My area of specialization is philosophy of psychiatry and psychology. My research focuses on the boundary between normality and pathology, and on the interplay between cognition and affect in mental disorders. In recent years, I have been mostly working on autism, focusing on the phenomenon of camouflaging and on the relationship between disability and identity. I obtained my PhD in Philosophy at the University of Cincinnati in 2017, with a dissertation on dimensional models of mental disorders. After a research interruption due to parental leave (2018-2019), I started working at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) as Juan de la Cierva Formación postdoctoral researcher (2020-2022), under the supervision of Agustín Vicente. At UPV/EHU, I became an active member of the Language in Neurodiversity Lab (Lindy Lab). I then kept working at UPV/EHU for two more years as Juan de la Cierva Incorporación postdoctoral researcher (2022-2024), before joining the Department of Philosophy at the University of Bologna as Associate Professor of Philosophy of Science.
My scientific contributions focus on exploring mental disorders from a dimensional perspective to assess whether they may be understood as extreme variations of non-pathological phenomena. I also conducted work on autism, delusions, dimensional models of affect, inner speech, and comorbidity, as well as empirical work on social concepts in autism and affective valence.
I have developed significant teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate level, by teaching several introductory and intermediate courses in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and history of philosophy, as well as advanced courses in philosophy of science and psychiatry. I have organized and participated in a number of initiatives related to mentoring early-career students from underrepresented groups, such as mentoring-mentee programs (UPSS Mentoring Program; SIFA; SWIP) and career development sessions on how to apply to PhD programs in the United States. I am a founding member of the first Minorities and Philosophy chapter in Italy.
