Graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Rome La Sapienza in 1978, he specialized in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine in 1982, and in Infectious Diseases in 1986. Since 1991 he has been Research Director at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome where he has been Director of the Department of Infectious, Parasitic and Immunomediated Diseases since 2009.

Expert on HIV and emerging infections such as Chikungunya, West Nile, flu, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Q fever, carried out epidemiological investigations in Italy and abroad, where he worked on behalf of the World Health Organization, of Italian and European Union Cooperation. He also managed research projects on AIDS and other infectious diseases.