Written on September 28, 2023.
In presence of Raffaele Donini, Councilor for Health Policies of the Emilia-Romagna Region, the renewed leaders of the Romagna Institute for the Study of Tumors “Dino Amadori” IRST IRCCS were publicly presented today. Appointed following the natural expiry of the previous mandate last July, they are the President, Dr. Fabrizio Miserocchi – indicated by the private component of the Board of Directors – by the General Director, Dr. Lorenzo Stefano Maffioli (jointly designated by the public company component) who, in turn, based on its competence, proposed to the Board of Directors the confirmation, as Health Director, of Dr. Maria Teresa Montella.
Following the path traced by Prof Dino Amadori, the professionals in charge respond to a profound adherence to the values and objectives of IRST, as well as having very high professionalism and experience. Fundamental characteristics to ensure that the Institute – a structure fully integrated into the National and Regional Health System, among its leaders in the oncology-hematology field – can achieve ambitious goals such as the creation of theintegration of treatment and research pathways with AUSL Romagna in the Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Networkthe start of new pharmacythe transfer to the future pavilion of theForlì Oncology Hospitalincreasingly asserting the role of reference in the study, internationalization and technological transfer in onco-hematology.
Statements
“I decided to accept this position out of a sense of responsibility and gratitude: it was 2014 when I arrived for the first time in the world of Oncology in Romagna as General Director of the IOR and, until the beginning of 2020, I was lucky enough to be able to work elbow to elbow every day with the one who contributed more than anyone to the growth and diffusion of the culture of the fight against cancer in our territory, prof. Dino Amadori.” Explains the President, Dr. Fabrizio Miserocchi. “I am therefore strongly motivated to ensure that the Institute that bears his name maintains and possibly improves the research and clinical standards that it already offers today, and which are recognized in Italy and abroad. I would like to thank those who considered me worthy of this role: I put myself at the service of this project with the skills and experience gained so far in the field, with the aim of being able to guarantee continuity of the human and professional values that represent the solid foundations on which the IRST was founded. This obviously does not mean that the new role will be to the detriment of my role within the Romagna Oncology Institute: on the contrary, it will be an opportunity to work even more as a team, also because I believe that the role of the Third Sector will be fundamental in ensuring that we the person, and not the disease, is increasingly at the center of treatment”.
“For me it is first of all a source of great pride to be able to represent an Institute of excellence among the Italian IRCCS and a point of reference at a national level and not only for research and treatment in the oncology and onco-hematology fields.” declares the General Director, Dr. Lorenzo Stefano Maffioli. “I am collecting an important legacy, the work of those who preceded me and which allowed IRST to grow and establish itself. I will put all my effort and dedication into this which is certainly a challenge. Personally, entering a company dedicated to research carries forward a path that began in my training and continued with the start of my professional life: in my various roles the aspect of research and development has always had an essential value. A journey that continues, with enthusiasm, here in IRST“.
“It is very important to give continuity to the work started in IRST three years ago and for this I can only be happy about it” adds the Health Director, Dr Maria Teresa Montella. “Going through a new phase alongside the Institute characterized by growing ambitions – I underline: ambitions all for the direct and concrete benefit of the patient and the system – is gratifying. In recent years we have had to face various challenges and difficulties, starting from the pandemic. Together we overcame them. There has never been a lack of collaboration and unity of purpose in pursuing our objectives and always achieving new goals. Results that can only be achieved thanks to the daily commitment of medical, nursing, technical and research staff“.
“My congratulations go to the Presidency, the General, Scientific and Health Directorates, and to all the volunteers and operators who work here on a daily basis – declared the Regional Councilor for Health Policies, Raffaele Donini – because here, today, we find ourselves in a reality that boasts a path of great importance. But we are not looking back, we are looking forward, to the enormous opportunities that await us and that together with all the centers in Emilia-Romagna, together with the regional oncology network, the Comprehensive Cancer Care and Research Network created by IRST and ASL Romagna, we are ready to reach. The integration between institutions and territory will be increasingly central but not only that, another development trajectory is the relationship with the University for scientific research. Finally, perhaps the greatest challenge of the future, that of the Car-T, of the workshops for the production of innovative therapies which, as the Emilia-Romagna Region, thanks to these territorial networks, we want to achieve”.
Main indices of mission activities
IRST “Dino Amadori” IRCCS is today a leading company on the national scene but with ample potential for further growth. The annual multi-parameter evaluation carried out by the Ministry of Health on all IRCCS places IRST “Dino Amadori”, among all the single-thematic institutes, in 10th position, surpassed only by national entities of much larger dimensions. Driving force and reason for these results the personal (518 professionals, 70% female, with an average age of less than 45 years), 20% of whom are doctors and 27% entirely dedicated to research activities. In the four locations under direct IRST management (in addition to Meldola, Forlì, Cesena and Ravenna Radiotherapy and Skin Cancer Unit) there are currently assisted almost 26 thousand patients (of which 8,572 at their first access in 2022) with increasing entries regarding more complex treatments (transplants, dendritic cell treatments) and enrollment in clinical trials. The indices are also undoubtedly positive research with the growth in funding for current research (4.4 million in 2022; the data is the result of a comparative evaluation of performance and dimensional indicators on Care and Research), the projects won following participation in competitive tenders (14 out of 54 submitted with definitive outcome for 7.8 million euros of funding received) and the 219 studies with active recruitment. The main budget indices indicate a good response by the Institute to the objectively very complex period that healthcare is going through both in economic and personnel terms. The value of production in 2022 reached a total of 97.5 million euros (in the three-year period 2020-2022 the average growth was 5.5%) with a still positive net profit (the 2022 financial year closes in substantial break-even with +101 thousand euros) and solid capitalization, capable of ensuring 2.1 million euros for the independent research activities developed within IRST. Despite its solidity and well-defined lines of development, IRST is not a monad refractory to the difficulties experienced by the Healthcare System both in economic terms and in terms of staffing. Extremely complex challenges, to address which the definition of the actions and tools necessary to continue the development of the Institute is underway.
Biographical notes
The Dr. Fabrizio Miserocchi, born in Rimini in 1967, has held the role of General Director of the Romagna Oncology Institute from 2014 to today. Graduated in Economics, with a master’s degree from Bocconi, he has worked for years in the world of non-profit and communication. Before arriving at the IOR he held the role of Fundraising Manager of the San Patrignano Community for seven years.
The Dr. Lorenzo Stefano Maffioli, born in Como in 1961, since 2019 he has been Health Director of the Sette Laghi di Varese Territorial Social Health Company (ASST). Previously he held the same position at the ASL of Biella. He is a specialist in Nuclear Medicine and Experimental Endocrinology and has obtained various Masters in Management of Healthcare Companies. He worked for years at the Cancer Institute of Milan, and directed the Nuclear Medicine Unit of the AO of Lecco and, later of the ASST Ovest Milanese of Legnano, where he also coordinated the interdepartmental Thyroid Pathology Clinic. From 2014 to 2017 he directed the provincial inter-company oncology department and from May 2017 to June 2018 he also led the Cancer Center Department. He has been a professor of Nuclear Medicine (School of Specialization in Nuclear Medicine – University of Milan) and is a speaker at numerous courses, conferences and congresses, as well as author-co-author of various publications in scientific journals (approximately 300 publications).
Dr Maria Teresa Montella, born in Bologna where she still lives, graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Bologna and specialized in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. Among her various educational experiences, the master’s degree in Public Health at the University of Montreal (Canada) and the master’s degree in planning, management and evaluation of health services at the University of Bologna. During your career you have held important positions in multiple entities. Among these we highlight, since 2017, that of Director of the Operational Management Service of the AUSL of Reggio Emilia; previously she was Head of Hospital Services of the Emilia-Romagna Region, Medical Director at the Marche Nord Hospital – Pesaro and Fano Hospitals, Medical Director at the Rizzoli Orthopedic Institute and Head of medical organization within the Department maternal and child care at the AUSL of Bologna. She has been IRST Health Director since July 2020.