Education
Supporting paediatric cardiac surgery research with Prof. Gaetano Gargiulo
Intesa Sanpaolo supports research on pediatric cardiac surgery of Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna.
A research grant for pediatric cardiac surgery: commitment for the little ones
Research and innovation are key elements for the growth and development of the country for Intesa Sanpaolo. With this conviction - in the medical-scientific field - the Bank has been collaborating for years with the main Italian Universities and Research Centers and supports young Italian researchers, to enhance their talent and contribute to the development of new medical techniques that can improve the life expectancy of people.
This commitment is concretized through the provision of research grants for doctoral students, doctors and scientists active in the most advanced sectors.
In this context, Intesa Sanpaolo has renewed its support for the research project on Pediatric cardiac surgery, coordinated by Prof. Gaetano Domenico Gargiulo, Full Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the Department of Specialized, Diagnostic and Experimental Medicine of the Alma Mater Studiorum-University of Bologna, Director of the Cardio-Thoraco-Vascular Department and Director of the Complex Operating Unit of Pediatric and Developmental Cardiac Surgery at the S. Orsola-Malpighi University Hospital.
Congenital heart disease, research, advanced therapies and pediatric cardiac surgery
Every year 1.35 million children with congenital heart disease are born worldwide. If untreated, 40% of them die in the first year of life and about 30% constitute a clinical emergency. In the 1980s, only 25% of children with complex congenital heart disease reached adulthood, now they are more than 85%. In recent decades, in fact, thanks to the timeliness of diagnosis, most children operated on for congenital heart disease reach adulthood. However, conventional surgery does not always allow to solve the problems related to basic heart disease, study, research and innovation are needed to tackle the most complex pathologies.
Regenerative medicine experiments with strategies that may include the use of stem cells, soluble molecules, genetic engineering, tissue engineering and advanced cell therapies. Cells and biomaterials are the foundation of regenerative medicine. It is therefore important to support studies on regenerative therapies, on the decellularization processes of biomaterials and on stem cell therapies, which could revolutionize and advance pediatric cardiac surgery.
The research directed by Professor Gaetano Domenico Gargiulo has so far allowed the development of innovative techniques aimed at the use of stem cells and biomaterials to prevent disease, treat malformations and replace damaged organs and tissues.
In fact, the Pediatric and Developmental Heart Surgery Unit directed by the Professor, for the number of patients treated and the quality of the results obtained, is today an excellence at national and European level. About 28 years have passed since the first heart transplant in pediatric age, performed by the Professor in Bologna in 1994. Today about 350 operations are performed in one year, including heart transplants and artificial heart implants, on small patients from all over Italy.
“Certainly in a field such as Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, the search for new biocompatible materials, the development of new surgical techniques, new diagnostic and therapeutic methods, the development of increasingly efficient means of cardiac assistance are fundamental objectives to ensure not only young patients a life expectancy but a better future.
Research is the basis of scientific progress and the possibility of being able to have our young collaborators do research is certainly an opportunity that allows us not only to always have cutting-edge solutions but to enhance our young talents.
For this, all our thanks and that of the children who unfortunately are born with congenital heart disease, go to the institutions that support us and give us the opportunity to do research.”
The partnership Intesa Sanpaolo – Alma Mater-University of Bologna
The Bank and the Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna - united by the intention of innovating and promoting valuable experimental teaching - over time have formed a consolidated, articulated and highly focused partnership on supporting entrepreneurship and research.
“The support for research consolidates Intesa Sanpaolo's desire to invest and operate with determination in order to be increasingly an“ Impact Bank ”and a point of reference for the country.
Alma Mater is a partner who shares this vision of ours and with whom we work in synergy so that research and technological innovation become the engine of our country's social and cultural growth.
Thanks also to the support of Intesa Sanpaolo, doctoral students - coordinated by Professor Gargiulo and his team - can design and test new cardiac surgery techniques in the pediatric field that will ensure a better quality of life for young patients ".
Last updated 4 November 2022
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