Francesco Pagnini

Francesco Pagnini is Professor of Clinical Psychology at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan. He spent a decade at Harvard University, collaborating with Professor Ellen Langer, “the mother of mindfulness,” and has also been a Visiting Professor at the Karolinska Institutet and the University of Cambridge. His research explores the effects of mindset, expectations, and emotions on health and wellbeing, and he has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications, including work for the European Space Agency and NASA on mental wellbeing in extreme environments. His paper about the “Batman effect” – in which he dressed as Batman on the Milan subway to study prosocial behaviour – was widely covered in international media. Beyond science, Francesco is an avid ultrarunner, long-distance triathlete, and adventurer.