Biography

I had practised sport from a very young age, starting with swimming for Posillipo Napoli and Karate for five years until before high school when I became a member of professional basketball team Partenope first and Rosso Maniero later.  Later, I played water polo with the team Scandone for three years while at university and worked as communication and press office manager for Filema Publishing House.

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With time, becoming more and more passionate about sports training, I became a trainer member of the Italian Federation of Weightlifting (FIPE) and decided to move to Rome.

There I became an undergraduate student at the most important university of sports science in Italy: the University of Rome Foro Italico (IUSM). 

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After completing my BSc with a thesis of the inclusion of African football players in the Seria A, I moved back to Naples to work for the Neurology Professor and Doctor Sorrentino who, at that time, ran one of the most advanced gait labs in Italy, at the Neuro Rehabilitation Clinic Hermitage Capodimonte. There I learnt how research can help to improve health.

 

I completed my MSc in only one year and a half (rather than two) (Hons) with a thesis of the effect of cognitive and motor dual tasks on balance with healthy adults that was awarded nationally from the National Strenght and Condition Association (NSCA) as best MSc thesis. During that time I kept working as a football and basketball coach and personal trainer.

 

In 2016, I have been accepted as a PhD candidate at Bournemouth University. It was a life-changing opportunity. My research project on inspiratory muscle training was supervised by Professor McConnell, Dr Gavin, and Mr Wainwright. I completed my PhD within three years, with three studies on the effects of inspiratory muscle training on balance and physical performance with healthy older adults.

 

Being a researcher has always been my dream and having the opportunity to work alongside great minds in physiology and biomechanic motivated me to stay hungry for knowledge and ready to embrace new challenges.

 

Currently, I work at the Nuffield Health Hospital in Bournemouth where I am collaborating with the Orthopaedic Research Institute (Bournemouth University) as Clinical Trial Manager to evaluate the health outcomes after Mako Robotic-Arm Assisted Total Hip replacement.