CellDiff - Introduction Last update:
090824
This introduction is aimed to inform readers about the Center of
Excellence in the Physiopathology of Cell Differentiation, in
brief CellDiff, at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University of Milan:
who we are, when and why we were established, what has happened in the
meantime in terms of scientists joining or leaving, of scientific
productivity, of prestige of the Center. At the end we will also
present our general opinion about Centers of Excellence and about the
role they could play in our Country.
Centers of Excellence in Italy
CellDiff was established in 2001 by the Italian Ministry of University
and Research (MIUR), together with other 44 Centers of Excellence
active in all areas of knowledge: not only in sciences (including
physics, chemistry, biology and biomedicine) but also in various
humanities. These Centers were the first, and so far remain the only
examples of Institutions of this type established in Italy. Needless to
say, in other European countries Centers of Excellence are
numerous and well appreciated. The Italian Centers were established and
funded for 3 years, with the idea that later on they would have
continued to operate with external funds. No evaluation of their work
by external scientist reviewers has ever been made. Therefore, the
present state of the many Centers is unknown.
CellDiff and its Staff
At its beginning CellDiff included 9 research groups of the San
Raffaele Medical School, working in various areas of Biomedicine and
interested in Cell Differentiation, together with a few associated
groups of adjacent Universities, such as the University of Milan and
that of the Oriental Piedmont. In addition, many scientists belonging
not to the University but to the San Raffaele Institute, did
participate and, in some cases, even led the research work.
The close synergy between the two Institutions is in fact a stable
property of our work, a critical aspect of the scientific success of
the “San Raffaele” model. During the years the staff of CellDiff has
changed somewhat. A few colleagues have stepped down for various
reasons and some have joined the Center, mostly upon their move to the
University staff. At the moment the groups are 11, specified by
the name of their PIs that appear on the front page of this web
site.
The Research
The CellDiff groups were all of high scientific level and their
collaboration assured a considerable degree of interdisciplinary
research. The funds that were received by the Center from the MIUR (as
a whole 1.780 million it. Lira, corresponding to less than 1
million
€) were all invested in the updating of advanced techniques of general
importance for our research, while the work of each group has been
entirely supported by external grants, obtained from public and private
sources, of Italian and international origin (all together, in the last
8 years, over 20 million €). As documented by the 410
articles appeared from 2002 in the international scientific literature,
the groups have worked with no interruption. Even more important, most
of their articles have appeared in highly prestigious Journals,
including those advertized in the press, such as Nature and Science, as
well as the top specialized Journals of specific scientific areas,
including Cancer, Immunology and Neuroscience. In terms of Impact
Factor (the index that reveals the of impact of Journals in
the scientific community) the performance of the Center is
impressive: overall impact, 2656; average impact/single
publication, 6.5). These numbers confirm that all our PIs are
leaders in their field at the international level.
Training of Young Scientists and
Translational Activities
At CellDiff, training of young scientists is strictly integrated with
the research activity. Three levels are considered. University students
are accepted in the laboratories before and after their “Magistral
thesis”, i.e. just at the beginning of a scientific activity. About 10%
of the candidates, after a very competitive examination, are accepted
in
the International PhD schools in Molecular an Cellular Biology and
Molecular Medicine, which are coordinated by Members of the CellDiff
staff and run according to the most advanced criteria, including 9
month stages of the students in prestigious foreign laboratories.
Finally, CellDiff laboratories are among the few in Italy to
include post-docs and Professors in sabbatical, coming from EU
countries and North America, mostly supported by international
fellowships. This, and the seminars and lectures, all given in English,
contribute substantially to the international atmosphere of our
research.
The CellDiff scientists are greatly interested in translational
research. Most of their work is in fact in areas of medical interest,
often carried out in collaboration with clinicians of the San Raffaele
Hospital. In addition, various patents, based on the results produced
by the CellDiff scientists, have been granted and are now
attracting considerable interest. Finally, CellDiff staff scientists
collaborate with biotec Companies, in particular with MolMed, the
spin-off company born in the San Raffaele Institute, since a few years
a publicly traded Company.
Four Letters of Opinion
In order to obtain an independent evaluation of our work we have
asked four colleagues of the highest prestige to write down letters of
opinion about the work made by the CellDiff scientists during the
years: Günter Blobel and Erwin Neher, two Nobel laureates; Kai
Simons, the Founder of the European Life Scientist Organization, ELSO ;
and Pietro De Camilli, a brilliant Italian Researcher who leads
Neurobiology at the Yale University. Have a look at the letters that
these colleagues have written, which appear in this web site. They
summarize our work much better than any long presentation.
Are Centers of Excellence needed in
Italy?
Finally, what might be the general significance of CellDiff and other
Centers of Excellence in Italy? As specifically emphasized by our
prestigious colleagues in their letters of opinion, these institutions
play critical roles in the progress of research in most advanced
Countries. These foreign Centers are not only established more often,
with much larger economical support and for longer periods of time than
in Italy, but in addition they are systematically evaluated for their
scientific work. A serious evaluation, based not only on bureaucratic,
but especially on scientific criteria, carried out by highly qualified
committees including foreign experts of the field, is critical for the
life of Centers. In fact, if the Center is approved, the
evaluation warrants that research keeps going, possibly improving its
level, deserving further support and stimulating its synergy with other
experiences; if the Center is turned down, the evaluation opens chances
for new Centers to be approved without further expenses. At a time
when, even in Italy, excellence of Universities is being more and more
requested, especially in the field of research, the
re-establishment, strengthening and systematic evaluation of
Centers of Excellence appear therefore as operational and cultural
tools, profoundly needed for the scientific and economic progress of
our Country.