TEAM

The OPERA team brings together experts with multidisciplinary skills, committed to research, policy dialogue, and promoting sustainable development.

Staff

Ettore Capri

Scientific Director

PhD (m). Full Professor in Agricultural Chemistry.  He is the formal Director of OPERA. Expert in sustainable development and trans-interdisciplinary integration of the old and new aspects of the scientific assessment in the framework of human wellbeing. Member of different committees and authorities most of his research activities are related to the risk assessment and risk management, the latter with assisting the pan-European implementation of the most appropriate and available measures in the legislation framework, also through active debates with the relevant stakeholders. He is author of 200 scientific papers, monography and communications and has many years’ experience in dissemination actions, training courses and stakeholders meetings

Maura Calliera

Senior Scientist

Involved in the development and planning of OPERA since its creation.

During her first degree in Agricultural Sciences from Milano University, Maura received experience in research of fate and behaviour of pesticides in the environment. She has worked in the ecotoxicology team of the Department of Environmental Science and Landscape, Università Milano Bicocca. Since 2004, she is contract researcher on human pesticide residues exposure and environmental risk assessment, for the Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale (ICAA).  Her activity focussed on the application of mathematical models to forecast the environmental fate of pesticides and the development of new time trend indicators to assess the human and environmental risks associated with the use of plant protection products. Recently her research activity focused on the assessment of the impact of the Directive on Sustainable Use of Pesticides in national and european projects. She lives in Ivrea (near Torino).

Romano De Vivo

Strategic Advisor in Sustainability, Innovation & Global Environmental Governance

Romano De Vivo brings over three decades of international leadership at the crossroads of science, policy, and strategy. A trusted advisor to global companies, UN agencies, research alliances, and philanthropic foundations, he helps institutions navigate complexity and deliver impact—across food, health, climate, and biodiversity.

His career spans senior executive roles in multinational firms in agriculture, ingredients, and health, as well as pivotal contributions to global policy negotiations on biodiversity, access and benefit sharing (ABS), and digital sequence information (DSI). He is known for turning legal frameworks and scientific insight into operational models, innovation platforms, and public–private partnerships that scale.

A practitioner as much as a strategist, Romano builds systems that work—linking ESG disclosure to real transformation, coaching researchers to engage with markets, and designing commons-based innovation ecosystems that connect equity with excellence.

His areas of expertise include environmental governance, regenerative agriculture, One Health, sustainable finance, open innovation, and institutional capacity-building.

Based in Basel and working globally, he is fluent in English, Italian, and French, and conversational in German.

Alexandru Marchis

Political Advisor

His academic background is in agricultural economics, graduating as valedictorian the courses of the Faculty of Economics within “Babes-Bolyai” University in Cluj Napoca, Romania. He also holds two post university degrees. The first one in agro-business, granted by the same university and the second one in diplomatic international relations granted by the Romanian Diplomatic Academy. Coming with a experience of nine years in the administration of the agricultural sector, Mr. Marchis has decided to put his knowledge to work in order to promote and develop the OPERA think-tank on the Common Agricultural Policy. The economic background and his experience in the policy related issues on agriculture allow him to manage this process in a constructive way, gathering together relevant stakeholders to debate on the future of the relevant policies for agriculture. He combines the experience of working in public administration and diplomacy with a rich background and extensive knowledge in agricultural policies to provide relevant pragmatic solutions and approaches in the sustainability of the agriculture and food systems.

Specialties: European policies, UN processes, public affairs, corporate affairs, outreach and advocacy strategies, consulting, negotiations, government liaison, policy evaluation and development 

Beatrice La Porta

Legal Advisor

Beatrice La Porta, Ph.D., is qualified as an Associate Professor, currently working as a Tenure-Track Researcher in Agricultural and Food Law at the University of Padua and adjunct professor at the Agri-system Doctoral School of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. She holds a Ph.D. in Food Law and is a qualified lawyer in the EU. Her academic and professional work spans EU food and feed law, circular economy, sustainability, and the regulation of agri-food markets.

A former Fulbright Schuman Visiting Scholar at the Food Law Clinic at the Harvard Law School, she also worked at EFSA’s Legal Unit. She served as legal advisor to CEEV and the Wine Observatory on Sustainability. She is a founding partner at JSL Studio, a law firm specializing in agro-food and agro-chemical law, and was principal investigator of the PRIN-PNRR 2022 project IN-WINE on sustainability in the wine sector.

Dr. La Porta has lectured and presented at leading universities and international forums and has authored numerous legal publications. Fluent in Italian, English, and Spanish, she actively promotes legal innovation for sustainable and inclusive food systems.

Nicoleta Suciu

Project Scientist

Dr Nicoleta Suciu is an environmental engineer. She obtained her degree in 2007 from Transilvania University of Brașov (Romania), and her areas of expertise include analytical chemistry techniques and modelling the fate of chemicals in the environment and in humans.  Dr. Suciu is an Associate Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in the Department of Sustainable Food Processes at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart (Piacenza, Italy). She obtained her PhD in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Ecology of Pesticides from the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Milan, Italy, in 2010. In 2010, she spent a year at the Plant Protection Products and their Residues Unit of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Parma, Italy. Her current research focuses primarily on the fate of pesticides in the environment and water management in agriculture. Since 2008, she has participated as the scientific representative of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore and as a consortium member in four international research projects funded by the European Union, three national research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research, and three Erasmus+ projects. She has organised and participated in numerous national and international conferences and workshops.  She is the author or co-author of 41 publications indexed by Scopus and three books.

Niccolò Rizzati

Scientific Officer

Niccolò Rizzati graduated with honors from the Master of Agriculture program “Design and management of agro-territorial, forest and landscape ecosystems” in Bologna. He worked for a year in Myanmar with the NGO “Terre des Hommes-It,” promoting cooperation, social and agricultural development projects. His collaboration with the University of Bologna and his work with NGOs and cooperatives in Italy and abroad have led him to develop solid theoretical and practical agronomic skills, with particular focus on tropical, hydroponic, conservation, organic, and urban agriculture. He has been collaborating for several years with the Sacred Heart Catholic University of Agriculture in Piacenza, carrying out research activities for several projects, both international cooperation (India and Congo) and research and improvement of above-ground cultivation techniques in order to study and implement their sustainability.

Camilla Farolfi

Scientist

Camilla Farolfi is an agronomist and PhD in Agro-Food Systems, with a background dedicated to the sustainability of agri-food supply chains, particularly in the olive sector. She is involved in applied research and projects related to agriculture and sustainability, with a focus on cultivation practices, resource management and territorial enhancement.

Executive and scientific committee

Nominated by rector since 2018

Tito Caffi

Professor - Pathologist

Tito Caffi is Full Professor of Plant Pathology at the Catholic University, Piacenza campus. His research focuses on integrated crop protection, with particular reference to viticulture. He is an expert in epidemiological modelling and the development of decision support systems (DSS) for the sustainable management of plant diseases. He coordinates national and international projects on biosolutions, plant protection and digitalisation in agriculture. Author of numerous scientific publications, he is an active member of academic societies and editorial committees.

Lucrezia Lamastra

Professor - Chemist & Modeller

Over the last ten years, her research has investigated the link between agriculture, food production, food consumption and the environment, with a specific focus on the impacts associated with water and climate. These studies have been conducted through environmental chemical analysis, environmental modelling and life cycle assessment (LCA) approaches.
This work has been published in more than 45 indexed publications, many of which concern environmental impact assessment in the agri-food chain, including assessment of circular economy approaches.
She has coordinated several regional and national projects, including the POR FESR MEAT-ICO, currently underway.
She has taken part in important European projects, including LIFE TTGG (TTGG, “The tough get going”, LIFE16 ENV/IT/000225 (2017-2021) and the H2020 Sprint project (ongoing).

Luigi Lucini

Professor - Biochemist

Full professor of agricultural chemistry, he conducts research in the field of metabolomics using high-resolution mass spectrometry, applied to the evaluation of the response of agricultural species to abiotic stress (including their combination in the context of climate change), as well as to the quality, authenticity and safety of agri-food products. Since 2018, he has been the Italian representative in UNICHIM for the TC455 working group, with the task of supporting the implementation of Regulation 1009/2019 on the placing on the market of biostimulants and fertilisers.

Angelo Manfredini

Faculty Director

Angelo Manfredini is Director of Piacenza and Cremona Campus of Catholic University. During his university career he held roles of increasing responsibility in different sectors: public relations, research, high education. He’s Vice President of the Christian Union of Executive Entrepreneurs of Piacenza.

Edoardo Puglisi

Professor - Soil microbiologist

Edoardo Puglisi is Full Professor of Agricultural Microbiology at the Catholic University and coordinator of a research group active in the field of agricultural and environmental microbiology. The research interests of Prof. Puglisi’s group focus on the interactions between microorganisms and chemical compounds in the environment, with particular attention to the ecology and genetic basis of xenobiotic biodegradation, soil fertility, the development of biochemical and microbiological indicators of soil quality, and the evaluation of plant-microorganism interactions in the rhizosphere.
In 2020, Prof. Puglisi was Chair of the 21st Doctoral School of the Italian Society of Soil Science “Soil management and quality in the era of sustainable agriculture intensification”; in 2023, he founded the spin-off of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, ISA-Innovation for Sustainable Agriculture srl; in 2023, he is head of the organisation of the first Conference on the Impact of Plastics in Agriculture.
He is currently the author of 127 publications indexed on SCOPUS/ISI, with a total of 4043 citations and an H index of 35.

Vittorio Rossi

Professor - Modeller

Adjunct professor of Grape Diseases. Former full professor of Plant Pathology. V. Rossi has over 40 years of experience teaching undergraduate, master’s and doctoral courses in various disciplines related to plant pathology and crop protection at the Universities of Piacenza and Potenza. He also has extensive experience in evaluating undergraduate and doctoral theses.
His research work is evidenced by over 450 publications, mostly in international peer-reviewed journals. Several works are scientific reports produced within international organisations.
His main research activity concerns the study of plant pathogens, with particular attention to biological, ecological and epidemiological aspects. These studies aim to model the relationships between pathogens, host plants and environmental conditions, using an innovative and original approach derived from “systems analysis”. V. Rossi has participated as coordinator or Work Package leader in research projects funded at both international and national level.

Claudio Soregaroli

Professor - Agri-food economy

Full Professor of Agricultural, Food and Rural Economics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Department of Agricultural and Food Economics. His current research interests focus on key issues in the field of agricultural and food economics and the bioeconomy. Particular attention is paid to the governance of the agri-food supply chain, from voluntary certifications to advanced traceability systems such as blockchain, and their impact on transactions and business skills. In addition, he analyses labelling policies and consumer behaviour, with a particular focus on the degree of acceptance of innovations and the effectiveness of sustainable labels, also studied through experimental approaches such as natural field experiments.
He has participated in several EU-funded projects under Horizon 2020 and the 7th and 6th Framework Programmes, with experience as a team leader and work package manager. He has also gained consulting experience for the European Commission and local stakeholders. He has received awards, including the High Quality Publications Award from the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart for the years 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2024.

 

Marco Trevisan

Professor - Plant Chemist

Former Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences. Full professor of Agricultural Chemistry, former director of the Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Chemistry and the BIOMASS Research Centre. Former president of the Italian Society of Agricultural Chemistry and the Phytopharmaceuticals and Environment Research Group, member of the Italian Society of Agronomy. He has been working for about 35 years on the effects and persistence of plant protection products in the environment and in food. He studies the interactions between xenobiotics and the soil-plant system using chemical, biochemical and biotechnological techniques; he develops and applies predictive models at farm and basin level. In recent years, he has been studying the secondary metabolites of living organisms, particularly plants. Through metabolomics, he guarantees the authenticity and origin of agricultural products. He has been field editor of the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development since 1996 and editor of the journal Applied and Environmental Soil Science. His work is documented in over 400 scientific papers published in journals, books, monographs and conference proceedings. His HI is 30 with 158 publications listed. He has participated in dozens of national and international projects.