Born 1964 in Rome, Italy. Study of Biology at Tor Vergata University in Rome (1990). PhD from the University of Heidelberg for work carried out in the laboratory of Matti Saraste at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg (1995). Post-doctoral work with Stephen C. Harrison at the Harvard Medical School (1995-1998). Group leader at the Department of Experimental Oncology, European Institute of Oncology (1999-2010). Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology (since 2011).