I started my scientific career in 1990 when, during my undergraduate studies at the University of Rome La Sapienza, I developed an interest in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, which later led me to move to different labs in Italy, the UK and Sweden, and to collaborate with scientists involved in these research areas across the globe. Building on this experience, during the last 10 years I have been carrying out highly focused research on the genetic predisposition to gastrointestinal disease such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and others. These are incurable conditions affecting more than 15% of the general population, and the need to translate genetic findings into novel therapeutic strategies is therefore great. I strive to identify risk genes and their causative variants by applying molecular, genetic and functional genomic approaches.