**About the Editors**

#### **Maria Serena Chiriac `o**

Maria Serena Chiriaco gained her master's degree cum laude in Human Biology in 2008 at ` Universita del Salento; from May 2009 to June 2012, she attained her PhD on the "Intelligent Systems ` and Technologies"course at Universita del Salento, Scuola Superiore ISUFI, Lecce, Italy, at the end ` of which she discussed her PhD thesis entitled "Protein EIS biosensors for on-chip diagnostics". Currently, she works as a permanent researcher at Nanotec Lecce. She gained high-level experience in the field of Lab-On-Chip devices for on-field diagnostics. Her skills vary from the design, fabrication and applications of electrochemical sensors to microfluidics and on-chip pre-treatments of biological samples, as confirmed by the publication of valuable papers in the field. The biological applications of the developed microfluidic and sensing platforms range from diagnostic tools to study biorecognition events (antigen/antibody, cell–cell, antibodies/cells interactions) to the detection of allergens or toxins from food or environmental samples, to the on-chip separation of particles. She also has expertise in optical, laser and soft lithography and in employing photosensitive polymeric materials for microfluidic applications.

#### **Elisabetta Primiceri**

Elisabetta Primiceri (1982) received her master's degree (magna cum laude) in Industrial and Molecular Biotechnology in 2006 at University of Bologna and in 2011 she finished her PhD on "Interdisciplinary Science and Technology"at University of Salento, Lecce, Italy, with her thesis entitled "Cell-Chip: new tools for cell biology". Since 2011, she has worked as a post-doc researcher at Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Lecce and from January 2019 she has been a permanent researcher at CNR Institute of Nanotechnology (CNR-Nanotec). Her activities are focused on the development of biosensors (especially electrochemical and plasmonic detection) and new materials for sensing applications. She is also focused on the development of sensing platforms for cell biology. Her skills include microfabrication techniques (photolithography and soft lithography), electrochemical measurements, and the electrosynthesis of polymers. She has also gained experience in cell culture and cell biology.

#### **Francesco Ferrara**

Francesco Ferrara is an application engineer for the System Research & Applications (SRA) group of STMicroelectronics. He holds an MSc in microelectronics engineering from Polytechnic University of Bari (IT) and a PhD in biomolecular nanotechnology from University of Salento (IT). From 2004 to 2010, he worked on the first diagnostic platform based on a disposable silicon chip for molecular testing in an ST microfluidic business unit. Since 2010, he has been a part of Silicon Biotech group and he works on new disposable Real-Time PCR platforms for molecular diagnosis with integrated sample preparation devices. He is an expert in cleanroom fabrication, optoelectronics and microfluidics, the co-PI of the Attract SMILE project and involved in national and European funding projects in the field of new generation technologies for healthcare.
