After graduating from Medical School, Francesca received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the Pasteur Institute and UPMC in Paris, France. She then did her postdoc at The Rockefeller University, New York, USA. In 2008, she established her own research group at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin, Germany, where she initiated new lines of investigation on the control of pancreatic cell identity and lineage reprogramming strategies. Francesca has recently moved to the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine at King's College London. She has been the recipient of prestigious grants, including ERC Starting and ERC Proof-of-Concept grants, Wellcome Trust Investigator award. She is currently the Coordinator of a FET-Open European consortium on bioengineering pancreatic tissue. She is also the Director of the Wellcome Trust PhD Programme called 'Advanced Therapies for Regenerative Medicine'.