About Us
We are a research team that primarily studies information and disinformation related to science and health. We also study how to limit the harm caused by disinformation, and we do this through experiments and our social lab, where we create simulated digital environments to understand how people can protect themselves from disinformation.
But we don’t just focus on research. We also believe in the mission of educating people – starting from a young age – to develop critical digital thinking skills and to make informed and responsible decisions about their health and their mental and physical well-being. To do this in our industrialized societies, we need to distinguish between high-quality information and harmful information.
Did you know that there are cognitive mechanisms that, starting in early childhood, help people evaluate sources of information? But these mechanisms aren’t perfect; sometimes they fail, and they’re often too easily manipulated by people with ulterior motives. We study these mechanisms and how to improve them, especially in young people.
On this site, you’ll find resources for both research and education. Whether you’re a teacher or a student, you’ll find courses and audiovisual materials to improve your MeSH: Media, Science, and Health Literacy.
Il nostro team
Carlo Martini
Associate Professor at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. He has written numerous scientific and popular science articles in leading journals on the relationship between science and society, science communication, and disinformation. If he doesn’t answer the phone, he’s in Lapland on skis.
Mara Floris
Researcher at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, she earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Turin. Her work focuses on cognitive psychology, the philosophy of science, gender issues, and science communication. In her free time, she climbs mountains.
Piero Ronzani
He is a behavioral economist affiliated with the International Security and Development Center in Berlin. He conducts experiments and analyzes data on information, development, and conflicts. In his free time, he travels the world in a van, climbing and opening new rock routes for others to climb.
Francesca Pongiglione
Associate Professor at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, where she teaches Social Philosophy and Anthropology, Cultures, and Human Rights. Her research focuses on ethics, epistemology, and environmental ethics.
Folco Panizza
He is an Assistant Professor at the IMT School for Advanced Studies in Lucca. He earned a Ph.D. in cognitive science at CIMeC in Trento and completed a postdoc at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. He plays in a band called Petz are Cool.
Margherita Ghiara
Ph.D. candidate in the Philosophy of Science and Epistemology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. When she’s not cycling or knitting, she focuses on disinformation, science communication, and social media.
Giorgia Adorno
Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at UniSR. She studies the cognitive and psychological foundations of pseudoscientific beliefs – that is, why people believe in science just as much as they believe in hoaxes. She studies philosophy and psychology because her fortune-teller told her to.
Alice Andrea Chinaia
PhD candidate in Cognitive, Computational and Social Neuroscience at the IMT School for Advanced Studies Lucca. She studies what it means to be rational, especially to get better at playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Camilla Quaresmini
Postdoctoral researcher at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. A computational philosopher, she earned her PhD from Politecnico di Milano. Her research focuses on algorithmic injustice and opinion dynamics. Every now and then she breaks a bone, cooks badly, and plays a bit of everything.
Alessio Tacca
Researcher at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, he earned a PhD in Philosophy from UNSW Sydney. His research focuses on epistemology and the philosophy of artificial intelligence. When he is not doing philosophy, he divides his time between mountains, guitars, and bicycles. He is also a sommelier.
Diana Carbone
Research fellow at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, with a background in experimental psychology. Her research focuses on misinformation, reasoning, and decision-making, with a particular interest in the social dimension of reasoning. When she is not doing research, she plays pickleball more often than would reasonably qualify as a mere hobby.
Alessandro Barbazeni
Researcher at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. He conducts experiments on misinformation, competition, and cooperation.
Pietro Fecchio
With a PhD in Physics, he spent years studying subatomic particles; today, he works in data science and artificial intelligence. Fascinated by conspiracy theories since childhood, in his free time he cycles, climbs, and looks for good excuses to be outdoors. If he is not in front of a computer, he is probably doing sports.
Daniele Quadrio
PhD candidate in Philosophy at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. His research focuses on the role of memory distortions and other cognitive mechanisms in the spread of misinformation. In his free time, he watches films and reads reviews of them; by accident, he has even written a few himself.
Luca Ausili
Post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Milan. He works on philosophy of science, social epistemology, and decision theory. He is very interested in the relation between science and society. When he is not doing philosophy, Luca spends time with his dog and frequently realises that he is better at listening to music than playing it, as well as watching sports than practicing them.
Hanno collaborato con noi
Martina Calderisi
Ph.D. candidate in the philosophy of science and logic at the University of Turin. She doesn’t like mistakes – especially her own – and perhaps that’s why she began studying them. Photography, dancing, and the sea are some of her passions.
Ilaria Passarella
She earned her degree in philosophy from UniSR and went on to earn a master’s degree in Science and Health Communication from the same university. From Socrates to Hippocrates, she eventually found herself working primarily on software, interfaces, and artificial intelligence at Accenture.
Giulio Pennacchioni
Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at UniSR. His research focuses on environmental ethics and political ecology. He completed a research fellowship at Université Paris-Nanterre, and in his free time he writes book reviews for pandorarivista.it.
Questo progetto è finanziato da
Iniziativa finanziata nell’ambito della rete ASSI.
Il progetto è stato realizzato con il contributo alla ricerca di HAVAS PR Milan.