Dante Abate
Dante Abate serves as a researcher at the Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence in Cyprus, where he leverages his expertise in archaeology and specializes in using remote sensing, digital and non-destructive technologies. His work is dedicated to the preservation and safeguarding of cultural heritage, focusing on sensitive areas and forensic contexts.
He is a former Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow through his involvement in the Digital Forensic Archaeology project and a member of the European Commission subgroup for the safeguarding of cultural heritage in Ukraine. Additionally, Abate is an expert member of CIPA, specializing in cultural heritage documentation, and the ISPRS Working Group IV/11, focusing on Cultural Heritage Visualization and Virtual Restoration.
Dante Abate's career is marked by his coordination of funded projects and initiatives (SHIELD, SIGNIFICANCE and the newly funded Twinning project REVITALISER), through which he has forged strong collaborations with law enforcement agencies and authorities for the fight against looting and illegal trafficking of cultural assets, harnessing the latest technological advancements.
Michał Lukomski
Michał Lukomski is Head of Preventive Conservation research at the Getty Conservation Institute. After his PhD in physics from Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland (2003), he completed his postdoctorate fellowship at the University of Windsor, Canada.
Over the last few years, he has worked on quantitatively describing responses of hygroscopic materials found in fine art collections (wood, textiles, animal glue, gesso and paints) to variations in climatic conditions, using several scientific methods. His current research focuses on mechanical characterization of historic materials and their responses to changes of environmental parameters, as well as nondestructive monitoring of damage development in objects.
Anna Vila
Anna Vila is in charge of the Conservation and Preventive Conservation Department at the Contemporary Art Collection of “la Caixa” Banking Foundation. She is trained as Conservator and holds a PhD in Analytical Chemistry, both from the University of Barcelona.
Vila has worked at the Molecular Spectroscopy Department at the Scientifical Technical Services at University of Barcelona and was a Mellon Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago. She worked as researcher at the Centre de Recherche et Restauration des Musées de France (2010) as well as a Senior Research Fellow at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (2010-2012).
From 2012-2017 she was a Senior Researcher and Head of the scientific laboratory at the Centre for Art Technological Studies and Conservation (CATS) at the National Gallery of Denmark. In 2017-2019 she worked at the University of Barcelona in a technical position to support scientific research and to support the Conservation Program before starting her current position at “la Caixa” Banking Foundation. Vila has closely collaborated, published, and lectured with conservators, curators, and scientists.