Born in Milan, Italy in 1958, he holds a degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Milan and a PhD in Plant Biochemistry from the University of Dundee (UK). In 1986 he joined the Scottish Crop Research Institute in Dundee where he carried out research activities and led the Biochemistry Unit and the Quality, Health and Nutrition program. Following his return to Italy he first directed the IASMA Research Centre and, more recently, the Research and Innovation Centre of the Edmund Mach Foundation where he promoted, in particular, the development of internationally relevant genomics and postgenomics research programs. Authors of several high impact research publications and holders of international patents he was awarded in 2002 a Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Award in Biotechnology. From 2003 to 2006 has been Chairman of the Physiology Section of the European Association for Potato Research. Currently he is Director of FEM-CRI, Honorary professor of SCRI, President of the Fruit Innovation Consortium and Director of the International PhD program in Genomics and Molecular Physiology of Fruit (GMPF).

Staff: Cavazza Agostino, Esposito Elisabetta (secretary), Frizzi Andrea, Gramazio Tiziana (safety & health), Gretter Alessandro, Neale David, Oechel Walter Clarence