Dr. Francesca de’ Donato holds a Phd in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Imperial College London; MSc in Epidemiology Università Cattolica, Rome; MSc Applied Meteorology and Climatology and BSc Geography from the University of Birmingham, UK. She is a Senior Researcher at Lazio Regional Health Service ASL Roma. She has worked in environmental epidemiology studying the health effects of extreme temperatures and climate change on health outcomes with a focus on exposure modelling and the identification of vulnerable groups. Francesca manages the Italian national Heat Health Warning System on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Civil Protection and contributes to the Italian and Lazio regional heat plans.