ISSNAF. Awards to Six Young Italian Researchers

The Italian Scientists and Scholars of North America Foundation (ISSNAF) conferred awards to six young Italian researchers on Tuesday, October 18th at the Italian Embassy in Washington. President of ISSNAF, Vito M. Campese, stated, “Borders have no future in science, and collaboration networks - like ISSNAF - are invaluable.”

He also stated that this ceremony is part of a project called the Human Technopole, which is the first in a series of initiatives meant to attract Italians living abroad and encourage them to bring their newfound knowledge back to Italy. Italian Ambassador to the United States, Armando Varricchio, believes that “The Italian scientific community in the United States is comprised of extremely important professionals, and it greatly contributes to strengthening the relationship between Italy and the United States [...] The networking activities assured by ISSNAF offer concrete opportunities to develop and deepen this partnership.” The six researchers who were honored had worked in universities and research centers either in the United States or in Canada, and they were recognized for outstanding work in their respective fields.

Ilaria Iacobucci was awarded the Paola Campese Award for Research in Leukemia. Iacobucci is thirty-six years old and graduated from the University of Bologna in Biomedical Technology. She conducted research at Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. Her research concentrates on less-studied forms of Leukemia and the genetic mutations that technology, up until a few years ago, was not able to detect.

Gaetano Santulli, also thirty-six, won the Hogan Lovells Award in Medicine, Biosciences and Cognitive Science. Santulli completed his undergraduate and doctoral studies in medicine and surgery at the University of Federico II in Naples. He received a postdoctoral scholarship at Columbia University where he specialized in cardiology, summa cum laude. His present work is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Santulli’s research focuses on heart attacks, arrhythmias, hypertension, and diabetes.

Silvia Balbo, forty, also received the Hogan Lovells Award in Medicine, Biosciences and Cognitive Science award. She graduated from University of Torino in Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies. She is currently a teacher at the University of Minnesota. The project that she used to participated in the ISSNAF Awards studies endogenic agents can damage DNA resulting in the growth of a tumor.

Umberto Berardi, thirty-two, is the winner of the Franco Strazzabosco Award for Engineers. Berardi completed his undergraduate studies in Architectural Engineering at Politecnico in Bari, his masters in Southampton (England), half of his doctorate in Turin, and the other half in Bari. His work is focused on innovative building materials and how these new materials will age over time.

Patrizio Antici, forty-two, was awarded the AnnaMaria Molteni Award in Mathematics and Physics. Antici works at the Institut National de Recherche Scientifique (INRS) in Montreal. He studied at electronic engineering at La Sapienza, received his first doctorate in physics at Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, and received a second doctorate in engineering at La Sapienza. His work is based on the use of a high-powered laser as a proton accelerator.

Finally, Andrea Isella, forty-two, won the Young Investigators Award in Environmental Sciences, Astrophysics, and Chemistry. He graduated with a degree in astronomy from the University of Padua, and he completed his doctorate at the University of Milan. A Nasa fellowship brought him to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. He is now an assistant professor at Rice University in Houston, Texas. By using radio frequencies obtained from ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array), Isella’s research looks to understand how planets are created.

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During the event the Italian Scientific Community meets the institutions, the industry, academia to discuss breakthrough ideas, network, and to award projects of young Italians through the ISSNAF Young Investigators Awards in different fields of Science. The event brings together prominent Italian scientists and researchers active in North America, as well as representatives of the Institutions and the industry.

The event is organized Under the Auspices of H.E. Ambassador Armando Varricchio, the Ministry of Italian Foreign Affairs (MAECI), Ministry of research and Education (MIUR), Italian Ministry of Health, and has the Patronage of the President of the Italian Republic.