ITALIAN SCIENTISTS & SCHOLARS IN NORTH AMERICA FOUNDATION
Connecting, Empowering, Celebrating the Italian Intellectual Diaspora
DMV Chapter
About DMV
We are the ISSNAF network in the greater Washington DC area including Washington DC, northern Virginia, and parts of Maryland (DMV).
We create networking opportunities, foster collaboration, and celebrate the accomplishments of the Italian diaspora.
The DMV Chapter, founded in 2022, has close to 300 members working as researchers, scholars, and technologists in universities, Federal laboratories (including NIH and NASA), Government agencies, and private companies across the DMV area, at all career levels and in all disciplines.
Partners
Executive Committee
Chair
GIUSEPPE CATALDO
Aerospace engineer at NASA currently working to bring back to Earth rock and atmospheric samples from Mars. Previously worked on the James Webb Space Telescope. Holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Violinist, swimmer, skier.
DARIA PIACENTINO
Visiting Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (joint appointment at the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism). Psychiatrist, with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Sapienza University of Rome.
GIULIA RIPARINI
Research Fellow in the laboratory of Muscle Stem Cells and Gene Regulation at the National Institutes of Health. Pharmacist, with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Biotechnology from University of Urbino.
Co-chair
EMANUELE FRANCESCO PECORA
Technology Manager with the U.S. Department of Energy where he develops and executes research, development, demonstration, and commercialization programs for clean energy technologies. TEDx licensee and organizer. Holds a Ph.D. in Physics from University of Catania and is an alumnus of the Scuola Superiore di Catania.
GIOIA RAU
Research Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, working on exoplanets and stellar astrophysics using artificial intelligence techniques, the most advanced computational models, and data from the largest telescopes on Earth and in space. Leads the scientific side of multiple NASA mission concept development. Holds a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from University of Vienna.
ANTONIO IVANO TRIGGIANI
Senior Scientist at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where he works on the neural correlates of consciousness. Holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Foggia.