Maria Antonia De Francesco works at the Institute of Microbiology, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, University of Brescia-ASST Spedali Civili, Brescia, Italy. She was an assistant professor of microbiology at the University of Brescia from 2000 to November 2017, and has been an associate professor of microbiology since December 2017. She obtained a degree in biological sciences in 1987, and a PhD in microbiology in 1992. She was a doctoral student at the Basel Institute for Immunology from 1990 to 1991, a researcher for the Consorzio Italiano Farmaci Antinfettivi at the Institute of Microbiology of the University of Brescia from 1992 to 1993, and has been a researcher at the Institute of Microbiology of the University of Brescia since 1995. Her relevant skills focus on immunology, microbiology, and virology.