Fabiana D’Urso: neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and the vision of someone who knows where she’s headed

Fabiana D’Urso‘s professional journey represents one of the most original and stimulating combinations that the Italian innovation landscape has produced in recent years: a trajectory in which scientific research on the human brain, mastery of language in all its forms, and a concrete entrepreneurial vision intertwine with a naturalness that is not the result of chance, but of an intellectual coherence built over time with method and determination.

Born in Naples, D’Urso began her educational and professional path in the world of narrative and written language, earning a degree in Film History from the University of Bologna, one of Italy’s most prestigious academic institutions. This first chapter of her formation was not an inconsequential prologue, but laid the foundations of a sensitivity toward the structure of storytelling, the construction of meaning, and the communicative power of words, a sensitivity that would run through, transformed and enriched, every subsequent phase of her career. Having moved to Rome, she worked as a screenwriter for cinema and television, honing that ability to build narratives capable of moving thoughts and emotions that she now channels, with full awareness, into her work on artificial intelligence.

In 2016, her scientific curiosity led her to deepen her knowledge of the Psychopathology of Learning Disorders, a field that shifts attention to the internal mechanisms through which the mind processes, or struggles to process, written language. It was a decisive turning point: from there, her orientation toward cognitive neuroscience took shape, the discipline that studies the biological foundations of higher mental processes, from memory to attention, from text comprehension to abstract reasoning. A formation that later found concrete expression in her role as researcher at the University of Salento, where she today carries out work that unites academic rigor and technological application, exploring in particular the relationship between the human brain and artificial intelligence systems.

It is within this context that her specialization in prompt writing developed, that is, in the language through which AI models are questioned, guided, and oriented. This is a field that in Italy is still largely underestimated in its scientific dimension, often reduced to a matter of computer engineering, while D’Urso has had both the merit and the preparation to recognize its profoundly cognitive and communicative nature. Writing an effective prompt means, in her vision, simultaneously understanding how the model reasons and how the human brain transforms a machine-generated response into usable knowledge. Very few people in Italy are equipped to stand on both sides of this equation with equal competence.

Alongside her research activity, Fabiana D’Urso has built an authoritative presence in Italian technology journalism. She is a professional journalist and since 2021 has held the role of Director of Meta Communications, the Italian magazine dedicated to emerging technologies with an editorial approach that mirrors her own: multidisciplinary, scientific without being hermetic, capable of discussing artificial intelligence, the metaverse, blockchain, and digital health in accessible language without ever surrendering to superficiality. Through the pages of Meta Communications, she has contributed significantly to building a more informed Italian audience regarding the changes that new technologies are introducing,  not as an abstract threat nor as a universal panacea, but as a complex reality that requires understanding, method, and a solid cognitive education in order to be properly governed.

Alongside the academic and journalistic dimensions stands an entrepreneurial vision that takes concrete form in ICShealt, the company of which she is CEO, born with the mission of bridging new technologies with the world of healthcare. In a sector where the pressure toward digitalization is intense but often lacking adequate cultural guidance, ICShealt positions itself as a meeting point between neuroscientific expertise, digital innovation, and genuine attention to the quality of life of patients and healthcare professionals alike. A project that reflects D’Urso’s vision with great precision: that of a technology which does not replace human intelligence, but enhances it, starting from a deep understanding of how that intelligence truly works.

Completing this already extraordinarily rich profile is her work in scientific outreach at the University of Salento, where she conceived and hosts “Oltre l’Algoritmo”,  Beyond the Algorithm,  a radio and podcast format broadcast on Salento University Radio that explores the many facets of artificial intelligence through an engaging narrative language, capable of drawing in even those who come from no technical background whatsoever. A choice that reveals a great deal about her approach: knowledge has no value if it remains confined to lecture halls and academic papers; it must go out into the world, circulate, and transform itself into widespread awareness.

In the Italian landscape of technological innovation, voices like Fabiana D’Urso’s are still far too rare: voices that understand the brain well enough not to fear the machine, and understand the machine well enough never to forget the brain. Her path demonstrates that the true frontier of artificial intelligence is not technical, but human, and it is there that her work continues to move forward, driven by the same tireless curiosity of someone who knows that the most interesting questions are always the ones still waiting for an answer.

Let us therefore welcome Fabiana D’Urso to the National Council of Tesori d’Europa as Scientific Advisor for Innovation and Advanced Technologies.