The Gianluigi Zanetti – CRS4 PhD Award in the 2026 edition of the awards presented by the Italian National Bioengineering Group (GNB) has been awarded to Serena Capelli, a postdoctoral researcher at the Medical Imaging Laboratory of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research – IRCCS and a teaching assistant at the University of Bergamo.
The award was presented to Serena Capelli on September 10 in Bressanone, during the closing event of the 45th Annual School of Bioengineering, for her PhD thesis entitled “Development of a multi-parametric brain MRI processing pipeline for the quantitative assessment of cerebral alterations in COVID-19 and beyond”.
The work addresses the challenge of integrating information from multiparametric brain magnetic resonance imaging into unified and reproducible analytical models. The research defines scalable methods and tools suitable for clinical applications to jointly characterize morphological, microstructural, hemodynamic and connectivity alterations, enabling a system-level analysis of the complex mechanisms underlying neurological diseases.
Through this award, CRS4 aims to honour the extraordinary abilities of Gianluigi Zanetti, a physicist and versatile researcher who made significant contributions across the many fields to which he devoted his work, ranging from fluid modelling and surgical simulation to clinical informatics and high-performance computing.
Gianluigi was part of CRS4’s original core group of scientists from its very beginnings in 1990, when the Centre was established under the presidency of Nobel Prize-winning physicist Carlo Rubbia. He contributed to shaping its identity as an interdisciplinary research centre focused on applying advanced scientific methods to address complex problems in areas of major social, economic and environmental impact.
Among the many research fields in which he worked, biomedical data analysis was one of those that Gianluigi pursued with particular passion and interest, achieving highly significant results and impact both in the development of advanced methods and in their application. In this field, he established a research and development group that remains active today, continuing this work, keeping his scientific legacy alive and remembering him with deep esteem and affection.
The initiative promoted by CRS4 also aims to encourage talented young researchers to draw inspiration from Gianluigi’s example, cultivating their passion, curiosity and ability to share knowledge.
