I am an astrophysicist with interests in galaxy formation, stellar dynamics, Galactic Archaeology, cosmology and the distribution of dark matter. I study astrophysical properties of dark matter on the scale of rich galaxy clusters to that of the tiniest galaxies in the Universe. The Local Group is a particularly useful laboratory to test both our theories of galaxy formation and dark matter. My research consists of running numerical simulations and data mining of large astronomical datasets, in order to address how the Milky Way and its satellite population formed and evolved through cosmic time and how dark matter is distributed within it.