Elena De Carolis, PhD, graduated in biological sciences from the University “La Sapienza”, and has a specialty degree in microbiology and a PhD degree in general and clinical microbiology at the UCSC, Rome. She is Vice-president of the Executive Committee of the Italian Federation of Human and Animal Mycology (FIMUA) and Head of the Mycology Laboratory at Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli, IRCCS, Rome. Her research area involves the development and evaluation of molecular, FT-IR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF MS-based tests for the diagnosis and typing of microbial infections and the molecular mechanisms leading to the antimicrobial resistance of pathogenic micro-organisms.