Write me for my resume.
Scientific journalist, writer, author, and radio-television presenter, I have a degree in Medicine and Surgery (Pisa, 2002) and a Master’s in Science Communication (SISSA, Trieste, 2004).
In 2023, I published two books. In May, with Bollati Boringhieri, “Heroic, Mad, Visionary – Stories of Reckless Medicine”: medicine from an unusual perspective. It discusses self-experiments: how and when doctors and scientists decided to test their ideas on their own bodies. These are surprising stories, sometimes amusing, sometimes shocking. The practice has fallen out of use (fortunately!), and there is much to tell about this and why it happened. During 2023, the book had five reprints (wow!), and throughout 2024, I will continue with presentations.
In November 2023, for Electa, “Doubt and Desire – Eva Mameli Calvino” was released: the biography of a botanist from the last century who, among other extraordinary things, had a writer son.
On May 14, 2019, my essay “Sospettosi” was published by Einaudi in the Passaggi series. It is a reportage essay in which I investigate the gray areas between science and so-called pseudoscience, reflecting on the communication of medicine, trying to demonstrate that a scientific community that thinks it can speak to the public by imposing its authority is destined not to be understood and to create conflicts. The book was selected as a finalist in the Premio Estense 2020.
I write about science for newspapers and magazines, primarily collaborating with La Repubblica, D di Repubblica, Il Venerdì di Repubblica, Le Scienze, Mente e Cervello, Focus, Wired, and BoLive.
I work with Rai Cultura and host science programs produced by Rai Scuola. For example, Prospettive and Storie della scienza (co-hosted with Telmo Pievani). Everything I’ve done with Rai Scuola is still available on Raiplay and periodically goes into reruns on major networks.
I also collaborate with Radio3 Rai since 2005, being one of the hosts of Pagina3 and working for years on Radio3 Scienza, the network’s daily science program. I continue to collaborate with Radio3, for example, with Wikiradio. I have written and curated various other things, such as the series Qualcosa è cambiato (on health and healthcare during the pandemic), La rivoluzione della salute universale (dedicated to the birth of the Italian public health system), the series Vite che non sono la tua titled Quattro intellettuali in fuga dall’Italia fascista, and Dizionavirus (2020), Lessico Vaccinale (2021), and the Gettoni di scienza series titled La medicina nella lirica and Alan Turing (2017). Almost everything can be found on Raiplaysound.
I also collaborate with Chora Media, where I am among the hosts of the podcast Ricercati, dedicated to Italian researchers abroad. Last April, Spaziale was released, in which I recounted Samantha Cristoforetti’s second launch, and then Generazioni in ascolto for the University of Rome3, always with Chora Media.
I have been teaching science journalism, science communication, and writing to aspiring communicators, future journalists, curious scientists, doctors, and students of all ages for many years. In particular, for about ten years, I have collaborated with the Master La scienza nella pratica giornalistica at Sapienza – University of Rome, where I teach multimedia science communication, and with Lumsa University, for the journalism master’s program, where I teach science journalism.
Some relevant past activities include:
- I am among the authors of the documentary series “Storia della medicina,” produced and broadcast on Rai storia in May 2022.
- In 2020, I was selected to represent Italy among the 28 European women called by the Hay Festival to imagine a new Europe.
- In 2019, I was a senior advisor for Newsguard in Italy, a group of American journalists who developed a system for evaluating the reliability of news websites, led in Italy by Giampiero Gramaglia.
- From September 2016 to June 2017, I was one of the hosts of Tutta Salute on Rai3, broadcast every morning from Monday to Friday at 11:00. From 2005 to 2017, I hosted Radio3 Scienza, the daily science program on Radio3 Rai.
- On July 20, 2017, in prime time on Rai2, “Diversamente amore” was broadcast, hosted by Bebe Vio, based on one of my ideas.
- Between 2014 and 2018, I worked with Rai Scuola for Memex, where I wrote and narrated short stories about great scientists and interviewed leading Italian female scientists. I also contributed to Nautilus, hosted by Federico Taddia, where I had a column of science stories and conversations called Nautilus Plus.
- Between 2011 and 2013, I collaborated with Rai3 for Presa Diretta, by Riccardo Iacona and Francesca Barzini. In 2011, I was a correspondent for the first series of Cosmo, a scientific program on Rai3 conceived by Gregorio Paolini and hosted by Barbara Serra.
- I have also written for La Stampa in the Tuttogreen channel, l’Unità, and Il Manifesto, in the Chips and Salsa section of the cultural insert Alias.
- I was a co-curator of the exhibition “In Principio,” which was hosted at the Broletto in Novara from November 2014 to April 2015. The exhibition was organized by Codice – Idee per la Cultura, together with Sergio Risaliti and Stefano Papi.
- I directed a couple of short films and the documentary “Segna con me” (directed by Chiara Tarfano), which won the Best Film award from the National Deaf Institute (Ens) at Cinedeaf 2013 (International Deaf Film Festival) and the First Prize at the Documentary Festival of Abruzzo (2014).
I have published several essays, including the most important one, “Perché ci piace la musica” (Sironi Editore, February 2007, and in the second edition in March 2012), translated into French (Belin), English (Music World Media), and Spanish (Rocaeditorial). In May 2013, “Cosa intendi per domenica – La mia (in)dipendenza dal lavoro” was released for LiberAria Edizioni. In September 2013, “Comunicare la scienza,” with Francesco Paolo de Ceglia, was published by Carocci Editore in the Bussole series (reprinted in 2017 and 2020). In July 2015, “Irrazionali e contenti,” written with Giordano Zevi, was released by Sironi. In September 2016, “È la medicina, bellezza! – Perché è difficile parlare di salute,” written with Daniela Ovadia, was published by Carocci Editore in the Bussole series, and it was a finalist for the Premio Galileo in 2017.
In addition to writing and discussing science, I teach. Among my most recent courses are science journalism at the Master in Journalism of Lumsa University in Rome and the Master in Communication and Teaching of Sciences at the University of Bari Aldo Moro. I also teach scientific writing at the Master Cose (Science Communication) of the University of Parma and various courses for high school teachers and their students. I have taught at the Master in Science Communication at SISSA in Trieste, the Institute for Journalism Training in Urbino, and the International School of Science Journalism in Erice. I conduct communication and public speaking courses for scientists and others. I have been a judge several times for the Galileo Prize for science communication, awarded by the Municipality of Padua.
I have received several awards, including:
- In 2008, I was selected for the Giovanni Armenise – Harvard Medical School Foundation fellowship.
- In November 2010, I won the Special Prize for scientific and social communication on HIV/AIDS from the Riccardo Tomassetti Journalism Award.
- In November 2012, I was awarded the Piazzano Prize for scientific journalism.
- In April 2014, I received the Paolo Antonilli Award for external collaborators of newspapers.
- In Pisa and surroundings, I received the Mimosa Boreale 2017 award and the Donna è – Cultura 2017 award.
- In October 2017, I received the Fdg (Federazione Nazionale Diabete Giovanile) Award for communication.
- In October 2018, I received the Classico Prize.
- In July 2019, I was selected as one of the Tecnovisionarie by the Associazione Donne e Tecnologia.
- In July 2020, I was awarded the Armonicamente Prize for art and science by the University of Calabria.
- In October 2020, I was given the Capodorlando Prize for scientific communication.
- In July 2023, I was appointed Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts of Palermo (formerly Del Buon Gusto).
I am a member of Swim – Science Writers in Italy, Italian association that is a member of the European Union of Science Journalists’ Associations (EUSJA) and of the World Federation of Science Journalists (WFSJ).