The
participated foundation supporting the financing of translational research,
i.e. research applying the discoveries made in laboratories directly to
patients in order to develop new therapies, was set up in Bologna in 2022. The
next project is the Bellaria Research Centre, the regional and national centre
of reference for research and rehabilitation concerning neurological diseases
that will be built on an upgraded area covering 1.500 sq m at the Bellaria
Hospital in Bologna. For FARE INSIEME Charity, Lucrezia Lanzani interviewed
Daniele Ravaglia, President of Fondazione Ricerca Scienze Neurologiche
FARE INSIEME
CHARITY is the spin-off of the FARE INSIEME project dedicated to the
presentation of some onlus and non-profit associations with roots in the area
around Bologna, Ferrara and Modena and that carry out extraordinarily important
and crucial work for the entire community. Here are some of their stories.
by Lucrezia Lanzani*
“Research:
an activity aimed at searching, i.e. finding out, discovering someone or
something. The studies and investigations that take place as part of a specific
discipline, that experimentally processes and checks the most advanced
hypotheses and theories in a specific field.”
Fondazione
Ricerca Scienze Neurologiche was set up in Bologna in 2022 to support the
financing of translational research, i.e. the specific research that applies
the discoveries made in laboratories directly to patients in order to develop
new therapies especially concerning neurological diseases. The Foundation,
which is part of Irccs - Istituto Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna grew and, at
the end of 2023, it took on the current governance, intensifying its
dissemination and fund-raising activities to improving and expanding the
hospital’s research possibilities.
With a view
to maintaining the health of people and their families at the centre of our
activities, the Foundation focuses on the development of projects aimed at
preventing the onset of diseases and at improving the quality of life of people
dealing with neurological diseases in various areas of their lives.
The most
important challenge is the setting up of the Bellaria Research Centre, a
state-of-the-art facility that will be built on an upgraded area covering 1,500
sq m in Wing A of the Bellaria Hospital in Bologna, which will deal with
translational research and aims at becoming a point of reference on an Italian
and national level for the research and rehabilitation of neurological
diseases.
“Neurodegenerative
diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s diseases such as Alzheimer’s
disease and ALS are the cause of 34% of deaths due to disease, and are invasive
for both patients and their families. We believe that, thanks to scientific research,
it will soon be possible to also prevent and cure neurological diseases. In the
meantime, we are working assiduously so that all those affected by a disease of
the nervous system can improve their quality of life and that of their
families. In the new research wing, we will build locations to make treatments
more effective including five gyms, specialist institutes, rehabilitation
laboratories and quality assistance,” explains Daniele Ravaglia, the President
of the Foundation since 2023.
In order to
complete the project, an investment of €3.5 million was budgeted, €2.5 million
of which coming from the PNRR. Together with Azienda USL Bologna (a founding
member) and other local economic and social actors, the Foundation has
undertaken to find €1 million to complete the centre.
“The economic support
comes from companies and entrepreneurs, that become supporters wanting to
invest in our project. Research is under-financed in Italy and the medium to
small enterprise system does not structurally have enough resources available
for investment. We have therefore thought of combining private and public
resources which, under the name of Fondazione Ricerca Scienze Neurologiche,
will help us reach our primary objective by March 2025, we hope,” adds Daniele
Ravaglia.
The funds
are also used to support the MusicArte project to humanise treatments thanks to
courses in art, music and dancing that patients and families can take part in
with the assistance of healthcare professionals and artists. In addition,
projections with augmented reality visors will also be organized to enable
patients to experiment extremely-suggestive immersive realities.
“That is why
we needed to find and train volunteers to work alongside professionals,
carrying out collateral activities that will prove useful for long-term
patients,” concludes the President of Fondazione Ricerca Scienze Neurologiche.
Therefore,
thanks to the Foundation and the support of private and public institutions and
the community, the Bellaria Research Centre will not only be a treatment
centre, but also a concrete symbol of progress in medical research.
*Lucrezia
Lanzani is a student at the Steam Emilia High School. She is sixteen years old
and has always been interested in social issues. She has been volunteering for
three years in different organisations in her community.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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