Elisa was born in Padua, Italy, in 1972. She studied in her hometown, where she graduated in Medicine and then specialised in Psychiatry, in both cases with a first class degree cum laude. She also obtained a diploma in Cognitive Psychotherapy.
Her connection with the University Dept. of Psychiatry started in 2000 when she worked for a few months on an fMRI study on the effects of intravenous citalopram. She returned to Oxford in 2006 and worked on psychological mechanisms underlying antidepressant drugs action and other research projects with various members of this department. She worked in the NIHR Cognitive Health Clinical Research Facility from 2011 to 2014.
Elisa had a wide clinical experience including in anxiety disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, psychoses, and addiction disorders. She worked in the Professorial Mood Disorders Clinic, the Adult Eating Disorders Service at Cotswold House, the Alcohol and Addiction Service, and the Buckinghamshire Early Intervention in Psychosis Service.
After her return to Italy in 2014 she worked as the responsible psychiatrist in a large addiction unit, and as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in a multiservice psychiatry unit. Beside her experience in many areas of psychiatry, Elisa remained an excellent general physician, something which underpinned her holistic clinical approach.
Elisa was a beautiful, caring, strong and witty person who will be sadly missed. In particular, her bright mind coupled with a humble, empathic and joyful personality endeared her to everyone. She leaves her parents, her sister, her partner Marco and her young children Alice and Luca.
Should anyone wish to make a donation in Elisa’s name please get in touch with valeria.frighi@psych.ox.ac.uk (tel. 618310) as she has the details of the non-profit association for the care of cancer patients who greatly supported Elisa and her family.