Martina Vitali earned her M.Sc. in Biology Applied to Biomedical Research at the University of Milan (Italy), where she worked on brain-permeable nanoparticles for targeted cholesterol delivery in Huntington’s disease. She continued her research on neurodegeneration as a fellow at the same university, focusing on early synaptic and circuit alterations in the striatum during the prodromal phase of the disease.

Martina is currently a research fellow at Humanitas University (Milan, Italy), working in the team led by Sebastiano Bariselli. She studies how early-life disruptions in mother-infant attachment influence neurobehavioral development, with an emphasis on preclinical models of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Her research focuses on how alcohol exposure shortly after birth affects maternal brain and behavior, leading to long-term alterations in neural circuits underlying affiliative and cognitive functions.