Sofia Di Leonardo obtained her MEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy, in 2018, with a thesis performed at the Advanced Composites Research Group, Queen’s University Belfast, UK.  In 2022, she obtained a PhD (Doctor Europaeus) in Technological Innovation Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy, with a thesis on unconventional application of image correlation techniques to biomaterials and cardiovascular systems.  During her PhD Sofia carried out part of her research in the UCL Cardiovascular Engineering Laboratory at University College London (UCL), UK.  Since 2022, Sofia is Postdoctoral Researcher in Biomechanics in the Group of Bioengineering & Medical Devices of Ri.MED Foundation, where she coordinates the experimental activities and is responsible for the experimental tests in the Bioengineering Platform.

Sofia’s research activity focuses in the area of ​​biomechanics, with particular interest in the characterisation of biomaterials, the in vitro simulation of physiological systems, the design optimisation of medical devices, and the conduction of preclinical evaluation tests based on regulatory requirements.  Sofia is expert in the application of Particle Image Velocimetry and Digital Image Correlation, and in the characterisation methods for biological tissues and superelastic/shape memory alloys.