(10 March 2016) From Sicily to the United States to support research on neurodegenerative diseases, neurogenesis, carcinogenesis and metabolic diseases. Five PhD candidates and two postdocs from the PhD International Research program in Biomedicine and Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Palermo have taken part in the annual Conference of Italian researchers in the world, promoted by the Houston Comites in collaboration with the Consulate General of Italy. The Conference, now in its eleventh edition, sees researchers present their work. For Palermo, the group introduced the research carried out in Palermo and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston. Mauro Montalbano, Claudia Marino, Filippa Lo Cascio, Emanuele Mocciaro and Salvo Saieva were the PhD candidates participating in the event, while the postdocs were Alberto Fucarino and Michela Marcatti. The group also presented a project, coordinated by professor Fabio Bucchieri from the Bionec Anatomy Section, focusing on the study of zero-gravity effects on the respiratory system, funded by the European Space Agency in partnership with NASA, the UTMB, the University of Southampton and Leiden and the Euro-Mediterranean Institute for Science and Technology. “During the recent visit of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella to Houston – says Luca Cicalese, Professor of Transplantation Surgery at UTMB, also organizer of the Conference and responsible for the international PhD agreement for the American side – we were able to explain our international doctoral program. The President was impressed and welcomed it warmly. He also wrote us a letter, upon his return to Italy, to wish us good luck for our Conference and stressing the importance of the continued collaboration between Italy and Texas”. (Red)
