Dr. Emanuele Pecora is the Associate Director at the Institute for Digital Innovation (IDIA) at George Mason University. A physicist by training, his expertise lies at the intersection of scientific research, technology transfer, and innovation policy.
Previously, Dr. Pecora served at the U.S. Department of Energy, where he managed portfolios exceeding $350 million and designed federal funding mechanisms to accelerate the commercialization of clean energy technologies. His work focuses on aligning national laboratories, academia, and the private sector to foster economic growth.
In addition, Dr. Pecora is the Chair of the DMV Chapter of the Italian Scientists and Scholars in North America Foundation (ISSNAF) and the Licensee for TEDxCatania. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics and is an alumnus of the Scuola Superiore di Catania.

Dr. Ilaria Berteletti is Director of the Ph.D. in Educational Neuroscience and Associate Professor at Gallaudet University. She earned her MS in neuropsychology from UCL, Belgium, and a Ph.D. in cognitive science from the Università degli Studi di Padova, Italy. She gained experience in cognitive neuroscience as a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on understanding the role of language modality in the cognitive and neural foundations of numeracy. She has currently received over $3M in funding from the National Science Foundation for her research and training activities. After being the secretary, she is now also the chair of the Mathematical Cognition and Learning Society.

Dr. Paola Ruffo is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She obtained an International Ph.D. in Translational Medicine, with a specialization in Medical Genetics, in March 2024 from the University of Calabria. Prior to this, she joined the NIH in 2023 to complete her doctoral training and subsequently embarked on her postdoctoral research career at the same institution. Her primary scientific interests focus on investigating the genetic and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the etiopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases. In particular, her research is oriented towards the identification of prognostic and predictive biomarkers through the integration of multimodal "omics" approaches and the discovery of potential innovative therapeutic targets for neuromuscular disorders. Her current research projects are centered on the integrated analysis of genomic, epigenomic, and transcriptomic data (including microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), with the aim of deciphering the complex regulatory networks that modulate disease progression. Dr. Ruffo is registered with the National Order of Biologists in Italy and is a member of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG). Her scientific expertise spans from the genetic diagnostics of complex diseases to the functional validation of genetic variants through the use of advanced in vitro cellular models. She also possesses consolidated skills in the application of cutting-edge computational methodologies, which include the bioinformatic analysis of large-scale "omics" datasets and the development of pipelines and tools based on programming languages for the interpretation of complex biological data and the inference of molecular mechanisms.

Stefano Lami is currently serving as the Chief Operating Officer at the Superconducting Quantum Materials & Systems (SQMS) Center, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
A former Science Counselor at the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C. (2013-21), Dr. Lami’s interests are focused on facilitating international scientific and innovative research collaboration, increasing researcher mobility, and developing research coordination mechanism.
A particle physicist by training, and with decades of experience in science diplomacy and policy, and project management in international organizations, Dr. Lami has participated in numbers of international collaborative projects, including Fermilab, as has served as co-spokesperson at the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland. He authored and co-authored 600+ scientific publications in peer-reviewed international journals and has been a member of several international scientific committees.

Dr. Roberto Capanna is a Research Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at The George Washington University. With a Ph.D. in fluid–structure interaction (FSI), his expertise encompasses nuclear reactor safety, experimental thermo-fluid dynamics, and high-speed optical diagnostics. At GWU, Dr. Capanna oversees experimental facilities design, fiber-based diagnostic systems, and novel polymer development for refractive index matching. His cross-disciplinary research also advances optical neural networks and biofuel technologies, reflecting a strong commitment to innovation across fluid dynamics, applied optics, and sustainable energy.