Maria Letizia Urban
Dr. Maria Letizia Urban is a researcher and internal medicine physician affiliated with the Department of Experimental and Clinical Medicine at the University of Florence and the Careggi University Hospital.
She obtained her Degree in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Parma in 2011 and she completed her specialization in Nephrology in 2018 at the same institution. In 2022, she earned a PhD in Clinical Pathophysiology of Aging and Nursing Sciences at the University of Florence.
From March 1, 2020, to August 31, 2022, she undertook a clinical and research fellowship at the Metabolic and Neuromuscular Unit, Regional Reference Centre for Expanded Newborn Screening, IRCCS Meyer Children’s University Hospital in Florence. Her work, under the supervision of Dr. Maria Alice Donati, was part of the project “Transitional Care of Adult Patients Affected by Inherited Metabolic Diseases.”
Her main areas of clinical and research expertise include rare diseases, particularly inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs) and systemic autoimmune disorders.
A core focus of her professional activity has been the transition of care from paediatric to adult services for adult patients with IMDs. Since 2019, she has been actively involved in a structured transition program in collaboration with IRCCS Meyer Children’s University Hospital: this initiative aims to ensure continuity of care and the development of tailored clinical pathways within the adult healthcare system for this specific patient population.
Dr. Urban currently serves as the clinical lead of the outpatient clinic for adult patients with inherited metabolic diseases at the Internal and Specialized Medicine Unit of Careggi University Hospital in Florence. Her clinical work is centered on the management and treatment of adult patients with IMDs, with particular attention to the transition from paediatric to adult care, reproductive health issues related to gender medicine and innovative treatments for IMDs.
She is also involved in several clinical trials and independent investigator-led studies on systemic rare diseases. She is the author or co-author of 86 full-length publications in international peer-reviewed journals (last updated: July 30, 2025).
Dr. Urban actively collaborates with national and international scientific societies and research groups. She is a member of the Working Group on Adult Patients with IMDs within the Italian Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism and Newborn Screening (SIMMESN) and an active member of the Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism (SSIEM).
