Along with being part of the department of sociology, I am a member of the Mitchell Centre for Social Network Analysis, where I organise the weekly seminar series. I teach introductory and advance workshops in social network analysis and egonetworks, and on mixed methods in SNA. Before arriving in Manchester in 2008, I worked as research fellow at University of Turin and University of Bozen, Italy. I completed my Ph.D in Sociology and Methodology of Social Research in 2006 at Catholic University of Milan.

I study social networks and how they shape and are shaped by our social environment. Topics I commonly investigate are gender, science, criminal networks, personal relationships, mixed methods. Previously I also studied consumption, and I am developing an interest in health networks. 
I believe that by looking at social networks, at whom we interact with and how these relationship influence us, we can better understand how societies work and cultures emerge. I adopt the stance of relational sociology and I am interested in how it merges with other mainstream sociological theories. I strongly advocate the use of a variety of qualitative and quantitative tools that can be mixed to adjust the lenses through which we observe and explain the social world.