AdvisoryBoard
Erika Borella / nursing homes
is associate professor at the Department of General Psychology, University of Padova. She is responsible for the University’s Psychology of Aging and Longevity Service, and she directs the Second-Level Short Specialization degree course in the Psychology of Aging and Longevity, and the Postgraduate Specialization degree course on Health Psychology. Her research interests focus on typical and pathological aging, and particularly on age-related differences in basic cognition mechanisms (working memory, inhibitory processes), and on complex aspects of cognition related to everyday functioning.
She has a special interest in cognitive training programs for typically-aging older adults, and in cognitive stimulation therapy for people with dementia, examining their short- and long-term efficacy and the role of people’s individual characteristics. She is also studying the influence of psychological aspects (loneliness) on the cognitive and emotional functioning of older adults with and without dementia.
Cinzia Di Dio / workplaces
Graduated from the University of Hertfordshire (UK) in Psychological Sciences, she obtained an MSc in Research Methods and Statistical Analysis from the same university, and a PhD in Neuroscience from Parma University (Italy). She has received training in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at the Neuroimaging Centre of Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome.
Presently, she is professor at the Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan. Her main research interests are in the fields of aesthetic perception and developmental psychology, with a particular focus on decision-making processes, artificial intelligence, and social interaction in a life-span perspective.
Eve Edelstein / hospitals
Ph.D.(Neuro), M.Arch., Assoc.AIA, EDAC, F-AAA applies her unique background with degrees and practice in anthropology, basic research in neuroscience and clinical neurophysiology to inform architecture, planning and design.
Dr. Edelstein’s clinical practice at the National Hospital for Neurology & Neurosurgery, Queen's Square and University College London, research at the Harvard/MIT hearing science lab, and work at the US Naval Medical Center provide insight to the breadth of users' needs across built settings.
Eve's work is at the intersection of design, health, education and wellbeing.
As co-founder of Clinicians for Design, Eve works with clinicians, staff, patients and researchers to undertake original studies, translate findings, and apply research-based design principles. With the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture, the Salk Institute and the University of California San Diego Dr. Edelstein applied neuroscience to design, and with the Human Experience HxLab at Perkins & Will, Eve created and used bespoke and validated mixed methods including sensors. physiological, pre and post-occupancy evaluations to inform award-winning buildings including the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute. Eve publishes and speaks internationally and remotely, offering keynote, plenary, and interactive working groups.
Colin Ellard / urban design
Who works at the intersection of neuroscience and architectural and environmental design, is the author of Places of the Heart: The Psychogeography of Everyday Life and You Are Here: Why We Can Find Our Way to the Moon.
He has published scientific work in international journals in North America, Europe, and Asia for the past twenty-five years and has also contributed to the public discussion of environmental psychology through his work with museums and the media.
A cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Waterloo and director of its Urban Realities Laboratory, Ellard lives in Kitchener, Ontario.
Vittorio Gallese / research
MD and trained neurologist, is Professor of Physiology at the Dept. of Neuroscience of the University of Parma, Italy and Adjunct Senior Research Scholar, Dept. of Art History and Archeology, Columbia University, New York, USA.
He is Coordinator of the PhD Program in Neuroscience and Director of the Doctoral School of medicine at the University of Parma. Cognitive neuroscientist, his research interests focus on the cognitive role of the motor system and on an embodied account of social cognition. His major contribution is the discovery, together with his colleagues of Parma, of mirror neurons and the elaboration of a theoretical model of social cognition – Embodied Simulation Theory.
He worked at the University of Lausanne, at the Nihon University of Tokyo, at the University of California at Berkeley and at the School of Mind and Brain of the Humboldt University of Berlin.
He received the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology in 2007, the Doctor Honoris Causa from the Catholic University of Leuven in 2010, the Arnold Pfeffer Prize for Neuropsychoanalysis in 2010, the KOSMOS Professor Fellowship, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany in 2013-14, the Musatti Award of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society in 2014.
He recently co-authored with Massimo Ammaniti the book The Birth of Intersubjectivity: Psychodynamics, Neurobiology, and the Self. New York: Norton, 2014.
Alessandra Micalizzi / housing
is a sociologist, a psychologist and she got her PhD in communication and new technologies. She was post doc researcher at IULM University and she focused her studies on the digital practices of sharing emotions and constructing relations on forums, blogs and social media. The sentiments explored were morning and self-help groups, digital naming and shaming, the reconstruction of collective memory after a trauma thanks to digital platforms and finally the role of Internet as context with high potential of happiness.
She was lecturer at IUSVe, IUSTo and IED, where she collaborated both to Communication and Design bachelor’s programs, considering her interest for psychology of housing. She is lecturer at SAE Institute and Associate Professor at Pegaso University, where she teaches sociology of new media and theories and techniques for mass media.
Gabriella Pravettoni / retail
is the Director of the Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology at the University of Milan and Director of the Psychoncology Division at the European Institute of Oncology (IEO).
She is Full Professor of General Psychology at the University of Milan, and the Coordinator of Doctorate FOLSATEC at the European School of Molecular Medicine. She is also the Coordinator of Psychology training and development at LILT.
She is member of various prestigious academic associations.
Her research activities are almost entirely conducted at the IEO, at both national and international level.
Her research activities especially focus on cognitive processes, decision-making and error prevention. With particular attention to the medical field, medical humanities, health and centrality of patient.
Jagan Shah / urban design
Is keenly interested in the contribution of people, places, technology and design to making sustainable and resilient cities.
Following an early career as a teacher, when he discovered the value of empathy and creativity, Shah has played several leadership roles such as Director of India’s National Institute of Urban Affairs, where he co-created transformative urban programs, and advisory roles with the UK’s Department of International Development, The World Bank, the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure and the Tata Trusts.
Shah is a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) in New York and an Advisor to the Oorvani Foundation in Bengaluru.
He obtained a professional degree in architecture from New Delhi (1985-90), received a master’s degree in architectural history, theory and criticism from University of Cincinnati (1995) and attended the MPhil program at Columbia University (1995-97).
