Maria Cristina Messa has been the Italian Minister of University and Research (MIUR) since February 2021. She previously served as the Rector of the University of Milano-Bicocca (2013–2019) and as a member of the Board of the Conference of Italian University Rectors, with the role of Delegate for research. In July 2013, she was designated as one of the Italian Delegates for Horizon 2020, and she was the MIUR Delegate for Research Infrastructures, including e-infrastructures. She served as the Vice President of Italy’s National Research Council (CNR), from 2011 to September 2015. Over the course of her career, she has widely published and held lectures on university, research, diagnostic imaging, and health care, and participated in many national and international committees and working groups. Her expertise includes experimental research in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, ad radiology, with a research focus on neurodegenerative and neoplastic pathologies. With a global h-index of 52, she has authored more than 180 research papers.