The Organization
Leoben Research Aurora is non-profit organization with registered office in Via Marconi 4, 67050 San Vincenzo Valle Roveto, L’Aquila, Italy.
Mission
Advancing medical knowledge to deliver innovation for sustainable, effective, and patient-centered care for mental, cognitive, and behavioral disabling conditions worldwide.
People
Franco Di Cesare, psychiatrist, co-founder and President of LeoBen Research Aurora, has +35 years of professional experience in the clinical research industry – pharmaceutical and global contract research organisations – where he held senior management positions. Dr. Di Cesare’s expertise spans throughout: strategic neurotechnology development, translational science for clinical drug development, trial design and methodology as well as safety signal detection and evaluation. He has a profound interest in developing innovative tools and analytics for diagnostics, therapy selection and treatment monitoring to enable precision medicine for neuropsychiatric conditions and pain. He has in-depth knowledge of methodologies to mitigate trial safety risks as well as of methods and analytic techniques for cognitive and behavioural assessment applied to clinical trials; medical expert in navigating the methodological challenges involved in the validation process of biological and clinical markers for use in drug development and clinical trial design. Dr. Di Cesare has a vast experience in medical oversight of global, complex clinical trials in pain and several other neuropsychiatric indications, including Ischemic Stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Major Depressive Disorders, Suicidal Behaviour, Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Insomnia, and Sleep-Wake Cycle Disorders. Dr. Di Cesare contributed to many clinical drug development programs (Nav.1.7 antagonists, Nav.1.8 antagonists, Kv.7 antagonists, Pan-Trk modulators, Ketamine) for pain as well as PDE5 inhibitors for ischemic stroke. Dr. Di Cesare is European board certified in clinical psychology and psychotherapy; member of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM), held academic appointments at the University of Rome “Sapienza”, Faculty of Medicine, and at the U.S. John Cabot University; he is author of several research articles and presentations at scientific events.
Cristiana Di Carlo is co-founder of Leoben Research Aurora. She obtained a degree in Philosophy at the University of Rome “Tor Vergata” and a diploma in Multimedia Design in London. Dr. Di Carlo gained an extensive teaching experience of History and Philosophy before turning her interest to research in cognitive psychology. She is author of publications and scientific communications in the fields of memory and cognition as well as imagery in psychiatric disorders.