Dr Elena Palma studied at the University of Padova in Italy, earning a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology followed by a PhD in Cellular Biology. In 2010, she joined the Foundation for Liver Research as a postdoctoral researcher. Since 2023, Dr. Palma has been the Principal Investigator of the Mitochondrial Medicine for Liver Disease Lab at the Roger Williams Institute of Liver Studies. She is also an Honorary Lecturer (adjunct) at King’s College London. Dr Palma's research focuses on understanding the role of mitochondria in liver disease progression, the effects of Alcohol-related Liver Disease (ALD) on mitochondrial dynamics, and the clinical and biological significance of megamitochondria. Her ultimate mission is to develop multipronged and mitochondria-related interventions as novel therapies for liver diseases.

Her recent work has concentrated on advancing human immunocompetent experimental models of liver diseases and malignancies, using Precision Cut Liver Slices, and investigating pre-clinically the effects of multitargeted therapies on processes relevant for patient prognosis such as fibrosis, inflammation, liver regeneration (in ALD); and on the immune and stromal compartments in the tumour microenvironment (in hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma).