Elisa Ficarra received a PhD in Systems and Computer Science from Politecnico di Torino in 2006. Since 2021, she has been a Full Professor in the Department of Engineering “Enzo Ferrari” at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, where she has served as Deputy Director since 2024.

She worked as an Invited Scientist at Stanford University (2002) and a Visiting Scientist at EPFL (2005–2006). She coordinates European- and nationally funded projects in bioinformatics and biomedical image analysis, focusing on data mining and AI for genetic pathologies, therapy resistance, and new treatment screening, and collaborating with academics and industry partners.

She is a member of ELLIS, a pan-European AI network of excellence, and she is active in international working groups on AI in health. She has served as an Associate Editor for IEEE and BMC journals and as a TPC member for major AI and Bioinformatics conferences. She contributes to PhD programs in ICT and AI for Health and authored about 170 peer-reviewed scientific publications.