Dr. Vilardo studied Genomic Biotechnology at “La Sapienza” University of Rome (Italy), and received her PhD in Neurosciences studying how regulatory RNAs control gene expression in the central nervous system. She then joined the Center for Anatomy and Cell Biology of the Medical University of Vienna as postdoc to study the involvement of an RNA-processing enzyme in Alzheimer’s disease. Since then, Dr. Vilardo has dedicated her work to the study of RNA modifications and their involvement in cellular functions and human disease, giving a key contribution to the understanding of mechanisms of tRNA modification and maturation.