Isabella Castiglioni

Full Professor

Isabella Castiglioni, born in 1968, holds a degree in Physics from the University of Milan and an MBA from the SDA Bocconi School of Management. She is a Full Professor of Applied Physics at the University of Milano‑Bicocca, where she teaches Machine Learning, Big Data and Medical Imaging, and Signal and Image Processing for AI. She is also actively involved in technology transfer, particularly in the evaluation and support of entrepreneurial ideas and university spin‑offs.

Her research focuses on developing new AI algorithms applied to various areas of image physics. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the “100 Women Against Stereotypes” in science. In 2021, she received the international Tecnovisionarie Award in the AI & Health category, as well as the Inspiring Fifty Italy award. That same year, she was appointed by the Italian government to the national working group on AI strategy.

Professor Castiglioni has contributed to the scientific community with more than 80 invited talks at international conferences and schools, and 160 scientific publications—including in Science, Nature Communications, Nucleic Acids Research, Theranostics, and EMBO Molecular Medicine. She has coordinated numerous competitively funded research projects, securing over €2M in research grants. Her commitment to spin‑offs, teaching, and academic research is deeply interconnected, helping train current and future professionals for the ethical and responsible use of AI.

In 2018, she founded DeepTrace Technologies, a spin‑off of the IUSS School of Advanced Studies in Pavia, internationally recognized in the field of AI‑based medical devices for personalized predictive medicine. In 2021, she received the international “Le Tecnovisionarie®” Award and was named among Inspiring Fifty Italy.