1. Tell me in five words who is Enrico Girardi
   Curious, driven, nice, hardworking, book-loving
    
2. What made you join CeMM?
   After a PhD and a postdoc in structural biology I became interested in systems and cellular biology - Giulio's lab was the perfect fit as it combines expertise in both fields with a strong interest in new technologies (I got interested in CRISPR-based screening) and the willingness to tackle novel areas (SLC transporters).  Five intense and fun years followed where I was involved in many projects including putting together a large public-private grant application to study SLCs, a fantastic opportunity to learn about industry-based research.
    
3. What is it about science that interests you the most?
   The discovery process, whether that leads to being the first person to see how a protein looks like, or finding the function for an orphan protein - making new connections between pieces of data until they all click together.
    
4. What is the best career advice you ever received, or you can give to the CeMM community?
   Build your network as you train, across countries and disciplines
    
5. Tell us what happened to you after you left CeMM?
   I started as a Principal Scientist at Boehringer Ingelheim in Vienna, working on early stage drug discovery, before returning to work on transporters as part of Solgate, a CeMM spinoff.
    
6. What book do you have on your night table at the moment
   Nudge by R. Taler and C. Sunstein - on how to use nudges to implement polices and choice architectures - a funny and very instructive read (but I wish there was more time for reading...)
    
7. What is the last song you heard?
   Pneuma, from Tool
                 
8. Any message you would like to give to CeMMies or a former colleague?
   PhD and postdoc times are great opportunities to explore new techniques and scientific fields - enjoy it and follow your curiosity! The best ideas often come from connecting apparently unrelated observations.

Enrico Girardi, holds a Ph.D. in biophysics from King's College London. He conducted postdoctoral research in structural biology at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology in the USA, and functional genomics of transporters at CeMM in Austria, where he was also involved in the IMI2 Resolute consortium application, a large public-private collaboration focused on human Solute Carriers (SLCs). While at CeMM, he designed and executed several large-scale functional genetics screens to systematically elucidate SLCs functions and their role in drug uptake and transporter redundancy. Enrico worked as Principal Scientist at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he led a research group involved in multiple early-stage drug discovery programs in the oncology portfolio.

Enrico Girardi is currently CSO at Solgate GmbH, a drug discovery spin-off company of CeMM, focused on SLCs and based in the Vienna area, Austria.