News from Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (FIS): Three out of 17 awards in the life sciences go to Telethon researchers

A new attestation of the excellence of Telethon researchers comes from the results of the first call of Fondo Italiano per la Scienza (FIS), started in 2021 by the Ministry of University and Research with an allocation of 50 million euros. Five out of 17 awards in the life sciences go to Telethon researchers.

The FIS financed by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), is modeled on the so-called ERCs, the funding of the European Research Council dedicated in particular to basic research. Like the European tenders, those of the FIS are also aimed to scientists at various stages of their careers and belonging to different research fields, from engineering to life sciences.

In the life sciences section, 17 research projects presented by researchers from various Italian hospitals, research centers, and universities were awarded. Three of them are also affiliated with research Institutes of Fondazione Telethon: Antonella De Matteis (professor at Federico II University of Naples and Program Coordinator of the Cell Biology and Disease Mechanisms Research Program Group at TIGEM, Pozzuoli), Luigi Naldini (professor at Vita-Salute University of San Raffaele and director of the San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (SR-Tiget) of Milan), and Mario Squadrito (researcher at San Raffaele Hospital and project leader in the Targeted Gene Therapy Research Unit against cancer by SR-Tiget.

The aim of De Matteis’ project work is to understand how Sars-Cov-2 replicates inside the cell using cellular biology competences of her group. Her team has already obtained relevant informations but this new project will refine these fundamental knowledge for developing effective countermeasures

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