Lia Scarabottolo has been Director of Discovery Services Department since 2007 and she has been appointed as Senior Director of Discovery Services Department since January 2023.

She has the direction of all the operational units at Axxam, which include: Cell Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Electrophysiology, Biochemistry, High Throughput Screening and Automation, Compound Profiling, Electrophysiology, Data Management, Discovery Chemistry. She coordinates numerous collaborations and partnerships with international companies and she has been the scientific coordinator for different grants supported by the Italian government and the European Community.

Before taking this role, she was Head of the Cell Biology unit at Axxam from 2001, and previously she was Head of Cardiovascular Research Unit in the Pharmacology Department at Bayer-Italy. She holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and a Master in Experimental Pharmacology from the University of Milan.