Research fellows
Dirpolis Institute
Elena Ricci
Bio
Elena Ricci (Ph.D.) is Postdoctoral Researcher (assegnista di ricerca) at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies. She was previously a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Bari and Research Fellow at the University of Genoa.
She is Adjunct Professor at the European University of Rome, where she teaches the module “Palliative Care and Laboratory” within the course “Anthropology and Palliative Care and Laboratory” (PHIL-03/A), and serves as Coordinator of the Master’s program in Psychology and Ethics of Palliative Care at the same university.
Elena is a Junior (non-faculty) member of the interuniversity research center Aretai – Center on Virtues and collaborates with the Home Care, Pediatric Palliative Care, and Pediatric Pain Therapy Unit at the IRCCS Giannina Gaslini Institute. She also serves as Regional Councilor for the Italian Society of Palliative Care (SICP) – Ligurian Regional Section (2024–2026).
She has contributed to the development and implementation of research projects, is the author of several publications, and has been an invited speaker at training courses as well as national and international conferences.
With regard to her academic background, Elena graduated with a Master’s degree in Philosophical Methodologies (LM-78) from the University of Genoa (summa cum laude, recommended for publication) with a thesis entitled “Etica e cure palliative: Le virtù comunicative alla fine della vita” [Ethics and Palliative Care: Communicative Virtues at the End of Life] (supervisor: Prof. Maria Silvia Vaccarezza; co-supervisors: Prof. Angelo Campodonico and Prof. Maria Cristina Amoretti). She then obtained her Ph.D. at the European University of Rome, which she completed in 2023 with a dissertation entitled "Illfullness. Virtue and Moral Flourishing in Chronic and Degenerative Diseases" (supervisor: Prof. Claudia Navarini).
During her Master’s degree, she studied at the Stockholm University within the Erasmus+ program, where she developed her interests in bioethics, particularly in medical ethics. In the third year of her Ph.D., she was a Visiting Research Scholar at the Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing, University of Oklahoma, under the supervision of Prof. Nancy Snow.
Research
Her research interests include moral philosophy, moral psychology, virtue ethics, care ethics, medical ethics, the ethics of emerging technologies, character education, and nudging. In her work, she has specifically examined the role of character in improving patients’ lived experience of illness and the quality of care provided by healthcare professionals. In this context, she highlights the intersection between virtue ethics, human flourishing, and practices of care, analyzing how the cultivation of moral character can support both individual well-being and professional practice.
She is also engaged in the ethics of emerging technologies, with a focus on moral influencing and on the risks and benefits associated with the use of robotics and artificial intelligence. She is currently a member of the TRI-TECH project at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna; her research has addressed issues related to the aging society, robot companionship, and trust.