Davide first joined the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London in April 2023 during his specialist training in Psychiatry. Since then, he has been actively involved in several research projects as a Research Assistant at the Centre for Research in Eating and Weight Disorders (CREW), working under the supervision of Prof. Hubertus Himmerich, Prof. Ulrike Schmidt and Prof. Janet Treasure.

His research interests mainly focus on eating disorders, obesity, and innovative interventions in mental health. Among his projects, he conducted a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating treatments for obesity in special populations, contributed to a systematic scoping review on enteral tube nutrition outcomes in anorexia nervosa and atypical anorexia nervosa, and conducted a pilot study evaluating the application of Virtual Reality in mental healthcare through the VR Zen Garden App for People with Anorexia Nervosa, a research project cooperatively developed between King’s College London, the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and the Maudsley Digital and SyncVR Medical.

After completing his residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Pisa, Davide worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist providing both inpatient and outpatient mental health care for individuals and support to their families. Alongside his clinical training, he obtained an MSc in Autism Spectrum Disorders at the University of Pisa and qualified as a Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapist at the APC-SPC School of Cognitive Psychotherapy in Rome.

Davide is currently undertaking a PhD in Clinical and Translational Neuroscience through a collaborative research project between the Department of Experimental Medicine at the University of Pisa and King’s College London, aimed at exploring the application of novel therapeutic interventions such as Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1RAs) for bariatric patients and transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) for people with anorexia nervosa. As part of his doctoral research within the Centre for Research in Eating and Weight Disorders, he has been designated to coordinate the international task force of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (WFSBP) and lead the development of the first guidelines on neuromodulation, neurofeedback and neurosurgical treatment in eating disorders. In parallel, he has also been invited to take part in the panel of experts that will contribute to the drafting of the forthcoming British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) Consensus Guidelines on the pharmacological treatment of eating disorders.

Research Interests

• Eating Disorders and Obesity
• Neuropsychopharmacology
• Neurodevelopmental Disorders
• Biological Psychiatry
• Neuroscience and Neurobiology