About Us
We created this platform because... "we really miss coffee break"
Founder & Co-host
Francesco Cenni
Francesco grew up in Rimini, a beautiful city on the Italian Adriatic coast. During the high school period, as a summer job, Francesco enjoyed making and eating ice creams. Surprisingly, he felt more attracted by technology and medicine. Therefore, he decided to study Biomedical Engineering at the University of Bologna (Italy), where he received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees. His working career is characterized by research challenges, combining technical aspects with clinical applications. Francesco's first job as a research assistant at the Rizzoli Institute in Bologna was to establish innovative medical imaging processing techniques to evaluate the performance of in-vivo ankle/knee prostheses. His first experience in the research field provided him with the motivation to delve deeper and move on to a new challenge. Therefore, he began a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering at the KU Leuven (Belgium). His Ph.D. project was enriching, allowing him to acquire great technical skills (such as 3D ultrasound for musculoskeletal applications) while he interacted with several international researchers in the field. He had such a great experience in Leuven, but the opportunities and desire to make new adventures made him follow new research challenges. In his post-doc career, Francesco felt the need to try new experiences, thus in January 2020, he moved to the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) for a short-term project on analysis of neuromuscular signals, and in June 2020, he moved to the University of Geneva to expand his knowledge in ultrasonography for bony-features. In Jyväskylä, Francesco also had a great opportunity to establish a fruitful research collaboration. This led to a successful research project proposal awarded by MSCA individual fellowship. Francesco is looking forward to starting this project in October 2021.
However, he still really likes ice creams, and maybe one day he will be back in the food business. As soon as he has a chance, Francesco hikes through the mountains and forests, discovering new places. He loves (and pretends to know well) football, and is a great Inter Milan fan. However, he is a better tennis player than a football player. He used to play the guitar, and he considered himself (still pretends!) that he is a decent house/dance/electronic music dancer.
Cristina Simon-Martinez
Founder & Co-host
Cristina is a physiotherapist by background and passionate about clinical research. She completed her PhD at the KU Leuven (Belgium) and is now a Marie Curie Fellow on the V-HAB project hosted at the University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland (HES-SO) Valais. She loves science (especially pediatric clinical neuroscience) and she advocates for healthy work-life balance. She spends her free time with her dog Eyes while enjoying hiking, mountain biking, skiing (up and down), and dancing salsa and lindy hop. She is the person you should address to discuss outreach, how to keep a healthy work-life balance and other things that you may be interested in discussing with her!
Tea Lulic-Kuryllo
Co-host
Tea completed her M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo (Canada) and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan (USA). She is currently a Research Scientist working in the Department of Experimental and Clinical Sciences at the University of Brescia (Brescia, Italy). The world of exercise science fascinated her since she was a little girl. However, she did not realize life as a scientist in kinesiology is possible until her second-year undergraduate biomechanics professor provided her with an opportunity to volunteer in his lab. During this time, she was equally fascinated with biomechanics and neuroscience and could not make up her mind on which field was more exciting! At the end of her undergraduate degree, she decided to pursue both, and thankfully, the University of Waterloo Kinesiology graduate program provided this opportunity. Long behold, a few years later, the field of neuromechanics became so popular that Tea did not have to decide. She went on to finish her Ph.D. again merging her love for biomechanics and neuroscience (thank you to my Ph.D. supervisor for having patience with my neuro obsession!). During the COVID19 pandemic, Tea completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, where she investigated shoulder morbidity following breast reconstruction. Research-wise, Tea is passionate about fundamental control of shoulders, clinical and rehabilitative implications, including improving the quality of life in women affected with breast cancer. She is also a women's health advocate and passionate about science communication, equity and diversity.
When she is not sciencing, Tea can be found on a nearby tennis court. She is an avid tennis fan having played competitive tennis for most of her life. She also enjoys growing very hot peppers, playing with her dog Alfie (who may appear in some SiTB episodes), watching soccer, drinking cappuccinos, hiking, and talking (yes, she is a big fan of talking with people!)
Chrystosomos Sahinis
Video Editor
​Chrysostomos is a sport scientist and he is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Chrysostomos obtained a B.Ed. in Physical Education and Sport Sciences at Serres, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and a Master's degree in Kinesiology. His main research interests include muscle morphology and neuromuscular function in response to injury and loading.