Dr Fabio Manfredini

Dr Fabio Manfredini is an expert in insect behavioural ecology and physiology, currently based at the University of Milan (Italy), where he is Associate Professor of General and Applied Entomology in the Department of Food, Nutritional and Environmental Sciences (DeFENS). Dr Manfredini is also an Honorary member of the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, where he held a post as Lecturer in Functional Genomics from 2020 to 2025. Dr Manfredini has experience of experimental work with insect pollinators in a wide range of setups, from trials in the field to laboratory assays and processing of samples for molecular work (e.g., to characterize the impact of viral infections in honey bee colonies). Dr Manfredini is the leader of the FABLab and currently supervises seven PhD students and one postdoctoral fellow, all based in Aberdeen (except for one student who is distance learning). Research in the FABLab covers different aspects of insects’ interactions with the environment, from invasion biology of Harlequin ladybirds in the UK to the important ecosystem services that bee pollinators provide in agriculture (e.g., cherry production) or in the Scottish machair. Methodologies employed in the research groups span from behavioural assays, to physiological measures by means of molecular approaches, to functional genomics and bioinformatics.

Evolutionary ecology of social behaviour; ecology of pollination; insect neurogenomics