Alessia Sarica is an Associate Professor of Advanced Medical and Surgical Technology and Methodology at the Neuroscience Research Center, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro, Italy. Specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) for neuroimaging, her work is focused on advancing techniques for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Sarica earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical and Computer Science Engineering, concentrating on advanced ML techniques for neuroimaging analysis in 2015, with the thesis “Advanced Machine Learning and Data Mining techniques for Knowledge Discovery from Neuroimaging”. During her PhD, she has been a visiting Scholar at the School of System Engineering of the University of Reading, UK, from the September 2013 until the July 2014. Over the years, she has developed AI-based tools that have significantly contributed to the clinical classification of patients, with her findings published in over 65 peer-reviewed articles. Her research has garnered attention within the academic community, as reflected by a substantial citation record.

In her academic role, Prof. Sarica is dedicated to education and mentorship, actively participating in the training of Ph.D. students. She guides their research projects, which often involve innovative applications of AI and ML in medical diagnostics. Her commitment to teaching is evident in her involvement with various Ph.D. programs and her role in delivering specialized courses on these topics.

Beyond her research and teaching, Prof. Sarica holds several significant editorial positions. She is an Associate Editor for the International Journal Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence in Neurology and the International Journal Frontiers in Neuroimaging, where she oversees contributions related to neuroimaging meta-analyses. Additionally, she serves on the editorial boards of Brain Sciences MDPI and Journal of Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease MDPI, among others. Her role as a Review Editor for journals like Frontiers in Neurology and Frontiers in Medical Technology further underscores her involvement in shaping the direction of research in her field.

Prof. Sarica is also a sought-after organizer and participant in international conferences. She has chaired sessions and organized special workshops focused on Explainable AI in neuroimaging at prominent conferences such as the International Conference on Brain Informatics.

She owns a European patent for the elaboration of clinical, biochemical and 3D ultrasound data for the prediction of the ovarian age of woman, and with this new methodology she came third in a regional competition for the best proposed commercial idea (StartCup Calabria 2013). In 2010, she proudly won the Italian national contest for Bachelor degree thesis in Computer Science Engineering concerning Java language programming, organized by Javaday IV Rome 2010, Faculty of Informatics Engineering University of Roma Tre, in collaboration with IBM Italy.

In addition to her academic and editorial roles, Prof. Sarica has collaborated with leading institutions worldwide, including Harvard Medical School and the University of Zaragoza, Spain. Her work is characterized by a strong emphasis on transparency and ethics in AI, ensuring that these technologies are applied responsibly in the medical field.