Innovation and enterprise creation at the heart of the Mediterranean: an agreement has been signed between the Ri.MED Foundation, the Institute of BioRobotics of the Sant'Anna[...]

Innovation and enterprise creation at the heart of the Mediterranean: an agreement has been signed between the Ri.MED Foundation, the Institute of BioRobotics of the Sant'Anna School and the ARTES 4.0 Centre of Competence

Ana agreement has been signed between the Ri.MED Foundation based in Palermo, the Institute of BioRobotics of theSant'Anna Schoolin Pisa and ARTES 4.0, the highly specialised Centre of Competence funded by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, with headquarters in Tuscany and a centre in Sicily, to foster the creation of a strategic, cultural and scientific partnership in the field of the so-called One Health, the healthcare model based on the integration of different disciplines.

The aim of the agreement is to create a reference for the international research community and to foster the growth of the productive fabric of Southern Italy. The agreement envisages cooperation in the fields of medicine and bioengineering, integrating biomedical research and bionic technologies, bioengineering, robotics and artificial intelligence with technology transfer , in order to pool complementary knowledge, infrastructures and skills in areas of mutual interest in the One Health sector.

Relevant points of the agreement are the identification of profiles of researchers and coordinators of national and international research projects, the promotion of joint research programmes, the joint design of new laboratories and the promotion of initiatives, promoted by the signatory institutions, such as research projects, workshops and conferences, the exchange of research personnel, the promotion of technology transfer, and the creation of spin-off companies thanks to joint activities.

"This significant cooperation is strategic for the entire Mediterranean basin, which can become a springboard for the launch of new technologies and new businesses in support of human wellbeing and health. We want to be the protagonists of a new development paradigm that, through technology and enterprise creation, launches Sicily and the South as a guide and not a follower of new growth,' comments Paolo Dario, scientific director of the ARTES 4. 0, professor emeritus of the Sant'Anna School and inspirer of the initiative, who goes on to say: 'By coordinating a European Digital Innovation Hub on the themes of sustainability and "human-centric", ARTES 4.0 will be able to contribute to giving a European dimension to technology transfer by supporting the development of innovation and the competitiveness of new enterprises born in Sicily in an international dimension.

'The world has changed and continues to change faster and faster, which is why it is very important to contribute to creating a new generation of innovators capable of facing scientific and technological challenges, and international horizons,' emphasises Cesare Stefanini, director of the Institute of BioRobotics at the Sant'Anna School. 'We want,' he adds, 'on the one hand to foster exchanges with female and male researchers, students, and to promote increasing participation in global projects, and on the other hand to concretely intervene in the development of territories with enormous potential, such as Sicily, by fostering the training of skills and collaborating with the productive world through activities that can contribute to the socio-economic sustainability of Italy, and in this case Southern Italy in particular. In Ri.MED we have found an interlocutor with a great cultural and visionary affinity, and we are sure that the collaboration will bear fruits of importance and quality for all parties'.

'We are on the threshold of a future that will be played out on the relationship between human beings, health, and the environment: bioengineering and biotechnology offer extraordinary opportunities, and Sicily is the ideal place to study the relationship between human beings and the environment,' says Giulio Superti-Furga, scientific director of Ri.MED and designated director of the Ri.MED research centre under construction in the province of Palermo. 'In the Ri.MED centre we will study the interaction between human health and the environment according to a One Health approach - from the effects of living near the sea to the impact of the Mediterranean diet on the microbiome - focusing our research on certain organs and related pathologies: lungs and respiratory diseases, liver and metabolic diseases, heart and cardiovascular diseases, etc., thanks also to the integration of competences with our clinical partner IRCCS ISMETT, specialised in transplants and treatment of terminal organ diseases. The agreement signed today opens up exciting new scenarios of technological application in the life science field and growth opportunities for this territory'.

Cover photo: the BioRobotics Institute of the Sant'Anna School in Pontedera