Dr Andrea Luppi, a Research Fellow, has been awarded the Italy Made Me 2024 prize in Life Sciences by the Italian Embassy Scientific Office in London. The annual programme honours junior Italian researchers operating in the United Kingdom who received part of their education in Italy, recognising innovative research carried out in one of the three European Research Council (ERC) domains.
Dr Luppi, who is also a Wellcome Early Career Fellow, said: 鈥淚t fills me with joy and pride that my home country has decided to recognise the value of my research with the Italy Made Me Award for Life Sciences.鈥淚 came to the UK as an undergraduate to pursue my love for both science and philosophy 鈥 a passion that was nurtured by my family and by incredibly dedicated high school teachers in Italy. So this award is also for them.鈥淢y time in the UK has transformed my life in ways that I could not have imagined when I arrived, and I am so grateful that I have been made to feel at home here. International mobility has been a tremendous source of personal and professional growth, and it is wonderful to be included in Italy鈥檚 celebration of Italian talent abroad.鈥
Dr Luppi won the prize for his research on 鈥榓 synergistic core for human brain evolution and cognition鈥. He investigates how brain function arises from the complex interplay of brain structure and dynamics. Working at the intersection of integrative and computational neuroscience, he combines approaches from information theory, network science and whole-brain computational modelling.
He was among seven winners to be presented with Italy Made Me prizes at a ceremony at the Italian Embassy in London on Wednesday 4 December. The other two award categories are Physical and Engineering Sciences, and Social Sciences and Humanities.
In November, Dr Luppi received the 2024 Universal Scientific Education and Research Network Prize in Formal Sciences, a global prize for young scientists, for his research on how different parts of the brain work together.
