Professor Maria Pia Amato obtained her medical degree at the University of Florence (Italy) in 1983 and became a Board Certified Neurologist in 1987.

She received a specific training in clinical epidemiology as a Research Fellow at the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore (USA) and at the Erasmus University, Rotterdam (The Netherlands). She is Associate Professor of Neurology since 2004 and responsible for the MS Unit at the Department NEUROFARBA, Section of Neurosciences, University of Florence.

Currently, she is member of the Executive Committee of the European Committee for Treatment and Research on Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). She is actively involved in clinical research on MS, at both the national and international level, with focus on treatment, clinical epidemiology and neuropsychology of MS and has published more than 200 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals.