Cristina Messa is full Professor of Diagnostic Imaging, President of Technomed Foundation of the University Milano Bicocca.  She is also member of the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation Scientific and Technical Committee and, since 2013, MIUR Delegate for Research Infrastructures. From 2013 to 2019 she has been Rector of the University of Milano-Bicocca and from 2015 member of the Board of the Conference of Italian University Rectors, Delegate for Research.

From 2017 to 2019 she has been President of University for Innovation (U4I) Foundation (a consortium for technological transfer promoted by 3 Universities). She has been member of Human Technopole Coordination Committee. She has been Vice President of CNR, the National Research Council, from 2011 to 2015.

She is Medical Doctor and has directed from 2005 to 2013 the Nuclear Medicine – PET imaging University Centre at San Gerardo Hospital in Monza. Cristina Messa has a long-standing experience of experimental research in diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, radiological science, particularly with regards to neurodegeneration and neoplastic transformation. More recently she has been working on combined diagnosis from in vivo and in vitro data, for precision medicine. She is author of more than 180 scientific papers. Her publications received more than 8.000 citations, with an average of more than 300 citations/year in the last 15 years, including papers with more than 110 citations each. Her global H-Index is 52.