I am a TENURE-TRACK ASSISTANT PROFESSOR at the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Geosciences of the University of Trieste, Computer Science Section. I received my Doctoral degree (PhD) in Information Engineering in March 2014 from the University of Padova, Italy. In 2014, I moved to Tokyo to work on multi-modal systems to investigate focal hand dystonia and Brain-Computer Interface for skills transfer among individuals, and I was enrolled as a RESEARCH ASSOCIATE with the Department of Biosciences and Informatics of the Keio University in Tokyo (Japan) and collaborated with the National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry. From 2015 to 2019 I was POST-DOC researcher in Padova, and later I became NON-TENURE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR. In 2022, I moved to Milan to join the Department of Informatics, Systems, and Communication of the University of Milano-Bicocca, as a non-tenure Assistant Professor.
My main RESEARCH INTERESTS are currently focused on designing neural network architectures and learning strategies to robustly model not only population-wise behaviours, but also identifying individual instances (reflecting individual variability). Uncertainty quantification and explainability are keywords to reach these objectives. The main applications for my work are Brain-Computer Interfaces (hybrid and passive), computational neuroscience, and quantitative healthcare.
I have been working on signal processing and machine learning modeling, and EEG-based Brain-Computer Interface since 2010 (my MSc thesis), in COLLABORATION with research labs (SIGNET, COSYNCLAB, ISR-Coimbra, MUDI), companies (Next Step Endoscopy/ARC and Khymeia srl in Padova, Henesis srl in Parma, BrainTrends in Rome, Seletech Engineering srl in Milan), and in research hospitals (IRCCS “San Camillo” in Lido of Venice, IRCCS “Santa Lucia” in Rome, National Centre of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo).
I have contributed to national/international PROJECTS (B-RELIABLE, HANDmade, SENIOR, POR-FESR 1.1.3, SHIGAKUJUTZU, COBANETS, ReGAInS) to develop advanced modeling methods for biosignals and NIRS data with application to neuroscience, neuro-rehabilitation, but also smart agriculture; I have been PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR of the REPAC project (SID-Networking by the Univ. Padova, 2020–2022) and of “Sustainable management of greenhouses using NIRS-based sensor networks and AI” with Seletech Engineering (PON by the Italian Ministry of the University and Research, 2022–2025).
I am an Editor of PeerJ Computer Science, I have served on the TPC of 15+ International conferences and regularly serve as Reviewer for the most renowned peer-reviewed Journals (Elsevier, IEEE, Springer, Frontiers, MDPI, etc.), for final PhD examinations, and for research proposals evaluation.
Since 2015, I have supervised 65+ students at the BSc and MSc levels, interns with international mobility exchanges, 1 post-doc (GARR fellow), and PhD candidates. I am the author of ~60 scientific papers, including 3 book chapters, 2 “best paper” awards (Google Scholar, Scopus), and since 2022 I have been an IEEE Senior Member.
I have developed extensive teaching experience, teaching at all levels of academic education (BSc, MSc, PhD), both in Italian and English; I launched the “E-Health” course for the Dept. of Information Engineering in Padova in 2017/18 (and then taught it until 2023/24), and I increasingly make use of peer-teaching strategies during my courses (e.g., the Jigsaw method).
I engage in SCIENTIFIC DISSEMINATION: notably, the series of seminars titled “Artificial intelligences, alien intelligences”, organized with the Association “La Via delle Scienze” of Valdagno (Vicenza, Italy) in autumn 2023/spring 2024.
In 2024, I obtained the (Italian) National Scientific Qualification to the role of Associate Professor in the field of Telecommunications Engineering.
Finally, I am also passionate about music (I got a diploma of piano from the Conservatory "G. Tartini" of Trieste) and I really like to play sports, especially team sports, futsal (indoor futsal) above all.