I received my precollege and college education there, obtaining a degree in physics from the University of Bari in 1997. In 2002, I earned the Ph.D. Degree in physics from the Department of Physics "Michelangelo Merlin", the University of Bari, where I completed my postdoctoral studies as well. I currently hold a permanent position at the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (M.I.U.R.) as physics teacher in secondary schools since 2007.
My research activity, started in 1999 after I published my first article in a peer-reviewed journal, is currently in the field of gravitational physics, in particular, experimental/observational tests of general relativity and modified models of gravity in several astronomical and astrophysical scenarios, and their theoretical interpretation. I have published so far over 160 articles in peer-reviewed journals. According to the NASA/ADS database, my h-index is, at present, 23, and I have over 940 citations (self-citations excluded). Some papers of mine attracted the attention of certain international scientific magazines. So far, I received 15 requests by foreign students of international academic institutions as supervisor of their Ph. D and/or post-Doc research activity.
I have acted as a referee for the European Space Agency (ESA), the former Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC), and the Czech Science Foundation (GACR). I received an invitation on behalf of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to submit nominations for the Crafoord Prize 2006. I am currently a Fellow of some professional societies like the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). I received a grant of the Young Researchers Project 2001 by the University of Bari in 2001. I was the recipient of an award by the Italian Physical Society (SIF) in 2003 for my scientific activity, and I received the Scholarship Luigi Volta for the Study of Astronomy from the Centre for Scientific Culture Alessandro Volta in 2006. Elsevier awarded me two New Astronomy Top Cited Author Awards in 2010. I received the IFM Einstein-Galilei Award 2012 from the Institute for Theoretical Physics and Advanced Mathematics (IFM) Einstein-Galilei in 2012.
I live in Bari, where I assist my mother, affected by a permanent disability handicapping her. I am her only son. I am not married and I have no children.