Dr Di Bernardo is currently a Maria de Zambrano Fellow at Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in Spain. Having completed her PhD in July 2018 in Material Science at Sapienza, University of Rome, Dr Di Bernardo joined FLEET as one of the three inaugural Women in FLEET fellows, working with Prof Michael Fuhrer and FLEET associate investigator Dr Mark Edmonds. As a FLEET Associate Investigator, Dr Di Bernardo synthesised 2D transition metal dichalcogenides and explored their functionalization to induce topological phase transitions (FLEET Research theme 1, topological materials and Enabling technology A, atomically-thin materials).