Dr. Federica Villa is an associate professor of microbiology at the University of Milan, Italy. She received her PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides in 2010. She completed part of her research at the Center for Biofilm Engineering, (USA), where she was specializing in biofilm analyses. She was a visiting research scholar at the Harvard University (USA), where she studied active microorganisms in sub-aerial biofilms. Her research focuses are the ecological and molecular aspects of microbial biofilms; the non-toxic, bio-inspired antifouling strategies; and the biofilm-mineral interactions. She has authored 64 articles in peer-reviewed international journals with impact factors in these areas of research.