Over 30 years of experience in the diagnosis and treatment of anxiety, panic, and obsessive-compulsive disorders, combined with scientific research, academic work, and international recognition.
When choosing a specialist—especially for a complex issue such as an anxiety, panic, or obsessive-compulsive disorder—I believe that experience and expertise should be demonstrated by facts.
In my case, these facts include over thirty years of clinical practice, an average of about 150 patients seen each month, more than 100 scientific publications on anxiety, panic and obsessive compulsive disorders, academic appointments in Italy and abroad, and recognition from independent scientific rankings that have placed me at the forefront of panic disorder research in Italy, Europe, and worldwide.
Over 30 Years of Clinical Experience
For over thirty years, I have been diagnosing and treating anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
I have gained my clinical experience at leading healthcare institutions.
For more than twenty years, I worked at San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, where I served as director of the Center for Anxiety Disorders.
Since 2009, I have worked at Villa San Benedetto Menni in Albese con Cassano (Como), run by the Sisters of the Hospital, as Director of the Department of Clinical Neuroscience and the European Center for Anxiety and Emotional Disorders (CEDANS).
Since 2018, I have been the head of the Center for Personalized Medicine for Anxiety and Panic Disorders at Humanitas San Pio X in Milan and work within the Humanitas Medical Care network in Northern Italy.
Over the past thirty years, I have maintained a particularly busy clinical practice: on average, I see about 150 patients per month.
This means that my experience stems not only from academic study and scientific research, but also from daily interaction with a very large number of people presenting with different symptoms, varying degrees of severity, diverse medical histories, and differing responses to treatment.
International Scientific Research on Anxiety Disorders
I have always believed that high-quality clinical practice must be accompanied by research and the scientific method.
I have published over 100 scientific articles on anxiety disorders, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders in indexed international journals with an Impact Factor.
Over the years, this research has allowed me not only to study these disorders but also to test hypotheses and clinical strategies within the international scientific community.
The combination of high-volume clinical practice and scientific output specifically focused on anxiety disorders is one of the central elements of my professional career.
Independent Scientific Recognition
The assessment of scientific expertise should not depend solely on what a professional claims about themselves. For this reason, I consider the results obtained in independent scientific rankings to be particularly significant.
ScholarGPS lists me as a Top Scholar for panic disorder in Italy; I am the only Italian psychiatrist to receive this recognition.
ScienceLeadDr identifies me as the leading expert on panic disorder in Italy and among the world’s leading experts.
From 2014 to 2024, Expertscape—an international expert ranking system based on scientific output—has repeatedly ranked me among the top three global experts on panic disorder, first in Europe and Italy, as well as among the leading international experts on anxiety disorders in general.
I am also listed among the top ten experts in the field of psychiatry in the Top Italian Scientists (TIS) ranking.
These results are based on external evaluations of my scientific output, not on my own self-assessment.
Professor of Psychiatry in Italy, Europe, and the United States
In addition to my clinical and scientific work, I have been engaged in academic and teaching activities for many years.
I am a full professor of psychiatry at Humanitas University in Milan, a visiting professor at Maastricht University in the Netherlands, and a voluntary professor at the University of Miami in the United States.
My academic work is closely linked to the topics on which I have focused much of my clinical and scientific career: anxiety, panic, emotional disorders, and personalized care.
I am also invited as a speaker at major national and international psychiatric conferences, including those of the Italian Society of Psychopathology and the World Congress of Psychiatry.
Psychiatry and Psychotherapy: An Integrated Approach
I do not view the treatment of anxiety disorders as a simplistic choice between medication and psychotherapy.
I believe in the importance of identifying the most appropriate treatment for each patient and, when indicated, in integrating psychiatric intervention with cognitive-behavioral therapy.
For this reason, my clinical practice is conducted in close collaboration with cognitive-behavioral psychotherapists.
I am a full member of the Italian Association for Behavior Analysis and Modification and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AIAMC), where I have served on the executive committee and as chair of the scientific committee, and I am accredited by the European Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT).
I also serve on the Board of Directors of IACABAI—the Italian Associate Chapter of Applied Behavior Analysis International.
The Future: Personalized Medicine for Anxiety Disorders
After more than thirty years of experience, I believe that the most important question is not simply:
“What is the best treatment for panic disorder or an anxiety disorder?”
The more advanced question is:
“What is the most appropriate treatment for this specific patient?”
This is the principle of personalized medicine—that is, the effort to move beyond a one-size-fits-all approach and use scientific and clinical knowledge to develop treatment strategies that are as tailored as possible to the characteristics of the individual.
This is the direction toward which I have focused a significant part of my clinical and scientific work.
I am chair of the Section on Personalized Psychiatry of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and editor-in-chief of the international scientific journal *Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry*, published by Elsevier, together with Prof. Charles Nemeroff of the University of Texas at Austin.
Clinical Experience, Research, and Personalized Medicine
My professional career is therefore based on three elements that I consider inseparable:
1. over thirty years of direct clinical experience with thousands of patients
2. international scientific research specifically focused on anxiety and panic disorders
3. the development of an approach oriented toward personalized medicine.
