Francesco received his M.Sc. from the University of Catania (Italy), later expanding scientific knowledge and technological skills abroad through to the obtainment of a PhD in Pharmacological Disciplines from the Queen Mary University of London in 2001. Francesco then joined SIFI S.p.A, where in time he has grown to holding positions with increasing responsibilities. First appointed Manager of the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Lab., Francesco later provided managerial support to the whole Pharmaco-Biology Unit while acting as cross-functional Project Manager within the Project Management Office. In 2012 Francesco was appointed Manager of the Preclinical Research and Development Dept., driving the expansion of the research capabilities and taking responsibility to manage the Company’s Pharma Patent Portfolio. Since 2019 Francesco is engaged in Business Development operations providing SIFI with a structured process looking at constant optimization of its Projects Portfolio. More recently, Francesco has also been assigned responsibilities concerning the management of strategic discussions and decision making processes to effectively manage alliance partners.