Research activities will be carried out in the field of biomaterials, medical devices, preclinical models and in silico medicine
Bologna, 4 November 2022 – University of Catania and the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute of Bologna together for the synergistic development of research activities in the field of biomaterials, medical devices, preclinical models and in silico medicine. This is what is foreseen in the collaboration agreement signed this morning during a meeting at the central building of the University of Catania.
The agreement was signed by Dr. Anselmo Campagna, general director of the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, and by prof. Francesco Priolo, rector of the University of Catania, in the presence of Dr. Milena Fini, scientific director of Rizzoli, and of the two scientific managers of the research activities, for Rizzoli prof. Nicola Baldini, director of the Rizzoli-RIT (Research, Innovation & Technology) Department, and for Unict prof. Giovanni Marletta of the Department of Chemical Sciences. The meeting was also attended by prof. Salvatore Baglio, delegate of the Rector of Research of the Catania University, and Dr. Giampiero Ciglione, administrative director of Rizzoli.
The two institutions, as part of the three-year agreement, will develop and coordinate a Joint Research and Development Program based on three executive projects that will promote the access of researchers and students as well as the implementation of research and development activities.
In particular, the program of collaborative research activities will be based on the first three projects – “Biomaterials and Biointerfaces”, “Implants and Biosensors” and “Medicine in silico” – already final, which envisage the development and characterization of new materials for applications biomedicals with a focus on green materials from recycled sources for regenerative medicine / tissue engineering purposes and to create models for drug assays.
Also foreseen is the development of smart medical devices for orthopedic applications, the study of the interactions between biomaterials and human tissues under varying environmental conditions also for drug screening applications. Furthermore, the development of computerized models of human physiology and pathology aimed at supporting clinical decisions (Digital Twin in Healthcare) and the development and evaluation of medical products, both drugs and medical devices (In Silico Trials).
The research activities will take place in the premises of the BRIT Center for Research and Innovation in Bio and Nanotechnologies of the “Ferdinando Latteri” Biological Tower of the Catania university, in a space intended for Rizzoli.
“A few days after the agreement signed with Humanitas University, the University of Catania makes another important alliance with the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute, one of the most prestigious medical and scientific research institutes in Italy – explains the rector Francesco Priolo – We are building a network of strategic partnerships in the field of health and life sciences to make avant-garde collaborations and laboratories available to our teachers and researchers and especially to our students for the progress of research and its applications in the field of biomaterials, medical devices, preclinical models and in silico medicine. We are particularly proud that Rizzoli has chosen Catania as his scientific interlocutor in the Sicilian territory thanks to the recognized skills of the Catania professors and researchers and to the ultra-modern structures of the university “.
“This agreement with the University of Catania consolidates Rizzoli’s presence in Sicily in a perspective of increasingly articulated and high-profile scientific collaboration – comments the general director Anselmo Campagna – The vocation for research is a distinctive feature of our Institute since since its foundation and is manifested today in the numerous international projects in which we are engaged and in the leading role of our researchers in the global scientific community ”.
“The research activities that we will carry out in Catania have great potential for the development of new treatment opportunities, to respond to health problems that today cannot be solved, and this is our function as IRCCS: we are a hospital of research and our hope, certain of the results of this agreement, is also for a future of collaboration in the care sector, thus bringing the results from the laboratory to the patient ”, concludes Campagna.