Roberta studied Molecular Biology at the University of Padova (Italy), where she completed her bachelor’s and master’s Degree in 2013 and 2015 respectively. After a year as a postgraduate researcher in which she delved into mitochondrial studies, Roberta pursued a Ph.D. in Biosciences at the University of Padova and obtained her degree in 2020. Working in Prof Ildikò Szabò’s laboratory, she investigated how mitochondrial ion homeostasis impacts cell viability and how its modulation via pharmacological tools can be used to treat cancer and metabolic diseases. In particular, her Ph.D. work pioneered the idea of using redox cyclers as novel therapeutic approach against mitochondrial disorders and laid the foundations for expanding their therapeutic horizon to other diseases characterized by mitochondrial deficiency. Her discovery was patented in 2021. In 2021, Roberta was awarded the AIRC (Italian Association for Cancer Research) Fellowship and joined Prof Roberto Zoncu’s laboratory at the University of California Berkeley for her postdoctoral studies. Here, she applied her expertise to a different organelle, the lysosome, and focused her research emphasis on cancer and neurodegenerative diseases driven by lysosomal dysfunction. In 2024, she was awarded the ACS (American Cancer Society) Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue her studies. Specifically, Roberta is combining different approaches to determine how the master regulator, mTORC1 kinase, regulates autophagy, a lysosome-dependent pathway defective in multiple neurodegenerative diseases and cancers. Moreover, she is developing innovative chemical biology approaches to enhance the ability of autophagy and lysosomes to degrade neurotoxic protein aggregates.

Tommaso Di Ianni is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco in the Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Director of the UCSF Basic Ultrasound Research Program, and co-Director of the UCSF Focused Ultrasound in Neuroscience Program. His research focuses on developing translational technological innovations and new applications for neuroimaging and neurointervention based on ultrasound. Dr. Di Ianni trained at Stanford University, specializing in ultrasound neuromodulation, functional ultrasound imaging, and image-guided targeted drug delivery. Previously, he received a PhD in biomedical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark working at the Center for Fast Ultrasound Imaging, a world-leading center in ultrasound research, and received an MS degree (summa cum laude) in electrical engineering from the University of Bologna, Italy. Dr. Di Ianni has received a number of honors, including the Stanford School of Medicine Dean’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine New Investigator Award, the UCSF Pain and Addiction Research Center Fellowship, and the UCSF Catalyst Award.

Matteo Maggiori is the Moghadam Family Professor of Finance at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on international macroeconomics and finance. He is a co-founder and director of the Global Capital Allocation Project. His research topics have included the analysis of exchange rates under imperfect capital markets, capital flows, the international monetary system, reserve currencies, geoeconomics, tax havens, very long-run discount rates and climate change, and expectations and portfolio investment. His research combines theory and data with the aim of improving international economic policy. He is a faculty research fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research affiliate at the Center for Economic Policy Research. He received his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Among a number of honors, he is the recipient of the Fischer Black Prize awarded to an outstanding financial fellowships, and the Bernacer Prize for outstanding contributions in macroeconomics and finance by a European economist under age 40.