Maria D.I. Manunta is currently biologist at the Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Milan. She holds a Biological Sciences degree from the University of Sassari. She obtained the post-graduate specialisation in Microbiology and Virology from the University of Pisa. She received her Dr. rer. nat. (PhD) degree from the Johannes Kepler University Linz. She previously worked for the Italian National Health Service and as a researcher in the United Kingdom, at the University of Edinburgh, University College London, University of Glasgow, Cardiff University and Imperial College London.