call the proper names by connecting them to the face of a person. In the field of memory, the capabilities of the uncinate fasciculus in patients who have had a brain tumor removed were tested. Tests have shown that patients still in possession of the "hooked fasciculus" are able to perform this operation, unlike the patients to whom the file has been removed. Control tests of other brain activities (long-term memory, understanding of words and sentences and spatial cognition) have not shown differences between patients with or without the dossier.

Editorial work and publications

Costanza Papagno is part of numerous scientific committees and is the editor of several scientific journals as well as the author of numerous articles, including:

(2016) Papagno C, Casarotti A. Comi A, Pisoni A, Lucchelli F, Bizzi A, Riva M, Bello L. Long-term proper name anomia after removal of the uncinate fasciculus. Brain Function and Structure, 221, 687-694. 

(2016) Papagno C, Pisoni P, Mattavelli G, Casarotti A, Comi A, Fumagalli F, Vernice M, Fava E, Riva M, Bello L. Specific disgust processing in the left insula: New evidence from direct electrical stimulation. Neuropsychologia, 84, 29-35. 

(2016) Papagno C, Cecchetto C, Pisoni A, Bolognini N. Deaf, blind or deaf-blind: Is touch enhanced? Experimental Brain Research, 234, 627-636. 

(2014) Papagno C, Vallar G. A plastic brain for a changing environment. Cortex, 58, 248-250. 

(2014) Vallar G, Bello L, Bricolo E, Castellano A, Casarotti A, Falini A, Riva M, Fava E, Papagno C. Cerebral correlates of visuo-spatial neglect. A direct cerebral stimulation study. Human Brain Mapping, 35(4):1334-50. 

(2013) Papagno C, Vernice M, Cecchetto C. Phonology without semantics? Good enough for verbal short-term memory. Evidence from a patient with semantic dementia. Cortex, 49, 626-636. 

(2011) Papagno C, Miracapillo C, Casarotti A, Romero Lauro L, Castellano A, Falini A, Casaceli G, Bello L. What is the role of the uncinate fasciculus? Surgical removal and proper name retrieval. Brain, 134, 405-414. 

(2011) Papagno C, Gallucci M, Casarotti A, Castellano A, Falini A, Carrabba G, Giussani C, Fava E, Bello L, Caramazza A. Connectivity constraints on cortical reorganization of neural circuits involved in object naming. Neuroimage, 55, 1306-1313. 

(2011) Cattaneo Z, Pisoni A, Papagno C. Transcranial direct current stimulation over Broca's region improves phonemic and semantic fluency in healthy individuals. Neuroscience, 183, 64-70. 

(1998) Baddeley AD, Gathercole S, Papagno C. The Phonological loop as a language learning device. Psychological Review, 105, 158-173.

Position/Role

Professor of Chemistry & Molecular Biology at King's College of London

Professional career

Graduated in Chemistry at the University Federico II of Naples, she moved in 1982 to the United States where she worked for a year at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Wisconsin. In 1984, thanks to an exchange project between Italy and Switzerland, she joined the research team of Nobel Prize winner Richard Robert Ernst, at the ETH in Zurich. In 1987, she obtained her PhD and moved as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford. In 1988 she began working at the EMBL (European Molecular Biology Laboratory) in Heidelberg, Germany, where in 1991 she was appointed head of the first NMR laboratory at EMBL. In 1997 she became team leader at the National Institute for Medical Research of the Medical Research Council in London where she remained until 2013 when she became full professor at King's College in London. She continued to teach with a part-time assignment until 2018, spending the other half of the time as full professor at the University of Pavia. In 2018 she was appointed professor at the Normal University of Pisa, as the first and only female lecturer in the Normal Science class in 208 years of the school life. At the beginning of 2019, she resigned following bureaucratic-administrative obstacles that prevented her from maintaining her position at King's College in London where she has now returned full-time.

Scientific results

Annalisa Pastore has worked for more than 30 years on the relationship between structure and function of peptides and proteins. After starting to work on structural muscle proteins, she has been dealing with proteins involved in neurodegeneration for many years. She has two main research lines: the first concerns mitochondrial diseases with particular attention to Friedreich's ataxia, which she has been working on since the responsible gene was discovered in 1996. Of this protein she has studied the structure and binding properties and discovered that it is part of a protein complex responsible for the formation of iron sulfur clusters, essential groups that provide electrons in proteins. The second main interest concerns proteins that take part in aggregative processes such as those that take place in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Editorial work and publications

Annalisa Pastore is author of abotu 300 scientific publications including:

Y(2018) Yan, R., Yalinca, H., Paoletti, F., Gobbo, F., Marchetti, L, Kuzmanic, A., Lamba, D., Gervasio, F.L., Konarev, P.V., Cattaneo, A., Pastore, A. The structure of the Pro-domain of mouse proNGF in contact with the NGF domain. Structure, 27(1):78-89.

(2017) Alfano C, Sanfelice D, Martin SR, Pastore A, Temussi PA.  An optimized strategy to measure protein stability highlights differences between cold and hot unfolded states. Nature Commun. 8:15428.

(2016) Corvino, A., Severino, B., Fiorino^, F., Frecentese, F., Magli^, E., Perissutti, E., Santagada^, V., Bucci, M., Cirino^, G., Kelly^, G., Servillo^, L., Popowicz^, G., Pastore^, A., Caliendo, G.  Fragment-based de novo design of a cystathionine y-lyase selective inhibitor blocking hydrogen sulfide production. Scientific Reports, 6, 64398.

(2015) Ruggeri, F.S., Longo, G., Faggiano, S., Lipiec, E., Pastore, A*., Dietler, G.* Infrared nanospectroscopy characterization of oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates during amyloid formation. Nature Comm., 6, 7831. 

(2013) Yan, R., Konarev, P.V. Iannuzzi, C., Adinolfi, A., Roche, B.., Kelly, G.,  Simon, L., Martin, S.R. Py, B., Barras, F., Svergun, D.I., Pastore, A.  Ferredoxin competes with bacterial frataxin in binding to the desulfurase IscS. JBC 288: 24777-87.

(2010) Prischi, F., Konarev, P.V., Iannuzzi, C., Pastore, C., Adinolfi, S., Martin, S.R., Svergun, D.I., Pastore, A. Structural bases for the interaction of frataxin with the central components of iron-sulfur cluster assembly. Nature Communications 1, 95.

(2005) Nicastro, G., Menon, R., Masino, L., McDonalds, N.O., Pastore, A. The solution structure of the Josephin domain of ataxin-3: Structural determinants for molecular recognition. PNAS 102: 10493-10498.

(2001) Atkinson, R. A., Joseph, C., Kelly, G., Muskett, F.W.,Frenkiel, T.A., Nietlispach, D.,  Pastore, A.  Ca2+-independent binding of an EF-hand domain to a novel motif: an alpha-actinin/titin complex. Nature Struct. Biol. 8: 853-857.

(1996) Musco, G., Stier, G., Joseph, C., Castiglione Morelli, M.A., Nilges, M., Gibson, T.J., Pastore, A.  Three-dimensional structure and stability of the KH domain: Molecular insights into the Fragile X syndrome. Cell 85: 237-245.

(1994) Pfuhl M., Winder S. and Pastore, A.  Nebulin, a helical actin binding protein. EMBO J. 1782-1789.

Awards and prizes

In 2000 she was appointed EMBO Membership and since 2013 she is a member of the Academia Europeae.

Position/Role

Full Professor in Theoretical Physics at the University of Milano Bicocca.

Professional career

In 1984 Silvia Penati gets the master’s in physics at the University of Milano. In 1985 she wins a scholarship to enter a PhD program at the physics Department of University of Milano, where she obtains the PhD title in Physics in 1989. In 1988 she wins a postdoctoral fellowship at Brandeis University, Massachusetts, US, where she carries out her research until 1990. She comes back to Milano University with a second postdoctoral fellowship, where she wins a competition for a permanent researcher position starting in 1992. In 2000 she moves to the new-born University of Milano-Bicocca where she becomes associate professor in 2003 and full professor in 2017. In 2013 she wins, as Principal Investigator, a European COST project “The String Theory Universe”, that involves about 500 researchers from 25 European countries, a scientific networking project in theoretical physics with a special focus on the problem of the low percentage of women in this community. From 2012 to 2018 she is President of the Teaching Council of the Physics Department, University of Milano-Bicocca. Since 2020 she chairs a university working group on gender issue in academia, and the European network GenHET, based at CERN-Geneve, active in the promotion of female excellence in theoretical physics. She participates as invited speaker in many international congresses. She organizes several international conferences; she constantly acts as peer revisor for the main international journals of theoretical physics and for EU and Australian Research Council projects.

Since 1992 she has been teaching Quantum Mechanics, General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory and Mathematical Methods for Physics at bachelor’s and master’s in Physics. She periodically delivers supersimmetry courses at international PhD schools. Along her career she has supervised about one hundred bachelor and master students, and about fifteen PhD students. 

Since 1985 she has been carrying out periodical outreach activities in secondary schools and for the general public.

Scientific results

Silvia Penati started her career in research working on various aspects of string theory, a theory that was originally proposed as an attempt to unify the four fundamental forces, gravity included, but that subsequently developed into a powerful mathematical framework, inspiring new ideas not only in the context of theoretical particle physics, but more generally in the study of strongly correlated systems. In this context, her main contributions regarded the study of the interacting dynamics of particles with arbitrary spin, string sigma models coupled to gravity, and the study of integrable systems in two dimensions that may have interesting applications to the description of bidimensional phenomena like the Kondo effect, dissipative systems, quantum impurities and the quantum Hall effect. In subsequent years, Silvia Penati studied supersymmetric quantum field theories and supergravity, inspired by string theory and relevant for the most recent developments in the holographic description of gravity. In this context the most recent and relevant results concern supersymmetric gauge theories in three dimensions and the development of non-trivial theoretical tests of the AdS/CFT correspondence - an explicit realization of the holographic principle for the description of quantum gravity and black holes - and the description of physical systems with defects and impurities.  

Editorial work and publications

Silvia Penati has co-authored more than 100 publications in high impact international journals with peer review. 

See below a selection:

[1988] Howe P S, Penati S, Pernici M, Townsend P K, Wave Equations for arbitrary spin from Quantization of the Extended Supersymmetric Spinning Particle, Physics Letters B215 (1988): 555-558.

[1995] Penati S, Zanon D, Quantum Integrability in two-dimensional systems with boundary, Physics Letters B358 (1995): 63-72.

[2000] Mussardo G, Penati S, A quantum Field Theory with Infinite Resonance States, Nuclear Physics B567: 454-492.

[2000] Gates S J, Grisaru M T, Penati S, Holomorphy, minimal homotopy and 4D, N=1 Bardeen-Gross- Jackiw anomaly, Physics Letters B481 (2000): 397-407. 

[2002] Arutyunov G, Penati S, Petkou A C, Santambrogio A, Sokatchev E, Nonprotected operators in N=4 SYM and multiparticle states of AdS(5) SUGRA, Nuclear Physics B643 (2002): 49-78.

[2003] Klemm D, Penati S, Tamassia L, Non(anti)commutative superspace, Classical Quantum Gravity 20 (2003): 2905-2916.

[2003] Grisaru M T, Penati S, Romagnoni A, Two loop renormalization for nonanticommutative N=1/2 supersymmetric Z model, JHEP 08 (2003):003.

[2005] Mauri A, Penati S, Santambrogio A, Zanon D, Exact results in planar N=1superconformal Yang-Mills theory, JHEP 11 (2005): 024.

[2010] Bianchi M S, Penati S, Siani M, Infrared stability of N=2 Chern-Simons matter theories, JHEP 05 (2010): 106.

[2011] Bianchi M S, Leoni M, Mauri A, Penati S, Santambrogio A, Scattering Amplitudes/Wilson Loop duality in ABJM theory, JHEP 01 (2011): 073.

[2017] Bianchi M S, Griguolo L, Mauri A, Penati S, Preti M, Seminara D, Towards the exact Bremsstrahlung function of ABJM theory, JHEP 08 (2017): 022.

[2021] Penati S, Superconformal Line Defects in 3D, Universe 7 (2021) 9: 348.

The complete list of papers can be found at

https://inspirehep.net/literature?sort=mostrecent&size=25&page=1&q=a%20penati%2Cs

Position/Role

Researcher at the INGV (Italian Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) and General secretary of the International Association for Promoting Geoethics

Professional career

After getting the degree in Geological Sciences and the PhD in Earth Sciences at the University of Rome La Sapienza, in 1999 she begins her scientific activity in the field of geological hazards and natural risks, collaborating with the National Group from Defence from Earthquakes (National Research Council), the University of Roma Tre, the University of Genoa and the Polytechnic of Milan. From 2008 to 2011 she is Professor of Geology, Applied Geology and Geotechnics at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Rome La Sapienza and at the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Viterbo Tuscia. Since 2012 she teaches in the PhD Course on Landscape and Environment at the University of Rome La Sapienza, and in 2016 at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (Switzerland) in the online course "Disaster Risk Reduction" on the theme of resilience and geoethics. In 2012 she founds the International Association for Promoting Geoethics, a scientific network, with more than 2000 members in 124 countries, which aims to analyse and enhance the ethical, social and cultural aspects of Earth Sciences. She has been recently elected Councillor of the IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences) for the four-year period 2018-2022. She is a member of the Executive Board of the Italian Geological Society since 2013, member of the Executive Committee of IAEG Italy (International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment) since 2015 and coordinator of the "Geological and Geological Culture" section of the Italian Geological Society since 2012. From 2017 is a member of the Ethical Advisory Board of ICOS ERIC (Integrated Carbon Observation System), a pan-European research infrastructure dedicated to scientific data on the carbon cycle and greenhouse gases. From 2014 to 2016 she was Senior Editor of the Oxford University Press for the series "Natural Hazard Science". Since 2017 she is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal "Scienze e Ricerche".

Scientific results

Since 1999 she participates in national and international research projects on geological hazards, natural risks and seismic microzonation, with particular reference to historical centers and monumental sites. In 2007 she begins to deal with the communication and dissemination of geosciences, an activity that led her to publish two books with the publisher "Il Mulino" (Bologna). Since 2012 she has been constantly dedicated to the development of geoethics, namely the study of the ethical, social, philosophical and cultural implications of the research and practice of geosciences, of which she is among the world's leading experts. The activity on geoethics commits her in organizing scientific sessions in the major international conferences of geosciences, in publishing monographic volumes with international scientific publishers, in participating  as invited speaker to numerous scientific events. Currently within the European project ENVRI-Plus she is the leader of a work-package dedicated to the development of an ethical framework for European research infrastructures in the environmental and solid Earth sectors. She collaborates with newspapers and magazines (including Corriere della Sera) with articles on the topics of geological hazard, risk prevention, and scientific dissemination.

Editorial work and publications

Silvia Peppoloni is author of two due popular books: (with Doglioni), Pianeta Terra: una storia non finita(Il Mulino, 2016) e Convivere con i rischi naturali(Il Mulino, 2014).

She has authored numerous scientific publications. Among the latest:

[2018] Arattano M., Peppoloni S., Gatti A. The ethical duty to divulge geosciences and the improvement of communication skills to fulfill it. Episodes, 41(2): 97-103. 

[2017] Peppoloni S., Di Capua G., Bobrowsky P., Cronin V. (eds). Geoethics at the heart of all geoscience. Annals of Geophysics, 60, Fast track 7.

[2017] Bobrowsky P., Cronin V., Di Capua G., Kieffer S., Peppoloni S. "The emerging field of geoethics". In Scientific Integrity and Ethics: With Applications to the Geosciences, edited by L. Gundersen, Special Publication American Geophysical Union. New York, John Wiley.

[2016] Peppoloni S., Di Capua G. "Geoethics: Ethical, social, and cultural values in geosciences research, practice, and education". In Geoscience for the Public Good and Global Development: Toward a Sustainable Future, edited by Wessel G., Greenberg J., Geological Society of America, Special Paper, 520:17-21.

[2016] Di Capua G, Peppoloni S, Amanti M, Cipolloni C and Conte G. "Site classification map of Italy based on surface geology". In Developments in Engineering Geology, edited by Eggers M.J., Griffiths J.S., Parry S., Culshaw M.G. Geological Society, London. Engineering Geology Special Publication, 27: 147–158.

[2015] Peppoloni S., Di Capua G (eds.). Geoethics: the Role and Responsibility of Geoscientists. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 419.

[2015] Peppoloni S, Bobrowsky P, Di Capua G. "Geoethics: A Challenge for Research Integrity in Geosciences".  In Integrity in the Global Research Arena, edited by Steneck N, Anderson M, Kleinert S, Mayer T., World Scientific, pp. 287-294

[2014] Wyss M., Peppoloni S. (eds.). Geoethics, Ethical Challenges and Case Studies, in Earth Sciences, Elsevier.

[2014] Matteucci R., Gosso G., Peppoloni S., Piacente S., Wasowski J. The “Geoethical Promise”: A Proposal. Episodes, 37, 3:190-191.

[2014] Peppoloni S., Di Capua G. "Geoethical aspects in the natural hazards management". In Engineering Geology for Society and Territory, Vol. 17, edited by Lollino G, Arattano M, Giardino M, Oliveira R, Peppoloni S. Education, Professional Ethics and Public Recognition of Engineering Geology. Springer.

Awards and prizes

In 2017 she receives the Special Jury Prize at the XX Edition of the "Parco Majella" Literary Prize for the book, written in collaboration with C. Doglioni, "Planet Earth: an unfinished story", book that in 2016 also won the third place at the National Award for Scientific Dissemination, in the category Mathematics, Physics and Natural Sciences. For the same award, she was a finalist in the 2014 edition, with the book "Living with natural risks".

Position/Role

Full Professor of Neuroscience at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan and Head of Unit "In vivo Human Molecular and Structural Neuroimaging", Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan

Professional career

After graduating in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan, she continued her training by specialising in Neurology, followed by another in Radiology, also at the University of Milan. In 1987-1988 she left Italy for London where she was a researcher at the Royal Post-Graduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, University of London. In 1989, on her return to Italy, she became a researcher at the Istituto Tecnologie Biomediche Avanzate del C.N.R. in Milan; from 1991 to 2000 she was research director at the Istituto di Neuroscienze e Bioimmagini del C.N.R. in Milan. Since 2001 she has been full professor of Neuroscience at the University Vita-Salute San Raffaele in Milan, Head of the "In vivo Human Molecular and Structural Neuroimaging" Unit of the Division of Neuroscience of the San Raffaele Scientific Institute and coordinator of the Neuroimaging Diagnostic Activity Area, Nuclear Medicine, of the San Raffaele Hospital. Since 2021 she is also Director of the School of Specialization in Neuropsychology, Faculty of Psychology.

Scientific results

Daniela Perani and her group are developing numerous research projects in the field of structural (MRI) and molecular (PET) neuroimaging, techniques applied to the study of neurodegenerative diseases. Daniela Perani's studies are also carried out in the field of functional neuroimaging (fMRI) for the study of normal cognitive functions and their modifications associated with neurological diseases. In fact, the use of functional neuroimaging techniques (such as SPECT, PET, fMRI) enables diagnostic investigations in numerous cognitive neurosciences such as neuropsychology, neurophysiology (sensorimotor systems) and neurology (study of dementia, cerebrovascular diseases, extrapyramidal diseases such as Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and prion diseases, caused by the accumulation in the brain of an abnormal protein, the prion). These techniques provide the possibility of investigating in vivo, in normal subjects or patients, functional brain activity during the performance of sensorimotor or cognitive tasks. PET and fMRI techniques have demonstrated the interaction between blood flow and brain function. These high spatial resolution methods allow a precise anatomical localisation of regional brain activation, which in turn represents the functional correlate of in vivo mental activity.

Editorial work and publications

She is author of more that 250 full papers, books and chapters, including:

(2013) Klunk WE, Perani D. Amyloid and neurodegeneration: Converging and diverging paths. Neurology, 81(20):1728-1729. 

(2013) Garibotto V, Tettamanti M, Marcone A, Florea I, Panzacchi A, Moresco R, Virta JR, Rinne J, Cappa SF, Perani D. Cholinergic activity correlates with reserve proxies in Alzheimer's disease. Neurobiology of Aging, 34(11):2694.e13-8. 

(2013) Iannaccone S, Cerami C, Alessio M, Garibotto V, Panzacchi A, Olivieri S, Gelsomino G, Moresco RM, Perani D. In vivo microglia activation in very early dementia with Lewy bodies, comparison with Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 19(1): 47-52. 

(2013) Consonni M, Cafiero R, Marin D, Tettamanti M, Iadanza A, Fabbro F, Perani D. Neural convergence for language comprehension and grammatical class production in highly proficient bilinguals is independent of age of acquisition. Cortex, 49(5):1252-1258. 

(2013) Nordberg A, Carter SF, Rinne J, Drzezga A, Brooks DJ, Vandenberghe R, Perani D, Forsberg A, Långström B, Scheinin N, Karrasch M, Någren K, Grimmer T, Miederer I, Edison P, Okello A, Van Laere K, Nelissen N, Vandenbulcke M, Garibotto V, Almkvist O, Kalbe E, Hinz R, Herholz K. A European multicentre PET study of fibrillar amyloid in alzheimer's disease. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, 40(1):104-114. 

(2012) Tettamanti M, Rognoni E, Cafiero R, Costa T, Galati D, Perani D. Distinct pathways of neural coupling for different basic emotions. Neuroimage, 59(2):1804-1817. 

(2012) Babiloni C, Buffo P, Vecchio F, Marzano N, Del Percio C, Spada D, Rossi S, Bruni I, Rossini PM, Perani D. Brains "in concert": Frontal oscillatory alpha rhythms and empathy in professional musicians. Neuroimage, 60(1):105-116.  

(2012) Marcone A, Garibotto V, Moresco RM, Florea I, Panzacchi A, Carpinelli A, Virta JR, Tettamanti M, Borroni B, Padovani A, Bertoldo A, Herholz K, Rinne JO, Cappa SF, Perani D. [11]-MP4A PET cholinergic measurements in amnestic mild cognitive impairment, probable alzheimer's disease, and dementia with lewy bodies: A bayesian method and voxel-based analysis. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 31(2):4387-399.

(2012) Canessa N, Alemanno F, Riva F, Zani A, Proverbio AM, Mannara N, Perani D, Cappa SF. The neural bases of social intention understanding: The role of interaction goals. PLoS ONE, 7(7). 

(2012) Lalli S, Piacentini S, Franzini A, Panzacchi A, Cerami C, Messina G, Ferré F, Perani D, Albanese A. Epidural premotor cortical stimulation in primary focal dystonia: Clinical and 18F-fluoro deoxyglucose positron emission tomography open study. Movement Disorders Journal, 27(4):533-428.

Awards and prizes

Daniela Perani is the Italian Neuroimaging Coordinator of the National Alzheimer NETWORKS Finalised Project 2014-2017. She is also a member of the Italian Society of Neuropsychology, the International Society of Neuroscience (ISFNSCI) and a member of the International Neuropsychological Symposium, since 2000.

Position/Role

Full Professor in Computer Science at La Sapienza University of Rome

Professional career

After graduating in Computer Science at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1993, she continued her education with a PhD in Computer Engineering at the same university. During her PhD she won a prestigious Fulbright scholarship, thanks to which she was a Visiting Research Associate at the Advanced Communications Technologies laboratory of Boston University in 1996, and the following year at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Texas at Dallas. In 1998, she collaborated with the Department of Electronics and Information of the Politecnico di Milano. The following year she became a research fellow at the Politecnico di Milano. Since the following year she has been a research fellow at the Politecnico di Milano and also carries out teaching activities. Since 2001 she has been a tenured researcher in Computer Science at the University of Rome La Sapienza, where she became an associate professor in 2006 and a full professor in 2021. Since January 2021 she has been Pro-Rector with responsibility for the development of entrepreneurial culture for the enhancement of the third mission.

Scientific results

Chiara Petrioli's research activity concerns the development of solutions for next-generation wireless systems, sensor networks and the "Internet of things". In particular, Chiara Petrioli coordinated the European GENESI project which developed innovative static and dynamic structural monitoring systems for buildings, bridges and tunnels, tested in the construction phase of the B1 metro in Rome and the construction of the Pont de la Poya in Switzerland. The technologies developed in GENESI allow to provide real-time data for long periods of time thanks to a new communication paradigm, based on wake up radio, which allows the devices to consume energy only when they have to perform operations or communicate, and thanks the ability to power devices through energy harvesting, i.e. to collect energy from the environment through micro-wind turbines and solar cells. In a collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, Chiara Petrioli's team has therefore developed micro-climatic monitoring systems, shocks and vibrations whose data are helping to define "good practices and guidelines" to increase the safety of works of art in the transport phase. These systems have been used within the Safe-Art project to monitor over forty transports of important works of art (such as the Pietà Rondinini, the Narciso by Caravaggio, the Marcello of the Louvre, the Livia Orante of the Vatican Museums, the Crater of Eufronio of the Museum of Villa Giulia). Chiara Petrioli also proposed solutions to extend the “Internet of things” to marine environments. Thanks to the technologies developed by its group and by twenty international partners in the SUNRISE project, submarine sensor nodes and autonomous submarine vehicles interconnected in a network have been developed and they are able to cooperate and perform complex tasks. These technologies are laying the foundations for creating an intelligent monitoring system for the marine environment, making it possible to sustainably exploit its resources and allowing policies based on safeguarding the environment to be based on quantitative data. The SUNRISE system can be employed in various application contexts: from environmental monitoring, to the conservation and enhancement of submerged archaeological sites, to the protection of critical infrastructures and maritime borders, to the monitoring of aquaculture farms. In December 2016 it was included in NT100, i.e. the list of Nominet Trusts on the best 100 "global social tech changing our lives".

Editorial work and publications

Chiara Petrioli is, or was, a member of the editorial board of numerous scientific journals. She has signed numerous publications, including:

(2016) Ateniese G, Bianchi G, Capossele A, Petrioli C, Spenza D. Low-cost Standard Signatures for Energy-Harvesting Wireless Sensor Networks. ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems.

(2015) Petrioli C, Petroccia R, Potter JR, Spaccini D. The SUNSET framework for simulation, emulation and at-sea testing of underwater wireless sensor networks. Ad Hoc Networks, 34:224-238.

(2015) Basagni S, Petrioli C, Petroccia R, Spaccini D. CARP: A Channel-aware Routing Protocol for Underwater Acoustic Wireless Networks. Ad Hoc Networks, 34:92-104.

(2015) Spenza D, Magno M, Basagni S, Benini L, Paoli M, Petrioli C. Beyond Duty Cycling: Wake-up Radio with Selective Awakenings for Long-lived Wireless Sensing Systems. IEEE INFOCOM, Hong Kong, 522-530.

(2014) Petrioli P, Spenza D, Tommasino P, Trifiletti A. A Novel Wake-Up Receiver with Addressing Capability for Wireless Sensor Nodes. Distributed Computing in Sensor Systems Conference 2014:18-25.

(2014) La Porta T, Petrioli C, Phillips C, Spenza D. Sensor-mission assignment in rechargeable wireless sensor networks. ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks (TOSN), 10(4).

(2014) Basagni S, Boloni L, Gjanci P, Petrioli C, et al. Maximizing the Value of Sensed Information in Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks via an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle. Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM. Toronto, Canada.

(2014) Petrioli C, Nati M, Casari P, Zorzi M, Basagni S. ALBA-R: Load-Balancing Geographic Routing Around Connectivity Holes in Wireless Sensor Networks. IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, 25(3):529-539.

(2011) La Porta TF, Maselli G, Petrioli G. Anticollision Protocols for Single-Reader RFID Systems: Temporal Analysis and Optimization. IEEE Transaction on Mobile Computing, 10(2):267-279.

(2003) Petrioli C, Basagni S Chlamtac I, Configuring BlueStars: Multihop scatternet formation for Bluetooth networks. IEEE Transactions on Computers, Special Issue on Wireless Internet, 52:779-790.

Awards and prizes

Chiara Petrioli won a Fulbright grant in 1996. The work of her research group won the "Best poster" award at IEEE INFOCOM 2013, the "Best demo" award at ACM WINTECH 2013 and the "Best demo" award at ACM WUWNET 2014. GENESI and SUNRISE research projects coordinated by Chiara Petrioli were highlighted as successful cases on the Digital Agenda of Europe website and on the website of the Vice-President of the European Commission. The SUNRISE project was chosen as the testimonial of the campaign of the Italian representation of the European commission EuFactor.

Position/Role

Head of the Regional Coordination of Confturismo Toscana within Confcommercio Toscana. Head of Business Services (environment, safety, development) of Confcommercio Province of Florence and Confcommercio Province of Arezzo.

Professional career

After graduating as an Environmental and Territory Engineer from the University of Florence in 2000 and after specializing in Environmental Management and Quality Systems in 2001, I started working as an expert in Environment and Sustainable Development with the team of Coordinators of Agenda 21 (the UN Action Plan for sustainable development for the 21st century) called Terre di Siena.It is a plan a plan to carry out environmental, economic and social sustainability projects in Siena province.

I published articles for magazines and journals and I also developed long-life learning and professional training courses. I dealt with the involvement of economic stakeholders and I took responsibility for services and young people advance.

From 2002 to 2004, within the Environmental Development & Consulting Department of Monte dei Paschi Bancaverde Spa, I was a consultant on the issues of ISO 9001 / ISO 14001 and EMAS certifications for client companies and companies engaged in investments (over 1,000,0000 €) in the field of renewable energy (wind farms, photovoltaic parks, biomass power plants, waste management and recovery plants).

For several years I was a member of the Environmental Assessment and Landscape Commission of the Municipal Building Commission.

From 2005 to 2012 I worked for Toscana Promozione, the regional agency for economic and tourist promotion.

I dealt with territorial marketing and attracted foreign direct investments. I worked on issues and projects developing active and passive internationalization and research. I mapped the economic and the excellent scientific-technological regional offer (in several sectors: renewable energy, real estate, life sciences, ICT and nautical field). I handled activities concerning promotion and searching for partners or foreign investors to match them with the excellences of the regional R & D and industry.

Being responsible for this field, I took part in promotional tours or missions abroad together with CEO, managers or entrepreneurs of Tuscan companies and multinational companies and also together with research managers of Tuscan universities or research centres. In 2007 I led the Tuscan ICT selected delegation during the Italian Springevent in Tokyo.

I was also responsible for the organization of incoming trips in Tuscany of specialized international Venture Capitalists and collaborated in the preparation of related bilateral meetings with selected companies and actors of the Tuscan research system. 

Subsequently, I worked as a Key Account for companies working in the mechanical sector and in other high-tech sectors in Tuscany.

In 2008 I was appointed to the Board of Directors of APEA (Provincial Agency for Energy, Environment and Local Development), an in-house company created to carry out actions in the field of environment and energy and  whose functions subsequently expanded in order to manage economic development and to design European projects.

Since 2103 I have carried out engineering and technical-design actions within the Public Works Office of Siena Province Administration. I have worked in the field of soil protection and subsequently in the road sector, also checking activities meant to promote work health and safety as Head of the Prevention Service and Protection for the same institution.

In 2020 she was appointed by the multinational LCI Italy as HSE Manager (Safety-Environment-Innovation) for the group's companies in Italy (more than 10 companies).

Since 2021, she has been coordinating the Associations and Federations of the tourism sector in the Region of Tuscany that are part of the Confcommercio system, liaising with regional and local institutions to develop the sector.

As Head of Business Services, he also provides consultancy and support in the areas of Environment, Safety, Hygiene and Privacy to Confcommercio member companies in the provinces of Florence and Arezzo.

Scientific results

Elisa Poggiali is an expert in sustainable development, territorial promotion and internationalisation. In particular, she has worked on the implementation of business management systems or public administration in terms of attention to the environment, quality, safety and economic development through the establishment of international relations (both scientific and economic) and the creation of knowledge networks for the attraction of FDI (foreign direct investment) and the growth of regional enterprises. She has expertise in sustainable development issues and in sharing objectives and projects (action plans) for local territories. She has managed and manages business development as a consultant and the participation of companies active in various sectors, mainly in high technology and innovation, in specialised events and trade fairs abroad.

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of some publications and information materials on the relevant programme areas, strategies, policies and processes identified in AGENDA21:

(2002) Iozzi G., Fiorito L., Poggiali E., Valeriani B., AG 21 Terre di Siena, Amministrazione provinciale di Siena.

(2002) Iozzi G., Fiorito L., Poggiali E., Valeriani B., Manuale guida AG21 delle Terre di Siena, Amministrazione provinciale di Siena. 

(2003) Iozzi G., Fiorito L., Poggiali E., Valeriani B., Gli strumenti volontari di certificazione ambientale: percorso comune tra pubblico e privato. Circondario Valdelsa,Amministrazione provinciale di Siena. 

(2003) Iozzi G., Fiorito L., Poggiali E., Valeriani B., Tracce di un processo: Agenda 21 Terre di Siena- Circondario Valdelsa, Amministrazione provinciale di Siena. 

(2003) Iozzi G., Fiorito L., Poggiali E., Valeriani B., I tre volti dell'agricoltura, risorsa economica, socio-culturale ed ecologica per lo sviluppo- Circondario Valdelsa, Amministrazione provinciale di Siena. 

(2005) Poggiali E., Manuale operativo di Agenda 21 Locale, Amministrazione provinciale di Siena. 

She is the author of the publication produced for the Region of Tuscany, Department of Territorial and Environmental Policies, Energy Area: Biserni, Bolognin, Chaussadis, Cesareo, Giovannoni, Mautone, Penna, Poggiali, Scenari per la realizzazione di parchi eolici da parte di Enti Locali, 2005 and of a publication on the themes of territorial planning of vast areas, realised for the Provincial Administration of Siena to bring the themes of sustainability, of the norms for the government of the territory, of the conservation of the ecosystems, of the landscapes, and of the government of the cities closer: Campanini, Poggiali, Introduzione al PTCP della provincia di Siena per i ragazzi della scuola secondaria di secondo grado, 2006.

She has been involved for years (2005/2012) in the creation and/or revision of documents/content for institutional and corporate promotion and communication, and web content (www.agenda21.provincia.siena.it www.investintuscany.com). 

Position/Role

Chief Executive Officer of companies operating in the public transport sector.

Professional career

Graduate in Civil Transportation Engineering in University of Bologna-Italy, spent a period of study at the ENPC-Paris. She has been speaker in international conferences with publications in French and English magazines. In over 8 years in Paris, she was a researcher at National Research Institute for Transports, Head of the medium-long term projections of public transport customers at Keolis Group and Head of the Forecasts and Models at the Department for Investments Planning of Rèseau Ferrè de France. Back in Italy in 2001, she has been employed by ARRIVA Italia-DB Group in different roles of Managing Director in italian public transport companies. From July 2018 to September 2019, she assumed the role of Business Innovation Director of Arriva Italia. Now she is CEO of STIE and MOVIBUS, two bus companies in Lombardy. She was also CEO of ComoNext (Como Innovation Hub).

Scientific results

Annarita Polacchini is expert on the Mobility Behavior, on the Residential Location and Transport Choices of Households, Planning of Public Transport Services, Business Plan.

Editorial work and publications

(1997) J.P.Orfeuil, A. Polacchini, "Les dépenses transports et les dépenses logement des ménages Franciliens" (I costi di trasporto e d’alloggio delle famiglie della regione parigina), DREIF, Paris. 

(1997) C. Gallez, J.P.Orfeuil, A. Polacchini, "L’évolution de la mobilité quotidienne : croissance ou réduction des disparités?" (L’evoluzione della mobilità quotidiana: crescita o riduzione delle disparità?), RTS 56- numero speciale -Enquête Nationale Transports et Communications 1994, Paris 

(1997) M-H. Massot, A. Polacchini, F.Broqua, J-M. Blosseville, F. Dumontet, M. Parent, "Prior technical and Economical Evaluation of a Station Car System « Praxitéle »" (Analisi tecnica e valutazione economica del sistema di locazione auto di breve durata «Praxitéle»), 4th World Congress on Intellingent Transport Systems, 21-24 Ottobre 1997, Berlin-Germany. 

(1997) C. Gallez, L. Hivert, A. Polacchini, "Budgets Energie Environnement des Déplacements (BEED): un outil de diagnostic et de simulation des consommations et émissions polluantes au sein d'une région urbaine" (Budget Energia Ambiente degli Spostamenti : uno strumento per la diagnosi e la simulazione dei consumi e delle emissioni inquinamenti all’interno di una regione urbanizzata), 4° Meeting Internazionale su "Trasporto ed inquinamento dell’aria" - 9-13 giugno 1997, Avignone – apparso in inglese nella rivista «International Journal of Environnement and Pollution».

(1997) J-M. Blosseville, F. Dumontet, M-H. Massot, M. Parent, A. Polacchini, "Performance Evaluation of a Station Car System" - Transport Research Board 1997, 12-16 Janvier 1997, Washington-USA. 

(1996) A. Bernard, A. Polacchini, A. Séguin, Y. Bussière, "Household Structure and Mobility Patterns of Women in O-D Survey: Methods and Results Based on the Case Studies of Montreal and Paris" (Struttura familiare e comportamenti di mobilità delle donne : metodi di studio e risultati basati sui dati di Montreal e Parigi), The Second National Conference on Women's Travel Issues', 23-26 Octobre 1996, Baltimora Maryland-USA 

(1996) F. Leurent, A. Polacchini - "Sur le choix du mode de transport par les voyageurs en milieu urbain" (Analisi delle scelte del modo di trasporto scelto dai viaggiatori in ambito urbano) – DREIF, Paris. 

(1996) C. Gallez, A. Polacchini, L. Hivert, "Le Budget Energie Emissions des Déplacements (BEED): un outil d'évaluation des politiques urbaines" (Budget Energia e Ambiente degli Spostamenti : uno strumento di valutazione delle politiche di pianificazione in ambito urbano), Congresso Inrets – Ademe - 'Environnement, véhicules et mobilité urbaine', Paris, 25 Giugno 1996. 

(1995) A. Polacchini - "La mobilité et les échanges de déplacements des Franciliens en fonction d'une typologie de zone urbaine" (Mobilità e scambi di spostamenti nell’area parigina in funzione della tipologia urbana) – Congresso Internazionale dell’Atec a Havre - 17/18 Ottobre 1995. 

(1994) F. Leurent, A. Polacchini - "Prospection d'une demande potentielle pour la voiture en libre service urbain" (Proiezione della domanda potenziale per un sistema di auto a noleggio di breve durata in ambito urbano) - Projet Praxitèle-Inrets, Octobre 1994.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Turin

Professional career

Valeria Poli obtained her degree in Biology in 1984, and then a doctorate in human biology in 1992, at the University of Turin. From 1988 to 1990 she was a post-doctoral fellow at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, and from 1990 to 1992 at Columbia University in New York. From 1992 to 1997 she was Principal Investigator at the Research Institute of Molecular Biology P. Angeletti of Rome. From 1997 to 2001 she worked at the University of Dundee, in England, as Principal Investigator, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow, Honorary Senior Lecturer and Head of the Transgenic Unit, which she established at the Department of Biochemistry.
In 2001 she became associate professor of molecular biology at the University of Turin, and then, since 2005, Full professor.
She is currently President of the Italian Society of Biophysics and Molecular Biology.

Scientific results

Valeria Poli has contributed to fundamental advances in the understanding of the mechanisms that mediate the activity and function at the transcriptional level of cytokines (molecules produced by various types of cells and secreted in the surrounding medium, usually in response to a stimulus capable of modifying the behavior of other cells inducing new activities such as growth, differentiation and death), in both physiological and pathological conditions. In particular, she contributed to the discovery of the transcription factor IL-6DBP-C/EBPbeta, which mediates many of the functions of Interleukin 6 (IL-6), a protein that acts as a multifunctional cytokine, both pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory; the generation and characterization of mutant mouse strains for the C/EBPbeta and IL-6 genes, mice then widely used by the scientific community to understand the physiological and pathological functions of the two factors; the generation of mouse strains genetically manipulated for the pro-oncogenic transcription factor STAT3; and finally the pathogenic role of STAT3 in mediating auto-immune myocarditis.
Currently the activities of her laboratory mainly concern the study of the biological functions of the transcription factor STAT3, the main mediator of the cytokine signaling belonging to the IL-6 family, using in vivo cellular and murine models. In particular she is focusing on the understanding of the fundamental mechanisms that mediate STAT3 protein activity as an oncogene, at the crossroads between inflammation, immune response, stem and cancer cells niche and tumor transformation, analyzing its interactions with other tumorigenic/tumor suppressor genes and trying to identify specific pro-oncogenic target genes. She is currently engaged in research on the relationship between breast cancer cells and cancer associated fibroblasts in the tumor niche, on the role of STAT3 in the regulation of energy metabolism and calcium homeostasis in the tumor as well as in normal cells, and on the role of STAT3-dependent long non coding RNAs in stemness and differentiation.

Editorial work and publications

Valeria Poli is and has been in the editorial board of prestigious scientific journals such as Cell Communication and Signaling, American Journal of Cancer Research, Cancers and Frontiers in Molecular and Cellular Oncology. She acts as regular scientific reviewer for international journals such as Nature, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the EMBO Journal, the European Journal of Immunology, Cancer Research, the Journal of Cell Science, the Biochemical Journal, Circulation Research, Cell Death and Differentiation and PLOS ONE.

She is co-author of more than 150 publications, including those listed below.

[2018] Avalle L, Camporeale A, Morciano G, Caroccia N, Ghetti E, Orecchia V, Viavattene D, Giorgi C, Pinton P, Poli V. STAT3 localizes to the ER, acting as a gatekeeper for ER-mitochondrion Ca2+ fluxes and apoptotic responses. Cell Death & Differentation, 26: 932-942.

[2017] Avalle L, Incarnato D, Savino A, Gai M, Marino F, Pensa S, Barbieri I, Stadler MB, Provero P, Oliviero S, Poli V.MicroRNAs-143 and -145 induce epithelial to mesenchymal transition and modulate the expression of junction proteins. Cell Death & Differentation,  24: 1750-1760. 

[2014] Demaria M, Camporeale A, Poli V STAT3 and metabolism: How many ways to use a single molecule?  Int J Cancer, 135 (9): 1997-2003.

[2013] Camporeale A, Marino F, Papageorgiou A, Carai P, Fornero S, Fletcher S, Page BDG, Gunning P, Forni M, Chiarle R, Morello M, Jensen O, Levi R, Heymans S, Poli V. STAT3 activity is necessary and sufficient for the development of immune-mediated myocarditis in mice and promotes progression to dilated cardiomyopathy. EMBO Molecular Medicine, 5: 572–590.

[2012] Demaria M, Misale S, Giorgi C, Miano V, Camporeale A, Campisi J, Pinton P and Poli V. STAT3 can serve as a hit in the process of malignant transformation of primary cells, Cell Death and Differentiation, 19:1390-1397.

[2010] Barbieri I, Pensa S, Pannellini T, Quaglino E, Maritano D, Demaria M, Voster A, Turkson J, Cavallo F, Watson CJ,Provero P, Musiani P and Poli V. Constitutively active Stat3 enhances Neu-mediated migration and metastasis in mammary tumors via upregulation of Cten, Cancer Research, 70:2558-67.

[2009] Vallania F, Schiavone D, Dewilde S, Pupo E, Garbay S, Calogero R, Pontoglio M, Provero P andPoli V. Genome-Wide Discovery of Functional Transcription Factor Binding Sites by Comparative Genomics: the Case of Stat3, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106:5117-22.

[2004] Maritano D, Sugrue ML, Tininini S, Dewilde S, Strobl B, Fu XP, Murray-Tait V, Chiarle R and Poli V. The STAT3 isoforms, a and b, play unique and specific roles, Nature Immunology, 5:401-409.

[2001] Alonzi T, Maritano D, Gorgoni B, Rizzuto G, Libert C, Poli V. Essential role of STAT3 in the control of the acute phase response as revealed by inducible gene inactivation in the liver. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 21:1621-1632.

[1996] Screpanti I, Musiani P, Bellavia D, Cappelletti M, Aiello FB, Maroder M, Frati L, Modesti A, Gulino A and Poli V. Inactivation of the Interleukin-6 gene prevents development of Castleman's disease in C/EBPß-deficient mice, The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 184:1561-1566.

Awards and prizes

Valeria Poli was elected member of two of the most prestigious international scientific communities, the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), and the Academia Europaea.

She was a member of the Life Science panel for the Advanced European Research Council and she is among the expert evaluators of the Horizon 2020 projects. Regular reviewer for the technical-scientific evaluation of research projects for MIUR and for various international bodies and institutions such as the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council , the American Institute for Cancer Research, the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund, the Austrian Science Fund, the Foundation for Scientific Research Belgium.

Position/Role

Researcher at CNR, responsible of the Epitaxial Growth Laboratory (MOVPE and MBE) of the Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems (IMM), Lecce Unit. Scientific responsible for IMM of the research activity for the “Rete di Laboratori Pubblici di Ricerca PHASHYN”.  

Professional career

After graduating in Physics in 1991 at the University of Lecce, she continued his education through a PhD in Physics at the University of Bari, obtaining her degree in 1996. In September 1996 she won a post-doctoral position for one year in Wales, Great Britain, at the North East Wales Institute (NEWI), now Glyndwr University. Since March 1998 she has been a researcher in Physics of Matter at the IMM (Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems) of the CNR, Lecce section. In 1996/97 she was lecturer at several foreign institutions in Great Britain, in October 1998 Visiting Scientist at Chiba University, Chiba, Japan and from 1997 to 2011 Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Salento. She is the author of numerous degree and doctoral theses.

Scientific results

Her expertise includes the study of the semiconductor compound crystal growth, specially nanowires, and their optical morphological and functional properties. In particular, the study of the synthesis of semiconductor materials through epitaxial technologies (Vapour Phase Epitaxy, MOVPE and Molecular Beam Epitaxy, MBE), the study of the physical, chemical and morphological properties through optical spectroscopy techniques (luminescence and absorption) and microscopy (FE-SEM, cathodoluminescence). 
She has more than twenty five-years experience in the material science research field. She started by studying the optical and structural properties of low dimensional structures for optoelectronic applications. At present she works in the field of nanotechnology by studying and applying bottom-up approaches for the fabrication of the 1D nanostructures for application in nano- /opto- electronics, sensing and photonics.  Among her recent activities, Paola Prete is working on third generation photovoltaics for the project “Rete di Laboratori Pubblici di Ricerca PHASHYN”. This research could create a breakthrough in the area of renewable energy sources by using the nanotechnology: it focuses to the fabrication to and high efficiency III-generation solar cells made by nanowires, i.e. semiconductor nanocrystals of the dimension of a virus, i.e. of the order of few tens of millionth of a millimeter, each of them being a solar cell capable to convert in electricity an enormous amount of solar radiation. The technologies under developments at Lecce by Paola Prete will allow to pack tens of billions per square centimeter. A far-reaching technology which, in a close future, will ensure jump in cell efficiencies and low production costs opening up to unimaginable scenarios. Inside this topic, there is also the study of the van der Waals epitaxial growth of 2D layers (graphene and graphene-like materials)

Editorial work and publications

Since 2011 she is the founder and the Editor-in-Chief of the open access scientific journal “Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology”, SAGE, USA (2017 Impact Factor 1.730). Since December 2016, she is also Associate Editor of the renowned journal “Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials”, Elsevier (2017 Impact Factor 3.147). She is editor of books and Guest Editor of several international volumes and Special Issue on peer-reviewed journals such as Progress in Crystal Growth and Characterization of Materials (Elsevier), Crystal Research and Technology (WileyVCH), Applied Physics A: Material Science and Processing (Springer).  

She is author of more than 120 publications in peer reviewed journals, among which the following ones:  

[2018] Wolf D, Huebner R, Niermann T, Sturm S, Prete P, Lovergine N, Buechner B, Lubk A, Three-Dimensional Composition and Electric Potential Mapping of III-V CoreMultishell Nanowires by Correlative STEM and Holographic Tomography. Nano Letters, 18 (8) 4777-4784.   

[2017] Di Carlo V, Prete P, Dubrovskii V G, Berdnikov Y, Lovergine N, CdTe nanowires by Au-catalyzed Metalorganic Vapor Phase Epitaxy. Nano Letters, in stampa (pubblicato on-line 14 giugno, 2017), DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.7b00719.

[2015] Bianco GV, Losurdo M, Giangregorio MM, Sacchetti A, Prete P, Lovergine N, Capezzuto P, and Bruno G, Direct epitaxial CVD synthesis of tungsten disulfide on epitaxial and CVD graphene. RSC Advances, 5:98700-98708.

[2015] Chen G., McGuckin T, Hawley C J, Gallo EM, Prete P, Miccoli I, Lovergine N, Spanier J E, Subsurface imaging of coupled carrier transport in GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires. Nano Letters, 15 (1):75-79.

[2015] Miccoli I, Prete P, Lovergine N, A mass-transport limited model describing the MOVPE growth of III-V shells around dense free-standing nanowire arrays. CrystEngComm, 17 (31): 5998-6005.

[2014] Lubk A, Wolf D, Kern F, Roeder F, Prete P, Lovergine N, Lichte H, Nanoscale three-dimensional reconstruction of elastic and inelastic mean free path lenghts by electron holographic tomography. Applied Physics Letters, 105 (17):173101.

[2013] Chen G, Sun G, Ding Y J, Prete P, Miccoli I, Lovergine N, Shtrikman H, Kung P, Livneh T, J. E. Spanier J E, Direct measurement of band edge discontinuity in individual core-shell nanowires by photocurrent spectroscopy, Nano Letters, 13:4152−4157

[2012] Persano A, Taurino A, Prete P, Lovergine N, Nabet B, Cola A, Photocurrent properties of single GaAs/AlGaAs core-shell nanowires with Schottky contacts. Nanotechnology 23 (46):465701 (6pp).

[2011] Chen G, Gallo E M, Leaffer O D, McGuckin T, Prete P, Lovergine N, Spanier J E, Tunable hot-electron transfer within a single core-shell nanowire. Physical Review Letters, 107:156802 (1-5).

[2011] Gallo E M, Chen G, Currie M, McGuckin T, Prete P, Lovergine N, Nabet B, Spanier J E, Picosecond response times in GaAs/AlGaAs core/shell nanowire-based photodetectors. Applied Physics Letters 98 (24):241113 (3pp).

[2011] Wolf D, Lichte H, Pozzi G, Prete P, Lovergine N, Electron holographic tomography for mapping the three-dimensional distribution of electrostatic potential in III-V semiconductor nanowires. Applied Physics Letters 98 (26): 264103 (3pp).

Awards and prizes

She was winner of the Italian Association of Crystallography (AIC), Young scientists Award for the 2000 year, reserved to young scientists working in the field of crystallography who have obtained innovative results of both theoretical and applicative crystallographic interest, prize conferred with the following motivation: "for the innovative results obtained in the study of semiconductor growth and the determination of their optical and structural properties". She was the winner of the Best Oral presentation Prize at the Nanophotonics and Micro/Nano-Optics (NANOP) 2018 International Conference, Rome 30 Sep-3 Oct 2018. 
 Member of the Italian Crystal Growth Commission inside the Italian Association of Crystallography (AIC) during the 2006-2011 and 2015-2017 years. Coordinator of the Crystal Growth Section of AIC, 2012-2014. Italian Councillor of the International Organization for Crystal Growth (IOCG), 2012-2014. Chair of the European School on Crystal Growth (ESCG2015), Bologna 5-8 September 2015. Member of the Advisory and Scientific Board of several International Conference.  Project monitor in the field of research, pre-competitive development and technological transfer of the Regional Agency for Technology and Innovation (A.R.T.I.) Apulia Region, Italy. 
 

Position/Role

Research Manager in "Life Science" of the MOSE (Molecular Simulation Engineering) in Trieste.

Professional career

After graduating in Chemistry at the University of Trieste, in 1986 she obtained the qualification to the profession. From 1986 to 1990 she worked as a fellow at the Area Science Park in Trieste and at the University of Trieste. From 1990 to February 2002 she was teaching assistant at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Trieste. Since 2002 she is associate professor of Chemical Engineering in the same faculty.

Scientific results

The main research activities are focused on the study, correlation and prediction of the structure/property relationships of complex molecular systems such as dendrimers (macromolecules with a characteristic tree structure), proteins and drug transporters. In 2014, Sabrina Prici, together with other researchers from MOSE (Molecular Simulation Engineering) in Trieste and colleagues at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, published the results of the study on Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML). The study identified the molecular dynamics responsible for resisting targeted drugs. It was proved that patients undergoing long-term therapy developed mutations of a particular protein (BCR-ABL1) that made the therapy ineffective. So, Sabrina Prici and her colleagues provided important information for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, allowing not only the possibility of expressing a personalized therapy for the patient, but also investigating the possibility of creating active ingredients antagonistic to the protein mutation. Also in 2014, as part of international research, Sabrina Prici and colleagues develop a "nanovector" capable of transporting and protecting small strands of RNA that have important anti-tumor and anti-viral therapeutic capabilities. In the absence of these "nanovectors" the small strands of RNA cannot be used for therapeutic purposes because they are recognized by the immune system as "exogenous" and therefore destroyed. The discovery is of absolute importance for the development of new therapies.

Editorial work and publications

Sabrina Pricl is the author of numerous national and international scientific publications, including:

(2020) Laurini E, Marson D, Aulic S, Fermeglia M, Pricl S. Computational Alanine Scanning and Structural Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein/Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Complex. ACS Nano. 2020 Sep 22;14(9):11821-11830. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c04674. Epub 2020 Aug 26. PMID: 32833435 

(2020)  Laurini E, Marson D, Aulic S, Fermeglia A, Pricl S. Computational Mutagenesis at the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein/Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2 Binding Interface: Comparison with Experimental Evidence. CS Nano. 2021 Mar 18. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.0c10833. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33733740

(2016) Chen C, Posocco P, Liu X, Cheng Q, Laurini E, Zhou J, Liu C, Wang Y, Tang J, Dal Col V, Yu T, Giorgio S, Fermeglia M, Qu F, Liang Z, Rossi JJ, Liu M, Rocchi P, Pricl S, Peng L. Mastering dendrimer self-assembly for efficient siRNA delivery: from conceptual design to in vivo efficient gene silencing. Small, 12:3667-3676.

(2015) Brambilla L, Genini D, Laurini E, Merulla J, Perez L, Fermeglia M, Carbone GM, Pricl S, Catapano CV. Hitting the right spot: Mechanism of action of OPB-31121, a novel and potent inhibitor of the Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3). Molecular Oncology, 9:1194-1206.

(2015) Tuo W, Chao C, Juan L, Cheng L, Posocco P, Xiaoxuan L, Qiang C, Shuaidong H, Zicai L; Fermeglia M, Pricl S, et al. Anticancer drug nanomicelles formed by self-assembling amphiphilic dendrimer to combat cancer drug resistance. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, 112:2978-2983.

(2014) Gibbons DL, Pricl S, Posocco P, Laurini E, Fermeglia M, Sun H, Talpaz M, Donato N. Quintás-Cardama A. Molecular dynamics reveal BCR-ABL1 polymutants as a unique mechanism of resistance to PAN-BCR-ABL1 kinase inhibitor therapy. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, 111:3550-3555.

(2014) Liu X, Zhou J, Yu T, Chen C, Cheng Q, Sengupta K, Huang Y; Li H, Liu C, Wang Y, Posocco P, Wang M, Cui Q, Giorgio S, Fermeglia M, Qu F, Pricl S, et al. Adaptive Amphiphilic Dendrimer-Based Nanoassemblies as Robust and Versatile siRNA Delivery Systems. Angewandte Chemie. International Edition, 53, 11822-11827.

(2012) Posocco P, Gentilini C, Bidoggia S, Pace A, Franchi P, Lucarini M, Fermeglia M, Pricl S, Pasquato L. Self-organization of mixtures of fluorocarbon and hydrocarbon amphiphilic thiolates on the surface of gold nanoparticles. Acs Nano, 6:7243-7253.

(2011) Barnard A, Posocco P, Pricl S, Calderon M, Haag R, Shum WT, Pack WD, Smith DK. Degradable Self-Assembling Dendrons for Gene Delivery – Experimental and Theoretical Insights into the Barriers to Cellular Uptake. Journal Of The American Chemical Society, 133:20288-20300.

(2011) Pierotti M, Tamborini E, Negri T, Pricl S, Pilotti S. Targeted therapy in GIST: in silico modeling for prediction of resistance. Nature Reviews. Clinical Oncology, 8:161-170.

(2009) Negri T, Pavan GM, Virdis E, Greco A, Fermeglia M, Pricl S, Pierotti MA, Pilotti S, Tamborini E. T670X KIT mutations in gastrointestinal stromal tumors: making sense of missense. Journal Of The National Cancer Institute, 101: 194-204.

(2006) Tamborini E, Pricl S, Negri T, Lagonigro MS, Miselli F, Greco A, Gronchi A, Casali P, Ferrone M, Fermeglia M, Pierotti MA, Pilotti S. Functional analyses and Molecular modeling of two c-Kit mutations responsible for Imatinib secondary resistance in GIST patients. Oncogene, 25, 6140-6146.

Awards and prizes

Sabrina Pricl is a member of the following scientific societies: American Chemical Society, The Society of Rheology, Italian Society of Rheology, American Institute of Chemical Engineering, COMSEF (Computational Molecular Science & Engineering Forum), Editorial Board of Carbohydrate Polymers.

Position/Role

Scientific Director at the IRCSS Salvatore Maugeri Foundation of Pavia and Full Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pavia

Professional career

Silvia Giuliana Priori graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 1986 at the University of Milan, then specialized in Cardiology at the same university, obtaining a PhD in Cardiac Pathophysiology in 1995. After a period of training abroad, in the Cellular Electrophysiology laboratories of the Cardiology Department of Washington University, she returned to Italy to carry out a research internship in molecular biology at the Telethon Institute for Genetics and Medicine (TIGEM) in Milan. From 2008 to January 2016 she is Professor of Medicine and Director of the Genetics Program at the Leon H. Charney Division of Cardiology at the University of New York. She is currently Full Professor of Cardiology at the University of Pavia. In addition to the academic activity, Silvia Giuliana Priori coordinates several laboratories and departments: she is the Central Scientific Director of the Salvatore Maugeri Foundation Clinic of Labor and Rehabilitation IRCCS and Director of the Department of Rehabilitation Cardiology and of the Molecular Cardiology Service at the same Foundation. She also directs and coordinates international programs, such as the Cardiovascular Genetics Genetic Cardiovascular Program at the National Center for Investigations Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC) in Madrid.

Scientific results

Since 1997 she has begun the development of an autonomous research line in the laboratories that she directs. By merging the clinical activity on arrhythmogenic diseases (cardiac diseases that cause arrhythmias) to the skills of molecular biology and cell electrophysiology, she created the first center in Italy, and one of the first in the world, of Molecular Cardiology where she studies the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias that cause sudden deaths in children and adolescents. She achieved important successes in research on long QT syndrome (LQTS, from the English "Long QT Syndrome"), a rare cardiac anomaly characterized by delayed repolarization of myocardial cells and associated with syncope, and Brugada syndrome, also a heart condition with disorders of the electrical activity of the heart that leads to cardiac arrest. The team she directs is involved in a wide-ranging project based on the creation of innovative animal models of genetic diseases and on the development of advanced molecular strategies to correct gene defects through the use of adeno-associated viruses (able to integrate into the cell genome host even in the absence of cell proliferation) to silence sick genes and to re-express healthy ones.

Editorial work and publications

She has autored numerous national and international publications, including:

(2016) Mosca B, Eckhardt J, Bergamelli L, Priori SG, et al. Role of the JP45-calsequestrin complex on calcium entry in slow twitch skeletal muscles. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 291(28):14555-65.

(2016) Mazzanti A, Priori SG. Brugada Syndrome. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 68(6):624-625.

(2016) Faragli A, Underwood K, Priori SG, Mazzanti A. Is There a Role for Genetics in the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death?. Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology.

(2016) Mosca B, Eckhardt J, Bergamelli L, Priori SG, et al. Role of the JP45-Calsequestrin Complex on Calcium Entry in Slow Twitch Skeletal Muscles. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 291(28).

(2016) Chyou JY Fredman D, Cerrone M, Priori SG, et al. Electrocardiographic features of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy, Epilepsia.

(2016) Curcio A, Mazzanti A, Bloise R, Priori SG, et al. Clinical Presentation and Outcome of Brugada Syndrome Diagnosed With the New 2013 Criteria. Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology, 27(8):937-43.

(2016) Mazzanti A, Maragna R, Faragli A, Priori SG, et al. Gene-Specific Therapy With Mexiletine Reduces Arrhythmic Events in Patients With Long QT Syndrome Type 3. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 67(9):1053-1058.

(2016) Imberti JF, Underwood K, Mazzanti A, Priori SG. Clinical Challenges in Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia. Heart, Lung and Circulation, 25(8).

(2015) Priori SG, Blomstorm-Lundqvist C, Mazzanti A, et al. 2015 ESC Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Ventricular Arrhythmias and the Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death. Revista Española de Cardiología, 69(2):176.

(2015) Ferrantini C, Coppini R, Scellini B, Priori SG, et al. R4496C RyR2 mutation impairs atrial and ventricular contractility. The Journal of General Physiology, 147(1).

Position/Role

McKinsey & Company Associate Partner

Professional career

After graduating in Physical Engineering, she continued her studies with a PhD in Physics at the Politecnico di Milano, during which she spent a year at the Institute of Materials Science (ICMAB-CSIC) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She then moved to France for a post-doc. In 2014, back in Italy, she puts the skills and experience gained abroad at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genoa. In 2016 she is co-founder and sole director of BeDimensional, a start-up born from the IIT laboratories. In March 2017 she became a Partner at McKinsey & Company.

Scientific results

During her PhD she dealt with oxide electronics and in particular focused on the study of the phenomena that characterize the interface between ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials. The objective of these studies is the development of new electrically controlled memory devices based on tunnel effect junctions. At the Italian Institute of Technology she initially devoted herself to the development of intelligent materials for industrial applications. Subsequently, she dedicated herelf to the technology transfer project of new two-dimensional materials, in particular graphene, born in IIT, becoming sole administrator of BeDimensional startup. Inside the Italian Institute of Technology, in the Graphene Labs, we study two-dimensional crystals, the new family of "smart" materials born in 2004 with the isolation of the first and most famous of these materials - graphene - and which possess unique characteristics from the mechanical, electrical, thermal and optical point of view. Graphene, defined as a wonder material, has a mechanical resistance about 200 times greater than steel and an extraordinary thermal conductivity. 

It is biocompatible, biodegradable, capable of sustaining a higher electric current density than copper and is an almost impermeable barrier to the vast majority of chemical elements, while maintaining the characteristics of flexibility and lightness. In IIT's Graphene Labs, a process has been developed for the production of these materials that can be scaled at the industrial level. Two-dimensional crystals (including graphene) can also be appropriately mixed in plastic matrices, in carbon / glass fibers or in metals creating composites with high performance. These opportunities open up a new industrial scenario that was unimaginable until a few years ago. The idea is therefore to revolutionize and facilitate national and international manufacturing industry.

Editorial work and publications

She has authored numerous publications in national and international scientific journals, including:

(2016) Pesquera D, Barla A, Wojcik M, Jedryka E, Bondino F, Mangano E, Nappini S, Gutiérrez D, Radaelli G, et al. Strain-Driven Orbital and Magnetic Orders and Phase Separation in Epitaxial Half-Doped Manganite Films for Tunneling Devices. Physical Review Applied 6(3):034004. 

(2016) Radaelli G, Heredia-Guerrero JA, et al. Highly Effective Antiadhesive Coatings from pH-Modified Water-Dispersed Perfluorinated Acrylic Copolymers: The Case of Vulcanizing Rubber. Advanced Materials Interfaces 3(13).

(2015) Asa M, Baldrati L, Rinaldi C, Bertoli S, Radaelli G, et al. Electric field control of magnetic properties and electron transport in BaTiO 3 -based multiferroic heterostructures. Journal of Physics Condensed Matter 27(50):504004.

(2015) Bertacco R, Radaelli G, et al. Switching magnetic order at an Fe/BaTiO3 interface on and off: Impact on hybrid magnetic-ferroelectric tunnel junctions.

(2015) Liu F, Fina I, Gutiérrez D, Radaelli G, et al. Selecting Steady and Transient Photocurrent Response in BaTiO3 Films.

(2015) Radaelli G, Gutiérrez D, et al. Large Room-Temperature Electroresistance in Dual-Modulated Ferroelectric Tunnel Barriers. Advanced Materials 27(16). 

(2014) Radaelli G, Petti D, Cantoni M, et al, Absence of strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling at fully epitaxial Fe/BaTiO3 interface (invited). Journal of Applied Physics 115(17).

(2014) Radaelli G, Cantoni M, et al. Two dimensional growth of ultrathin Fe films on BaTiO. Journal of Applied Physics 115(6):063501.

(2014) Gutiérrez D, Radaelli G, et al. Bandwidth-limited control of orbital and magnetic orders in half-doped manganites by epitaxial strain. Physical Review B 89:075107

(2014) Radaelli G, Petti D, et al. Electric Control of Magnetism at the Fe/BaTiO3 Interface. Nature Communications 5:3404.

Position/Role

Full Professor of Mathematical Analysis in the University of Catania, Italy

Professional career

After graduating in Mathematics, with honors, at the University of Catania in 1988, she became, in 1989, Expert in Mathematical Analysis at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Catania. In 1990 she passed the admission exam to the PhD in Mathematics at the University of Catania. In 1992 she won a competition exam for University Researcher in Mathematical Analysis at the University of Catania, in 2000 she was Associate Professor at the University of Catania. In 2012 she was awarded a PhD in Mathematics from Luleå University (Sweden).

In 2013 she obtained the national scientific qualification as Full Professor of Mathematical Analysis and from 2017 she is Full Professor of Mathematical Analysis at the University of Catania. She is Chief Researcher of the Center of Nonlinear Problems of Mathematical Physics, RUDN University, Moscow (Russia). She is a member of the Academic Board of the PhD in Mathematics at the University of Catania, and of international PhD exam commissions. She has held teaching courses for the Research Doctorate in Italy, France, Turkey and Sweden.

She is responsible for research projects of the "National Group for Mathematical Analysis, Probability and their Applications (GNAMPA) - National Institute of High Mathematics", of ERASMUS agreements between the University of Catania and foreign Universities in Sweden, Norway, Romania, Turkey and France.

She is Vice Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences of the University of Catania from 2009 to 2012, she was elected, in 2012, President of the Master of Science in Environmental Protection Sciences of the University of Catania, and in 2013 Director of the "University Center for the Protection and Management of Natural Environments and Agro-Ecosystems" (CUTGANA).

She is Deputy Rector of the University of Catania to the Internationalization in the scientific field.

 She is the contact person for Catania of the Unione Matematica Italiana, member of the Gioenia Academy, proponent member of the "Angelo Marcello Anile Center for Mathematics for Technology" of the University of Catania, proponent member of the "Interdepartmental research center for community engagement" (CUrE) of the University of Catania It is included in the Register of expert evaluators of the National Agency for the Evaluation of University and Research (ANVUR).

Scientific results

She is currently responsible for a research group that is interested in the study of partial differential, linear and quasilinear equations and climate change and their impact.

 With her team he defined an index that makes it possible to easily calculate the territorial effect of sensitivity to desertification in order to exceed the international protocol limit "Mediterranean Mediterranean Desertification And Land Use European" (MEDALUS), which does not provide an estimate of sensitivity to the desertification of a territorial area (municipal, provincial, regional, hydrographic area) through a single value. This index has significant advantages, because it produces effective rankings, with the consequent possibility of processing comparative data in relation to different time periods.

Within the scope of this research in mathematics applied to the protection of the environment, the effects of the impact of the transport of Saharan dust on particulate matter (PM10) are studied.

The results of these researches have been exhibited in international conferences in all 5 continents, of which about 20 organized by her in Europe and the USA, being part of scientific committees in which she was sometimes the only Italian member. She has held seminars in numerous Italian and foreign universities, being, by way of example only: guest of research groups, invited guest on the occasion of intensive semesters of the National Institute of High Mathematics (INDAM), guest of the "Mathematics Research Center E. De Giorgi "of the" Scuola Normale Superiore "of Pisa, of the" Newton Institute "of Cambridge, of the Department of Mathematics of the" Research Melbourne Institute of Technology "of Melbourne, of the" Tokyo University of Science "of Tokyo, of the" Florida Institute of Technology "of Miami, of the Department of Mathematics, of the" Harvard University "of Boston, of the" Mittag-Leffler "Institute of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.

Editorial work and publications

She is the  unique Editor in Chief of the international journal "Journal of Mathematics Research", published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education, Editor of the volume of "Journal of Inequalities and Applications" ed. Springer. 2015, member of Editorial Board of several international scientific journals  published on Scopus and Web of Science with impact factor. 

She is the author of more than 90 scientific publications, in single name and in collaboration with about 30 co-authors, of which one third are Italians and the other Europeans and non-Europeans. She published papers having only her name in journals that are among the top 10 of the Journal Citation Reports and publications that, in both the Scopus and Web of Science databases, have more than 170 citations.

Just as examples, some of his scientific publications:

2021) Hamdy M. Ahmed, Reda A. Elbarkouky, Othman A. M. Omar,  and Maria Alessandra Ragusa. Models for COVID-19 Daily Confirmed Cases in Different Countries. Mathematics, 9:659.

(2018) Guliyev V, Omarova M, Ragusa MA, Scapellato A. Commutators and Generalized Local Morrey Spaces. Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications, 457 (2): 1388-1402.

(2017) Cuspilici A, Monforte P, Ragusa MA. Study of Saharan dust influence on PM10 measures in Sicily from 2013 to 2015. Ecological Indicatiors, 76: 297-303.

(2017) Deringoz F, Guliyev V, Ragusa MA. Intrinsic Square Functions on Vanishing Generalized Orlicz-Morrey Spaces. Set-Valued and Variational Analysis, 25: 807–828.

(2017) Ragusa MA, Scapellato A. Mixed Morrey spaces and their applications to partial differential equations. Nonlinear Analysis-Theory Methods & Applications, 151: 51-65.

(2017) Duro A, Piccione V, Ragusa MA, Rapicavoli V, Veneziano V. Enviromentally Sensitive Patch Index of desertification risk applied to the main habitats of Sicily. Book Series: American Institute of Physics, 1863, Article Number: UNSP 510005.

(2014) Benboenou S, Ragusa MA, Terberche M. Remarks on Leray's self-similar solutions to the 3D magnetohydrodynamic equations. Mathematical Methods in the Applied Sciences, 37 (17): 2615-2618.

(2013) Ragusa MA, Tachikawa A, Takabayashi H. Partial regularity of p(x)-harmonic maps. Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 365 (6):3329-3353.

(2012) Persson LE, Ragusa MA, Samko N, Wall P. Commutators of Hardy operators in vanishing Morrey spaces. Book Series: American Institute of Physics, 1863:859-866.

(2008) ) Polidoro S, Ragusa MA. Harnack inequality for hypoelliptic ultraparabolic equations with a singular lower order term. Revista Matematica Iberoamericana Vol. 24, 1011-1046.

(2002) Ragusa MA. Local holder regularity for solutions of elliptic system. Duke Mathematical Journal, 113 (2):385-397.

(2000) D. Palagachev, M.A. Ragusa, L. Softova. Regular Oblique derivatives problem in Morrey Spaces. El. Journal of Differential Equations (39).

Position/Role

Full Professor of Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano.

Professional career

After the Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering, in 2000 she receives her PhD in Bioengineering at at Politecnico di Milano, where she develops her career. In 2003 she founds a Bioengineering research unit, inside the IRRCS Galeazzi Orthopaedic Institute in Milano, which she directs until 2008. Since 2010 she founds and directs the Mechanobiology laboratory at the Dept of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”. From 2013 to 2015 she is the coordinator of the PhD program in Bioengineering. Since 2014 she founds and directs the LuCId lab, for live cell imaging. Since 2015 she is the referent person of Politecnico di Milano for the frame agreement with IRCCS Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milano.

Scientific results

Her scientific activity focuses on bioengineering, on the understanding and the consequent control of biological mechanisms through engineering devices for cell culture outside the human organism. An important result was that of succeeding in orienting the production of organoids (simplified and miniaturized versions of an organ produced in vitro), for example brain tissue or bone tumor metastasis, using miniaturized devices called "millifluidic bioreactors". Manuela Raimondi has designed such systems to produce and maintain living tissue in culture to be used for the experimentation of new drugs, such as chemotherapeutic and anti-inflammatory drugs, in a much more realistic way than conventional cell culture, reducing the use of experimental animals. In her studies she focused on "mesenchymal" cells, i.e. stem cells of bone and cartilage tissue, which provide the natural regenerative and reparative capacity to the tissues of the human body.

Editorial work and publications

She is the author of around 200 scientific publications, among which: 

[2018] Marturano-Kruik A, A.Villasante, K.Yaeger, S. Ambati, A. Chramiec, M.T. Raimondi, G. Vunjak-Novakovic. Biomechanical regulation of drug sensitivity in an engineered model of human tumor. Biomaterials. 2018 Jan;150:150-161. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2017.10.020

[2018] Marturano-Kruik A, Nava MM, Yaeger K, Chramiec A, Hao L, Robinson ST, Guo XE, Raimondi MT, Vunjak-Novakovic G. Human bone perivascular niche-on-a-chip for studyingmetastatic colonization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2018 Feb 6;115(6):1256-1261. doi:10.1073/pnas.1714282115.

[2016] Garcia B, Rodriguez Matas JF, Raimondi MT. Modeling of the mechano-chemical behavior of the nuclear pore complex: current research and perspectives. Integrative Biology, 8(10): 1011-1021 doi: 10.1039/c6ib00153j

[2016] Nava MM, Di Maggio N, Zandrini T, Cerullo G, Osellame R, Martin I, Raimondi MT. Synthetic niche substrates engineered via two-photon laser polymerization for the expansion of human mesenchymal stromal cells. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, doi: 10.1002/term.2187

[2016] Nava MM, Piuma A, Figliuzzi M, Cattaneo I, Bonandrini B, Zandrini T, Cerullo G, Osellame R, Remuzzi A, Raimondi MT. Two-photon polymerized "nichoid" substrates maintain function of pluripotent stem cells when expanded under feeder-free conditions. Stem Cell Research and Therapy, 7:132. doi: 10.1186/s13287-016-0387-z

Awards and prizes

Manuela Raimondi received many grants and awards, among which three ERC grants:

2000-2001: Young Investigator Award from Politecnico di Milano.

2005-2006 e 2006-2007: Research Award from the Cariplo Foundation.

2006 e 2007: Rocca Award from the MIT-Italy program.

2010-2011: Research Award from the Italian Ministry of University and Research.

2011-2012: Young Researcher Award from Politecnico di Milano.

2015-2020: ERC-CoG-2014 Grant award in stem cell mechanobiology, from the European Research Council. Project NICHOID.

2017-2018: ERC-PoC-2016 Grant award in stem cell bioengineering, from the European research Council. Project NICHOIDS.

2019-2020 ERC-PoC-2018 Grant award in microfluidic bioengineering, from the European Research Council. Project MOAB.

2018-202: Research Award from the Italian Ministry of University and Research.