Graduated in Biological Sciences at Rome University and PhD in Chemistry at Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa followed by PhD fellowship at the Freiburg University in Germany, she worked on the biochemistry of secondary metabolism in plant and microbial cells since 1986. In 1991, she joined Lepetit Research of Marion Merrell Dow at Gerenzano (Varese) as a researcher on the genetics and physiology of industrially relevant microorganisms (actinomycetes and fungi) producing antibiotics. In this centre, first for Marion Merrel Dow and then for Hoechst, she became Director of the Pilot Fermentation Plant and of the Industrial Microbiology Laboratories. In 1996, she was one of the founders and member of the Board of Directors of the first Italian Biotec company Biosearch Italia (devoted to the discovery and development of new antinfectives) quoted at Nasdaq in the 2000. In the 2003-2004 she has been contract professor of Chemistry and Biotechnology of Fermentation at University of Insubria. From December 2004 to February 2017, she was appointed as has as Associated Professor of Microbial Biotechnology and Fermentation Chemistry at Insubria University, Varese, where she started up a novel Research Unit on actinomycetes and fungi producing antibiotics. Since March 2017, she was appointed as Full Professor. Main research interests are: resistance, biosynthesis and mode of action of peptide and glycopeptide antibiotics; strain and process improvement for production of bioactive peptides and proteins. Research has been funded by regional (Regione Lombardia), national (Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico, Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali, Ministero degli Affari Esteri), EU Projects and private companies (Gnosis, Huvepharma, BIOVET, Farmhispania, Angelini, Linnea etc.). She joined EU research consortia studying the microbial diversity: RAPIDS BIO4-CT-96-0332 RapidS Rational process innovation and design for Streptomyces; MICROMAT BIO4-CT98-0040 Biodiversity of microbial mats in Antarctica; ACTAPHARM QLRT-2001-01783 Novel sources of actinomycetes diversity for detection of antimicrobial agents with pharmaceutical applications; and more recently Metaexplore: metagenomics for bioexploration – tools and application, and the Cost Action CM0804 Chemical Biology with Natural Products. She was appointed as external advisor by Belgian Science Policy Office, Research Council of Norway and British Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and three times as EU Expert for evaluation of projects/research centers in biotechnological productions. She is currently Adviser of International Foundation for Science. Till now she has published 94 papers on international peer reviewed journals and books and she holds 4 patents on antiinfective molecules. She is part of the Editorial Board of International Journal of Antibiotics, of Fermentation and of Antibiotics. She was Editor of the 2013 Springer Book on Antimicrobials: New and Old Molecules in the Fight Against Multi-resistant Bacteria. Invited to give lectures and seminars in many national and international congresses, she achieved twice the FEMS Award as Invited Speaker. She is actually the Coordinator of the Bachelor in Biotechnology (since 2015) and was the coordinator of the Master in Industrial Biotechnology from 2013 to 2019 at University of Insubria, she has been contractor professor at University of Pavia and she is visiting professor at University of Chemistry and Technology of Prague. She is member of the PhD Biotechnology Faculty. She has been the supervisor of more than 70 graduate and PhD students, participating also as international referee in PhD dissertations at Bologna, Ghent, Liege, Wageningen, Cape Town, Paris and Trondheim universities. Since 2007, she has been appointed in the Faculty Team of the International School of Molecular Applied Microbiology John Innes/Rudjer Bošković. Since 2008 she coordinates an unit for the Consorzio Interuniversitario delle Biotecnologie devoted to industrial microbiology and since 2014 she is member of the technical and scientific committee of Consorzio Italbiotec.