Agronomist, crop protectionist. From 1991 to 2007 I worked in the regional agriculture extension and inspection service of Regione Liguria with main activities on plant virus diagnosis, tospoviruses epidemiology, IPM and biological control in flower crops, vegetables, olive and vineyards. Since 2007 I have been working as pest risk assessor at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), Parma (IT) (EFSA is the risk assessment body for food safety, pesticides, animal health and plant health of the European Union). My current position is acting head of the EFSA Animal and Plant Health Unit.