Date of birth       31/10/1960
Citizenship          Italian
Marital status     married to Daniela Cavallin, with two children Emanuele and Lorenzo

Curriculum Studiorum

1985 - 1988 Ph.D. in Physics, Università degli Studi di Genova
1979 - 1983 Laurea in Theoretical Physics (summa cum laude), Università degli Studi di Genova

Academic Positions

2000 -          Professor of Computer Science, Università degli Studi di Genova
1989 - 1999 Assistant Professor, Università degli Studi di Genova
1988 - 1989 Post doctoral fellow, International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste

Visiting Positions

Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA (fall 2013, spring 2001, fall 1999, and fall 1998)
Visiting Scholar, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh (summer and fall 1996)
Visiting Scholar, Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique (INRIA) - Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Systèmes Aléatoires (IRISA), Rennes (summer 1994)
Visiting Scientist, International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley CA (1992 - 1993)
Visiting Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge MA (summer 2012, summer 1997, summer 1988, and 1985 - 1986)

Fellowships

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, 1996
INRIA, 1994
CNR, 1992
NATO, 1988
Fairchild, 1986

Research Activity

I am interested in the theory of learning from examples with applications in computational biology, medical image analysis, and computer vision. From the theoretical viewpoint my research focuses on the use of analytic and optimization methods for the design of learning algorithms and the study of their mathematical properties. More recently, the main effort concentrates on the development of a framework for data representation that leverages either on the vast amount of available data, or on the accumulation of structured knowledge on a certain domain, or both. The ultimate goal is to devise algorithms able to infer the solution to a given problem from a small number of examples. The application scenarios include the extraction of biological knowledge from high-throughput data, the development of models of regulatory networks in oncology, and quantitative annotation and registration of multi-modal medical images. My research activities and the projects I am involved range from the study of foundational aspects to the development of practical solutions to real life problems. Follow the links for more information on my current research interests, the list of the PhD students I supervised, the list of my publications, and their impact.

Teaching Activity

Over the years I have been teaching undergraduate courses on Signal Theory, Information Theory, Introduction to Programming, and Computer Architecture, and graduate coures on Computer Vision and Statistical Learning. I have been invited to give courses on Computer Vision and Statistical Learning at several National and International Schools. From 1998 to 2001 I taught Networks for Learning at MIT with Tomaso Poggio. I coauthored a textbook on Computer Vision with Emanuele Trucco, published by Prentice Hall in 1998. Follow the link for the list of the master students I supervised.

Professional Activities

Past and present member of the Program Committee of the International Conference on Computer Vision, European Conference of Computer Vision, IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, and several other National and International Conferences and Workshops. Referee for a number of leading journals in the area of Computer Vision and Learning.

Professional Duties

University of Genova, School of Science, Deputy Dean, 2013
University of Genova, Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics, and Systems Engineering, Deputy Chairman, 2013 - 2014
University of Genova, Department of Informatics and Information Sciences, Chairman, 2006 - 2012
University of Genova, Board of Department Chairmen, Chairman, 2008 - 2011
University of Genova, Center for Computational Learning, Director, 2006 - 2012

Northern Research Partnership, Joint Research Institutes Advisory Committee, Member, 2011 -
Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering and Mathematics, Joint Research Institutes Advisory Committee, Member, 2006 - 2010
Technological District on Intelligent Integrated Systems, Scientific Advisory Committee, Member, 2006 - 2012
Italian Association of Researchers in Computer Science, Scientific Advisory Committee, Member, 2003 - 2008

Genova Science Festival, Board of Directors, Member, 2013 -
Institute of Advanced Studies in Information and Communication Technologies, Board of Directors, Member, 2006 - 2013
Regione Liguria, Science and Technology Park, Board of Directors, Member, 2006 - 2008