Alfredo Vannacci is a medical doctor specializing in medical toxicology, with a PhD in pharmacology and toxicology. He is Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Florence and his main fields of research and teaching are adverse drug reactions, pharmacovigilance and pharmacoepidemiology, with particular reference to perinatal toxicology and drug safety during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

In 2006, after the stillbirth of his second son Lapo, Alfredo founded the first Italian charity for perinatal loss support: CiaoLapo (in Italian ‘ciao’ means both hello and goodbye) together with his wife Claudia Ravaldi, a psychiatrist and psychotherapist, and current president of CiaoLapo.

Alfredo leads the Perinatal Research Laboratory (PeaRL) jointly constituted by the CiaoLapo Foundation and the Department of Neurosciences, Psychology, Drug Research and Child Health of the University of Florence. PeaRL aims to promote basic, pre-clinical, clinical, psychological and epidemiological research in the field of perinatal health. With CiaoLapo, Alfredo has been a member of the International Stillbirth Alliance since 2007; his main interests are epidemiology and prevention of stillbirth, psychological implications of perinatal loss, and promotion of appropriate bereavement care.