PHOENIX Erasmus +: Erasmus Mundus

Research topic:

"Growth Hormone Treatment for Idiopathic Short Children: Ethical and Social Aspects"
Assessing the actual benefits of growth hormone treatment for children who are much shorter than average but do not suffer from any growth disorder is problematic. My project aims at exploring the ethical and social aspects of such a possibility drawing upon major debates in philosophy, bioethics and sociology. My aim is to provide a comprehensive analysis, which includes both the development of the main conceptual issues at stake and the adoption of empirical methods.

Academic Degree/Area:

I did my studies in Philosophy at the University of Pisa, in Italy, and my first Erasmus in Germany, at the Gutenberg Universität Mainz. This experience, together with an internship at the Committee on Bioethics of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg (France), made a decisive impact on the following choices to travel and pursue my studies across Europe. Before applying for the Phoenix Erasmus Mundus PhD, I did the Erasmus Mundus Master in Bioethics, obtaining a joint diploma form the University of Leuven (Belgium), Radboud University Nijmegen (The Netherlands) and the University of Padova (Italy).
Beside my academic interests, I have been volunteering for various associations, among which Unicef Italia. Previous relevant professional experience is in writing, mainly in the area of public health and medicine. Over the years, I also have been exposed to different languages and developed a growing interest in them. I currently speak English, French and German, and I would like to improve Spanish and Arabic. Working in diverse environments and getting to know different cultures greatly enriched not only my communicative and interpersonal skills, but also scientific and organizational ones.