Mariella De Fino holds a PhD in Building Engineering and is currently an Associate Professor in Architectural Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bari (Italy). She also serves as a Visiting Lecturer in Building Pathology, Maintenance and Retrofitting at the School of Civil Engineering, ESITC Caen (France), and is co-founder of the university spin-off B.Re.D. srl. She has participated in more than ten research projects related to building technology, pathology, and refurbishment, and has authored approximately 80 publications. Her research focuses on the assessment and conservation of built heritage, non-destructive on-site investigation and monitoring, diagnosis of building performance and pathologies, energy retrofitting, as well as the application of Virtual Reality and HBIM in heritage management and risk communication.