Valentina obtained her Bachelor's degree in 2006 in Cognitive Science and Psychobiology and her Master's degree in 2008 in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Padova, Italy. As an undergraduate student, she was attracted to science and research by the influence of odors on human motor behavior. Since then, she investigated how normal and abnormal chemosensory abilities, both in healthy and neurologically impaired participants, affect motor performances. During her PhD she also developed a keen interest in body odors and their effect on social interactions. From 2012 to 2015 she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, USA to expand her expertise in human socio-chemosignal communication. Since November 2015, she is at SISSA working on projects related to the cognitive and emotional aspects of human socio-chemosignal communication in healthy participants as well as individuals with atypical development (i.e, autism spectrum disorder).