Alberto Redaelli, PhD, Full Professor

Full Professor in the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB) at Politecnico di Milano, he has led the Bioengineering Division over the past six years. He co-founded and coordinates the Biological and Biomechanical Engineering Research Group at DEIB. He has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed journal articles in biomechanics, microfluidics, and nanobiomechanics (Scopus h-index 51; 10,000+ citations). He has coordinated 7 European projects, 9 national projects funded by the Italian Government, and 6 projects funded by Fondazione Cariplo; more recently, he has led a POS project on data analysis, a PNC project on advanced diagnostic tools, and a PNRR-funded initiative. He is also co-founder of two Politecnico di Milano spin-offs: Artiness, which develops mixed-reality applications for cardiac surgery, and BiomimX, which develops microfluidic platforms for cell culture and drug screening.

Emiliano Votta, PhD, Associate Professor

Emiliano Votta is an expert in finite element modelling and cardiovascular biomechanics. He coordinates the activities of the Computational Biomechanics Laboratory at DEIB and of the 3D and Computer Simulation Laboratory at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, a center of excellence in cardiology, interventional cardiology, and cardiac surgery. He is currently the coordinator of the EU-funded project ARTERY, the local PI of the MERLIN project funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research, and the local co-PI of the CAL.HUB.RIA. project funded by the Italian Ministry of Health. His research activity leverages numerical modeling, image analysis, artificial intelligence techniques and mixed reality to develop pre- and intra-procedural support tools for clinicians. It has produced around 190 publications, including 82 full papers accepted or published in international peer-reviewed scientific journals. He is among the co-founders of Artiness srl, a spin-off company stemmed from Politecnico di Milano and devoted to the development of mixed reality solutions for interventional cardiology. He is also one of the co-inventors of a filed Italian patent.

Francesco Sturla, PhD, Research Fellow at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato

Francesco Sturla was born in 1986. He has a Bachelor Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano with a thesis about a deformable model for the annulus aortic dynamics. In 2011 he received his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano with a thesis on fluid-structure interaction (FSI) mechanics in the the aortic root, focusing on the computational modeling of the bicuspid aortic valve. He received the PhD in Cardiovascular Sciences at Università degli Studi di Verona with a study focusing on the numerical analysis of the mitral valve and its pathologies, combining magnetic resonance imaging with finite element modeling. He currently works at the 3D Computational Simulation Lab at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato.

Veronica Ruozzi, MSc, PhD Candidate

Veronica Ruozzi was born in 1997 in Reggio Emilia. She got her master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2022. She developed her master thesis within the ARTERY Project and in particular her work was focused on the real time simulation of catheter-vessel interaction during percutaneous procedures. Currently she is a PhD candidate in bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano. She currently works on the development of Augmented Reality applications and hybrid simulators for training in the field of interventional surgery.

Alessandro Albanesi, MSc, PhD Candidate

Alessandro Albanesi was born in 1998 in Ascoli Piceno. He obtained his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2023. In 2021, he was awarded the HealthTech fellowship at the University of Strasbourg, where he completed a one-year master’s program in Computer Vision and Computer-Aided Surgery. His master’s thesis, developed at the Institute of Image-Guided Surgery of Strasbourg (IHU), focused on the development of mixed-reality solutions for endoscopic ultrasound and liver ablation. He is currently a PhD student in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano, with a research focus on mixed-reality applications for neurosurgical procedures.

Davide Astori, MSc, PhD Candidate

Davide Astori was born in 1998. In May 2023, he received his Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. In his master’s thesis, he developed finite element simulations to replicate patient-specific PPVI procedures to investigate potential peri- and post-procedural risks. Currently, he is enrolled as a PhD researcher at the Computer Modeling Lab (CM-Lab) at Politecnico di Milano. His research aims to develop tools based on CT imaging to improve the pre-procedural planning of transcatheter procedures and support the decision-making process for minimally invasive heart repair.

Davide Tondi, MSc, PhD Candidate

Davide Tondi was born in 1998. In May 2023, he received his Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. His master’s thesis explored the biomechanics of mitral valve prolapse using a workflow integrating CMR imaging and finite element simulations. This research was conducted in collaboration with the IRCCS Policlinico San Donato and the Leipzig Heart Center in Leipzig. Currently enrolled as a PhD researcher at the Computer Modeling Lab (CM-Lab) at Politecnico di Milano, his research activity aims to develop a suite of tools, based on non-invasive RT3DE, able to improve the clinical assessment of valve pathologies, focusing on valvular regurgitation, and supporting the decision-making process for atrioventricular valves repair.

Luca Mariani, MSc, PhD Candidate

Luca Mariani was born in 1998. He obtained his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2023. He worked as Research Fellow at Centro Cardiologico Monzino (CONCERTO project) to develop an automatic tool for the evaluation of Coronary Artery diseases through CFD simulations and FFR-CT index. Currently he is a PhD student in Bioengineering at CM-Lab at Politecnico di Milano, working on a cutting-edge AI framework for precise evaluation of atherosclerosis in high-risk patients with suspected or diagnosed CAD (AI-Corps Project).

Ione Ianniruberto, MSc, PhD Candidate

Ione Ianniruberto was born in 1999. In April 2024, she received her Master’s Degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. In her master thesis she investigates the role of a new risk factor for type A Aortic dissection in collaboration with the Monaldi Hospital of Naples. Currently enrolled as a PhD researcher at the Computer Modeling Lab (CM-Lab) at Politecnico di Milano, her research activity in collaboration with the Cornell University in New York, aims at investigating the impact of ascending aorta graft implantation on descending aorta biomechanics. 

Davide Milesi, MSc, PhD Candidate

Davide Milesi was born in 1998. In December 2023, he received his Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano with a thesis on computer vision, developed at the STORM Lab of University of Leeds (UK). During his thesis work, which was awarded with a “Thesis abroad” scholarship, he developed a depth estimation method for colonoscopy, based on a deep learning approach. He currently works as Research Fellow at the Computer Modeling Lab (CM-Lab) at Politecnico di Milano, his research activity aims to develop artificial intelligence solutions to improve clinical procedures like brain tumor craniotomy, deep brain stimulation and surgery for craniosynostosis.

Xie Zhihui, MSc, PhD Candidate

Zhihui Xie was born in 1998 in Shandong, China. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Qingdao University of Science and Technology in June 2024. During her master’s program, she focused on advanced applications of artificial intelligence, including domain adaptation networks for lung nodule image segmentation and convolutional neural networks for electrical component image processing. Currently, she is a PhD candidate in bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano. Her research focuses on the development and application of AI-driven methods for cardiac image segmentation.

Giulia Frigerio, MSc, PhD Candidate

Giulia Frigerio was born in 1998. She earned her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in May 2023. Her master’s thesis focused on developing a preliminary tool for non-invasive coronary stenosis assessment through CFD simulations. She then worked as a researcher at IRCCS E. Medea, focusing on paediatric cerebral MRI image analysis. Currently, she is a PhD student in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano. Her research aims to improve the accuracy of stent visualization during PCI procedures, both in real-time and post-processing. This project is carried out in collaboration with Digitec Innovation company.

Elisabetta Criseo, MSc, PhD Candidate

Elisabetta Criseo was born in 1998. She got her master’s degree in biomedical engineering at Politecnico di Milano in 2023.  She developed her master’s thesis in collaboration with Ospedale Niguarda, focusing on the modelling of pulmonary valve replacement and post-procedural hemodynamics in the pulmonary artery. She worked as a research fellow for Centro Cardiologico Monzino on CONCERTO project, investigating the prediction of myocardial perfusion using computational methods. Currently, she is enrolled as a PhD student in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano. Her research focuses on development of methods for segmentation and study of hemodynamics in small arteries such as coronaries.

Alice Ivanaj, MSc, PhD Candidate

Alice Ivanaj was born in 2000. She obtained her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in April 2025.
Her Master’s thesis was carried out within the FUTURO project and focused on the development of a computational model for the simulation of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) therapy.
She is currently a PhD student in Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano, working on the OptimAI project in collaboration with Fondazione Alfieri per il Cuore and IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (Milan). Her research primarily focuses on machine learning and computer vision methods for the development of an AI-based surgical copilot aimed at assisting surgeons during operative procedures.