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Matteo Chiara graduated in Functional Genomics and Bioinformatics from the University of Milan in 2009. He completed his Ph.D. in Biological and Molecular Sciences at the same institution in 2012. Over the course of his career, he has carried out research between the Department of Biosciences of the University of Milan and the Institute of Biomembranes, Bioenergetics and Molecular Biotechnologies (IBIOM) of the National Research Council (CNR). Since 2023, Matteo has served as Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at the Department of Biosciences of the University of Milan. His research group focuses on the development and implementation of computational methods and algorithms for the analysis of genomic data generated by high-throughput next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies. In addition to his academic role, Matteo is co-leader of the Italian Federated Human Data Platform within ELIXIR Italy. In this capacity, he contributes to the design, coordination, and implementation of national infrastructures for the management, integration, and secure sharing of human genomic data. His activities within ELIXIR Italy emphasize interoperability, data stewardship, and the creation of computational frameworks that facilitate large-scale analyses of human genomic diversity. This work plays a key role in strengthening the capacity of the Italian and European scientific community to leverage federated resources for biomedical research, clinical applications, and precision medicine initiatives.

Matteo is one of the Italian representatives in the ELIXIR Biodiversity Community. He holds a PhD in Animal Biology (University of Milan, 2013), where he studied symbiotic arthropods and host-symbiont coevolution. His research focuses on: (i) arthropod systematics and evolution, especially leaf beetles (Chrysomelidae); (ii) insect-microorganism-plant interactions; (iii) arthropod biodiversity in agroecosystems, exploiting also innovative eDNA approaches.

Matteo Ramazzotti's main interest is bioinformatics and all its flavours. He has been teaching and working in the field for more than 20 years. He has experienced with enthusiasm the revolution introduced by high-throughput techniques, such as microarrays and next-generation sequencing. Thanks to his mixed background in biology and informatics, he can fully appreciate both their potentialities and the associated informatics and statistical issues. As an experimental molecular biologist, he always keeps in mind the practicalities of bench work and wet lab experiences, and enjoys being engaged in the experimental setup of novel methods and analyses. In the past, his research involved the biochemistry of amyloid processes, the isolation and characterization of recombinant antibodies through phage display, the bioactivity of natural compounds, and yeast genomics. His current interests are focused on the molecular and computational analysis of the composition of microbial communities, and on the application of omics techniques based on DNA and RNA sequencing and mass spectrometry, creating custom bioinformatic programs for their management and interpretation.

Monica Santamaria is currently an associate professor at the Department of Soil, Plant, and Food Sciences (Di.S.S.P.A.) at the University of Bari 'Aldo Moro'. Her research focuses primarily on biodiversity studies using molecular biology and bioinformatics approaches. In particular, her scientific interests focus on metagenomic and DNA barcoding analysis of prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities residing in various types of environmental, agri-food, and clinical samples through the design, development, and application of advanced biomolecular and computational protocols. Specifically, her bioinformatics work has focused on the development and application of integrated pipelines, databases, and analysis environments for archiving and massively analyzing data produced by next-generation nucleic acid sequencing platforms. These systems were developed and are currently managed within leading European bioinformatics infrastructures such as Elixir, in which she has been involved for several years as national coordinator of the Italian Microbiome Community and member of the Food & Nutrition Community and the Biodiversity Community. In recent years, her work has focused primarily on studying the microbiome in clinical and food samples in relation to human nutrition and health, using integrated omics approaches in which the compositional and metabolomic profiles of microbial communities are correlated.

Raffaele Calogero is a Full Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Turin. He is the head of the Bioinformatics and Genomics Core Lab (BGcore) at the Center for Molecular Biotechnology of the University of Turin. Professor Calogero’s current research focuses on reproducibility in bioinformatics. He is a member of the management board of ELIXIR Italy, serves as the President of the Italian Society of Bioinformatics (BITS), and is a co-leader of the ELIXIR Single Cell Omics Community.

At the intersection of life sciences, computer science, and IT, Raoul Jean Pierre Bonnal has spent over 20 years driving research innovation. As Head of the Research Computing & Data Science Unit, he leads the development and implementation of standardized yet cutting-edge computational pipelines, leveraging High-Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cloud technologies. His work focuses on strategic technology integration, fostering collaborative environments, and empowering researchers through advanced computational capabilities. He has a strong interest in the strategic intersection of data management, governance, and operations, ensuring data integrity and accessibility while aligning infrastructures and services with institutional objectives. Through staff development and impactful partnerships, Raoul Jean Pierre Bonnal is committed to strengthening IFOM’s reputation as a leader in biomedical research and innovation.

Riccardo is the head of the NGS Bioinformatics Group at the CRS4, Center for Research, Development, and Advanced Studies in Sardinia. He holds a PhD in Human Genetics and studied Nuclear and Particle Physics. He works in the field of bioinformatics and Next Generation Sequencing since the beginning of this technology in 2009. He headed the Bioinformatics and IT at the Institute of Human Genetics at the Technical University of Munich till December 2023. His research focus is on Human Genetics and he is involved in the development of pipelines for Genomics data analysis and clinical interpretation tools for exome and genome sequencing applications.

Rino Ragno is a full professor of medicinal chemistry in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Technology at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine at Sapienza University in Rome. He is responsible for teaching medicinal chemistry at various levels, including bachelor's, master's, single cycle master's and doctoral courses. He finished the five-year Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology course at Sapienza University of Rome with distinction in 1989. From 1996 to 1998, he spent two years at the Center for Molecular Design laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis (MO, USA), funded by the Italian NIH and directed by Prof. Garland Marshal. In 1999, he founded a new medicinal chemistry design laboratory (the Rome Center for Molecular Design), with the aim of applying computational methods in this field. In 2005, he was awarded by the Italian Chemical Society's Italian Division of Medicinal Chemistry in recognition of his research in the field of medicinal chemistry. He is the co-author of 180 published national and international papers (171 of which are listed on scopus.com), and has presented over 170 posters and oral communications at international meetings. In 2016, he launched a new drug design platform at www.3d-qsar.com, enabling all non-profit users to perform QSAR, 3D-QSAR, molecular docking and COMBINE analyses. More than 1,200 users from over 100 countries are registered on the portal. The main fields of Rino Ragno research interest are: – Computational Medinal Chemistry; – Development of new QSAR and 3-D QSAR methods; – Extraction, analysis and biological activity of natural compounds with emphasis on essential oils; – Development of scientific websites (www.3d-qsar.com, db.3d-qsar.com and www.ai4essoil.com). – Drug design through computational techniques: artificial intelligence algorithms, molecular docking, molecular dynamics. – Virtual screening to select potential new bioactive compounds.

Roberto Tagliaferri is Professor of Computer Science and Director of the PhD School in Data Science, Accounting & Management at the University of Salerno. He serves as Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics (2014–2025) and is on the editorial boards of BMC Bioinformatics and the Journal of Translational Medicine. His research focuses on neural networks and computational intelligence, with applications in bioinformatics, signal/image analysis, and medical diagnosis.

Rosalba Giugno is Full Professor in Computer Science at the University of Verona, UNIVR node referent for ELIXIR, and coordinator of the International Master’s Degree in Medical Bioinformatics. She leads the InfOmics Lab (https://infomics.github.io/InfOmics/), developing innovative AI and network-based algorithms for bioinformatics and cheminformatics. Her research spans clinical and spatial omics integration for precision prediction, large-scale genomics for personalized gene editing, and confounder characterization for therapy repurposing. She is involved in major international projects, serves as editor for Informatics Systems and Frontiers in Genetics, and is dedicated to advancing data-driven healthcare and inclusive scientific communities.

Rosario Michael Piro studied physics at University of Heidelberg, Germany, and University of Turin, Italy, where he graduated in Physics of Advanced Technologies in 2004, obtained an additional Master in Bioinformatics in 2006 and a PhD in Molecular Medicine (with a focus on bioinformatics) in January 2011. He acquired professional experience at the Section of Turin of the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN) within the international projects Euorpean DataGrid (EDG), Enabling Grid for E-sciencE (EGEE) I-III and Open Middleware Infrastructure Institute Europe (OMII-Europe). After his PhD, he worked as a postdoc at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) at Heidelberg and as an Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) at Freie Universität Berlin, Germany. Since February 2020 he is Associate Professor of bioinformatics at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering of Politecnico di Milano.

Sara Di Giorgio is a member of the Planning Office at GARR (Network Department), supporting the planning and coordination of strategic and operational activities for network infrastructure and services. Between 2022 and 2025, she led the Skills4EOSC project, establishing a pan-European network of Competence Centres for Open Science. With a career spanning since 2004, Sara has extensive expertise in EU-funded projects (including EOSC-Pillar) focusing on Open Science, Digital Humanities, and Cultural Heritage. Her specialisation covers the entire data lifecycle, IPR, Open Data, and Open Access policies.