Project: 
One-compound, one-islet: A High-throughput Platform for Small-molecule Discovery

►Where are you from originally, and where did you go to school?

Born in France and at 9 year old moved to Italy. I graduate from the University of Naples (Italy) and got my PhD from the University of Trieste (Italy)

►What is your current position?

Group Leader/Research Scientist

►Why did you decide to become a researcher?

I always liked discovery since a was a kid not always with great success as most of my toys could tell you.
I know that I wanted to be a research since the first year of college. I was literally fascinated by the idea of doing experiments. The fascination become real and so the challenges of solving a scientific problem. That did not stop me; on the contrary I loved and still love the challenges of my job in all its facets

►What is the “Big Picture” of what you study?

I know it may sound cocky or a cliche but I really think that with my work right now I can make a difference for the treatment of T2D.

►What is your favorite aspect of your research?

I love to develop long term strategies to achieve my scientific goals and I like, also, to realize them by doing the “dirty” job of the bench work

► What do you hope to achieve with your research?

At the moment I am leading a project around a novel small molecule that can promote glucose-dependent insulin secretion. I strongly believe that this compound can lead to a new-in-class group of drug.