THE LAB
About Us
Who we are, where to find us and how to join: the Metabolic Intelligence Lab at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome.
EXPLORE
About the lab
The Metabolic Intelligence Lab is a research group at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Rome, headed by Prof. Giuseppe Maulucci, Associate Professor of Applied Physics; the faculty also includes Prof. Marco De Spirito, Full Professor of Applied Physics. The group works on one question from three directions: how to read, model and improve human metabolism.
Reading it
Optical imaging of living cells and tissues — autofluorescence of NAD(P)H and FAD, membrane fluidity and phase, spectral confocal imaging — plus PET and optoacoustic tomography in the clinical setting. The aim is to turn light into quantitative metabolic readouts, without dyes or biopsies.
Modelling it
AI models of individual metabolism built on data people already generate: the Metabolic Avatar family, from the individually calibrated PMA to the population-scale GMA and the quantum-computing QMA.
Acting on it
Four devices that carry the models to the user: Chewing for masticatory activity, SKID for skin analysis, ReaCT for cardiovascular training and Byo-me for nutrition. Three of them are covered by patent applications under examination.
The group is multidisciplinary by design — physics, biophotonics, machine learning, pharmacy and nutrition — with eleven people and more than a hundred peer-reviewed papers behind it. Where we are, who we are and how to join are on the three pages above.