Research fellowships were awarded to 179 young researchers with cutting-edge projects in the fields of cancer, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, prevention and nutrigenomics.

In 2015 the Umberto Veronesi Foundation awarded 139 research grants to individual post-doctoral researchers, 21 PhD students at the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM) and 19 training grants.

These grants were awarded on Thursday, April 23 in the Great Hall of the University of Milan.

In addition 17 research projects, already funded in 2014, were renewed.

In just five years the number of grants has tripled: from 54 in 2010 reflecting the growing interest in science and constant and valuable support of our donors, both companies and individuals.

Since it’s founding in 2003 the Veronesi Foundation has supported 912 researchers and 89 research projects.

Researchers supported by Veronesi Foundation work in the main fields of biomedical research: 128 in the oncology field, 13 on cardiovascular disease, 24 in neuroscience and 9 in the areas of nutrigenomics and disease prevention. 

Five awards went to researchers in the context of bioethics, in particular to the care and management of the cancer patient.

The majority of the researchers receiving our grants ware young females: 130 out of 179 granted in 2015.

The average age is between 34 and 35 years, while the graduate students from the European School of Molecular Medicine are between 25 and 33.

The research grants from the Veronesi Foundation not only help Italians, but also aim to attract foreign researchers: 30 researchers received grants in 2015 coming from all over the world: USA, France, Ireland, Spain, Poland, Russia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Egypt, Lebanon, India, Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba and Burundi.

Moreover, the Veronesi Foundation has decided to support Italian researchers carry out research abroad, so as to promote the training and professional growth of Italian scientists abroad who can then bring back there knowhow to Italy.

The list of prestigious foreign institutions that will host researchers with Veronesi Foundation fellowships in 2015 include the Yale School of Medicine, the Dana - Farber Cancer Institute and the University of Connecticut in the United States, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, the University Bern in Switzerland and the Universidad Miguel Hernandez in Alicante in Spain.

Oncology

Tumours are a very complex set of diseases characterised by abnormal proliferation of certain cells. 

This is caused by mutations at the DNA level that make the cancer cells insensitive to growth control.

Over time, these cells acquire the ability to migrate to other tissues of the body, causing metastasis, and become resistant to the drugs.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer is essential for the development of new more effective therapies.

In 2015 112 scholarships and 10 post-doctoral research projects were awarded for oncology research.

The majority of cancer types were covered by these fellowships including HPV and prevention.

Cardiovascular disease

The main cardiovascular diseases are caused by atherosclerosis or narrowing of blood vessels, which can result in heart attack, stroke and vascular syndromes.

Congenital heart defects, rheumatic diseases and chronic heart failure are also widespread in western countries, mainly because of unhealthy lifestyles and lack of prevention.

In this area 13 research fellowships and two postdoctoral research grants were awarded.

Neuroscience

Neuroscience research often requires to multidisciplinary methods and advanced technologies.

Much of todays research aims at the identification of tools for early diagnosis, reliable markers and molecular studies to develop effective prevention strategies.

In recent years there has been a surge of research into understanding the biological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders or brain development, such as autism spectrum disorders.

In this area 24 research fellowships and 3 postdoctoral research grants were awarded.

Nutrigenomics

Nutrigenomics is the science that studies the relationships between genetics and food; the molecules that we introduce in our diet affect our genes and hence our health, both positively and negatively.

Nutrigenomics goes hand in hand with prevention, especially of chronic cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer, which together are responsible for the vast majority of deaths worldwide.

In this area 9 research fellowships and two postdoctoral research grants were awarded.

Source: Umberto Veronesi Foundation