Laura Marciano is a Research Associate at the Harvard Chan T.H. School of Public Health (Boston, MA, USA), Department of Social and Behavioral Science, Lee Kum Sheung Center for Health and Happiness and at Prof. Viswanath’s Lab.

She is the Principal Investigator of research projects on digital media and well-being. In particular, the HappyB project has been funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, Switzerland) and the HappyB2.0 by the National Institute of Health (NIH, USA). The projects aim to study the longitudinal link between smartphone use, social media, and well-being in teens, using cutting-edge research methods like trace data, Ecological Momentary Assessments (EMAs), screenshots donation, and a digital biomarker.

She obtained her PhD in Health Communication (Summa cum Laude) at USI Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano (Switzerland) with a dissertation focused on digital media (problematic or addictive) use and personality. Her doctoral work received the Award as best doctoral thesis in Social sciences from the Italian Embassy in Bern. Previously, she studied Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan (Italy), where she graduated with Laude and Menzione ad Honorem.

Dr. Marciano also promotes science dissemination activities as a Board member of the IBSA Foundation for scientific research, based in Lugano, Switzerland. She authored the book “Smartphone: Ally or enemy?” as part of the Let’s science collection.

Other science communication activities include the SNSF-funded Happiness2.0 project, which aims to translate the results of the HappyB studied in practical activities and events combining arts and science.