LIRH Annual Conference 2026

Raffaella Cesaroni
Raffaella Cesaroni is a journalist and presenter at Sky TG24, where she has covered the news and hosted press reviews since 2003. Specializing in science and health reporting, since December 2022 she has produced and hosted HEALTH, a weekly program dedicated to health and healthcare. Throughout her career, she has conducted numerous investigations and feature reports on major issues such as vaccines, sepsis, autism, immunology, medical misinformation, and global health, interviewing leading figures in Italy and internationally. She has received several awards for her commitment to science communication, including the National 'Comunicare il Cancro' Award, the AIOM 'Giovanni Maria Pace' Journalism Award, and the Assobiotec Media Award.

Annarita Ciociola
Annarita Ciociola is a nurse with a degree in Administrative Sciences from the University of Trieste. Since 2024, she has been President of LIRH FVG, an association established following her encounter with the LIRH Foundation and her desire to help spread knowledge, information, and hope about Huntington's disease at the local level. She firmly believes in the importance of the LIRH network in reaching as many families as possible, sharing the challenges of a complex journey, and raising awareness among institutions while working to find solutions to the many needs of people living with the disease and their caregivers.

Barbara D'Alessio
Barbara D'Alessio graduated in Law from Sapienza University of Rome and specialized in Marketing Management and Patient Advocacy Management. She has 30 years of experience in the management of nonprofit and third-sector organizations, including institutional and international relations, communication and fundraising, and project design and development. She is a co-founder of the Fondazione Lega Italiana Ricerca Huntington (LIRH) and has served as its President and Executive Director since 2020. She has been a member of the Board of Directors of UNIAMO FIMR (Italian Federation of Rare Diseases) since 2022.

Michele Gianatti
Michele Gianatti is Global Medical Affairs Leader for Huntington's disease at Ferrer. A neuroscientist with more than ten years of experience in neuroscience and over five years in the pharmaceutical industry, he specializes in rare neurological diseases, global and regional medical strategies, clinical development, and scientific communication. He currently leads the global Medical Affairs strategy for Huntington's disease, supporting Phase III clinical development, evidence generation, and preparations for new product launches. He works with Medical Affairs, Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, and Market Access departments, as well as local affiliate teams. He maintains relationships with European experts, investigators, and scientific societies, and oversees scientific communication, congress participation, publications, advisory boards, and medical education.

Ilaria Giunzoni
Ilaria Giunzoni earned a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology and a PhD in Pharmacological Sciences from the University of Milan. After completing postdoctoral research in the United States, she joined the pharmaceutical industry in 2016. She has worked at Novartis since 2021, where she currently serves as Senior Director of Medical Safety for the votoplam program in Huntington's disease.

Rosario Incognito
Rosario Incognito, from Palermo, is President of the LIRH Sicilia Association, established in April 2026 to build a support network for families affected by Huntington's disease in Sicily. His commitment stems from his personal experience caring for his wife, which brought him face to face with the care-related and family challenges associated with the disease. Through conversations with other families, he recognized the importance of building a community where people can share experiences and needs. Today, he works to raise awareness of the disease, improve local care services, and strengthen collaboration with the LIRH Foundation, helping to promote care pathways that are informed and respectful of the dignity of individuals and their families.

Maurizio Inghilleri
Professor Maurizio Inghilleri is an experienced neurologist and a leading figure in research and treatment of motor neuron diseases and rare neuromuscular disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He is currently Director of the ALS and Rare Neuromuscular Diseases Center at Policlinico Umberto I and Associate Professor of Neurology at Sapienza University of Rome. Specializing in neurophysiology and neuromodulation, Professor Inghilleri is known for his work on electromyography, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and advanced treatments for neuromuscular disorders. He has coordinated numerous clinical trials and collaborated with international institutions to develop innovative treatments. He has authored more than 227 scientific publications in international journals and received numerous awards for his contributions to neurological research.

Negar Karimian
Negar Karimian is a physician and researcher with a medical degree, a master's degree, and a PhD. She has more than ten years of experience spanning academic research and clinical development in the pharmaceutical industry. She currently serves as Executive Medical Director at uniQure, where she works on the AMT-130 gene therapy program for Huntington's disease. She previously held Medical Director roles at Ipsen and Galapagos, coordinating international pivotal clinical trials for rare and ultra-rare diseases. More recently, she served as Clinical Development Lead for fidrisertib, a treatment for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP).

Sabrina Maffi
Sabrina Maffi is a psychologist with a degree in Psychology from the University of Pavia. She specializes in clinical neuropsychology and has experience working with neurodegenerative diseases.

Paola Mandich
Paola Mandich is a physician specializing in Medical Genetics and holds a PhD in Human Genetics. She is Full Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Genoa and Director of the Medical Genetics Unit at IRCCS AOM San Martino in Genoa. Her research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Huntington's disease, addressing aspects ranging from clinical and molecular diagnosis to multidisciplinary genetic counseling and advanced therapies.

Meghan Miller
Meghan Miller earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacology at the University of California, San Diego, United States. Motivated by a desire to focus on neuroscience and rare diseases, she moved to Basel, Switzerland, where she began her drug discovery career at Roche Pharma as a postdoctoral researcher in the Neuroscience team within Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development (pRED), and later became a project leader in the Rare Diseases group, also within pRED. In 2019, Meghan joined Skyhawk Therapeutics, where she is currently Executive Director of Translational Science and a key member of the Huntington's disease clinical development team.

Sandra Petraglia
Sandra Petraglia is Director of the Pre-Authorization Area at the Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA), where she oversees activities related to early access to medicines, clinical trials, and AIFA calls for independent research proposals. Since 2015, she has served as Italy's delegate to European clinical trial network groups (National Competent Authorities, European Commission, and EMA), actively contributing to the implementation of national and European clinical trial legislation. She also represents AIFA in the European ACT EU (Accelerating Clinical Trials in the EU) initiative. She has worked at AIFA since 2004, where until 2015 she coordinated European authorization procedures and was also involved in the clinical assessment of medicines submitted for approval. Previously, she served as Secretary of the Medicines Advertising Committee at the Ministry of Health. A medical doctor specializing in Dermatology, she holds a PhD in Dermatological Immunology. Before joining AIFA, she worked in clinical and academic settings in dermatological oncology and immunotherapy.

Luciano Quaglia
Luciano Quaglia, 62, is President of LIRH Piemonte, based in Cavour (Turin). Self-employed in the crafts sector, he is a husband, father of two, and caregiver. His personal and family experience informs his commitment to the association.

Stefano Ronga
Stefano Ronga is President of LIRH Puglia, an association established in 2018 at the initiative of the LIRH Foundation, which he helped found and served as Vice President until 2024. Drawing on extensive experience as a caregiver and years of advocacy for people and families affected by Huntington's disease, he attended the first annual conference in 2000. Today, together with the members of the Board of Directors, he promotes LIRH Puglia's activities with the aim of securing a better future for families affected by Huntington's disease.

Giuseppe Scandale
Giuseppe Scandale, 77, is retired and serves as President of LIRH Toscana, an association made up of family members living with Huntington's disease. He cared for his wife and other relatives for more than twenty years. He has devoted much of his life to association work, holding several leadership positions as president. He currently works to support families affected by Huntington's disease and raise awareness through information and outreach initiatives.

Marta Scocchia
Marta Scocchia is a psychologist and psychotherapist. She holds a Master's degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychological Rehabilitation from Sapienza University of Rome and specializes in Integrated Cognitive-Neuropsychological Psychotherapy (PCNI).

Fabrizio Sonaglia
Fabrizio Sonaglia is an entrepreneur, investor, and broker working across several industries in Italy and abroad, with approximately 15 years of professional experience in the United States. Since 2023, he has been President of LIFE for Huntington, an association through which he promotes and organizes sporting events to raise awareness of Huntington's disease and raise funds to support research promoted by the LIRH Foundation.

Ferdinando Squitieri
Ferdinando Squitieri is a neurologist with a PhD in Neurobiology. For over 30 years, he has conducted therapeutic trials and led research programs on Huntington's disease. He heads the Huntington's Disease and Rare Diseases Unit at Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Research Hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo and is co-founder and Scientific Director of the Fondazione Lega Italiana Ricerca Huntington (LIRH) and its Rare Neurological Diseases Center in Rome.