Computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Francesco Fontanella is Associate Professor at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio and holds the Italian National Scientific Qualification as Full Professor in both Computer Science and Information Processing Systems scientific sectors. He is Co-Founder and CEO of AItaly, a university spin-off developing  AI-based solutions for digital transformation and technology transfer. 

His research interests include machine learning and pattern recognition applied to digital health and smart sustainable systems. In the healthcare domain, his work focuses on early diagnosis and telemonitoring of neurodegenerative diseases through handwriting and speech analysis, leading to a national patent (2023) for an AI-based cognitive deficit screening system. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers (H-index 28, 2,300+ citations on Google Scholar) and has been involved in national and European research projects funded under FP7, PRIN, PNRR, MASE, and regional schemes.

He is Associate Editor of Pattern Recognition Letters (Elsevier) and serves on the editorial boards of Applied Soft Computing (Elsevier), Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines (Springer), and Frontiers in Bioinformatics. He is Area Chair of ICPR 2026, Co-chair of the International Workshop on Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare Applications (AIHA), and acts as an independent expert evaluator for the European Commission Horizon programme.

Since 2006, he has taught courses on computer science at the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, currently including Computer and Network Security (M.Sc.), Operating Systems and Cybersecurity (B.Sc.), and Fundamentals of Computer Science (B.Sc.).

A detailed CV is available upon request.