Fondazione Cavalieri Ottolenghi Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi Internal Peer Review 2015 OVERVIEW of the INSTITUTE
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Fondazione Cavalieri Ottolenghi Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi Internal Peer Review 2015 OVERVIEW OF THE INSTITUTE Historical notes Organisation at NICO Outreach activities Seminars at NICO BRIEF HISTORICAL NOTES The Cavalieri Ottolenghi Foundation is a no-profit organisation recognized by the Piedmont Region committed to supporting research and development of structural and infrastructural Neuroscience. The Foundation comes from the legacy to the University of Turin of Annetta Cavalieri Ottolenghi in the 50s and aims, according to the Statute, that "to deepen the existing knowledge on the interdependence between physico-chemical state of the human body and the expression of the psyche: that is, on the causes and treatment of mental insanity." After decades in which the Foundation has funded scientific research projects and purchase of scientific equipment, in the 90s an international scientific committee of eminent personalities in Neuroscience proposed to build a center for Neuroscience and chose Dr. Carlos Dotti, a foreign researcher, as scientific director. For some years, the research group of the Foundation was hosted at the San Luigi Hospital, Orbassano (Torino) while the construction of the building began in 2001 and was completed in 2009. Meanwhile, Dr. Dotti moved abroad with his group. In 2009, the Board of Administrators identified in prof. Ferdinando Rossi, University of Turin, the figure of the scientific director of the Foundation, decided to issue an announcement of selection, limited to the Piedmont Region, to select the groups to be included in the new building. Eight groups (seven of the University of Turin, one of the San Luigi Hospital) were selected by a national committee (which included Professors Bentivoglio, Bogetto, Cattaneo and Saglio, assisted by Dr. Borio, Administrative Director at the University of Turin) and in May 2010 they moved into the new building. The institute was named Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi (NICO). Aims of NICO 1) The complexity of the studies on the brain requires a multidisciplinary approach. For this we combine complementary approaches and experiences, integrating basic research and clinical application. The birth of NICO takes full advantage of both the integration of the wealth of knowledge and the shared use of expensive equipment and laboratories formerly fragmented in university departments. 2) Our researchers are engaged in many activities of scientific dissemination, dedicated to the public (Open days at the NICO, Stem Cell Day and Night of Researchers, public conferences) and to high school students (Neuroscience Olympics and Scientific Summer Academy). These and other initiatives are designed both to bring young people to science, by sharing the commitment and passion that drives scientific research, both to communicate with competence and clarity a complex issue such as neuroscience. The Institute of Neurosciences of the Cavalieri Ottolenghi Foundation (NICO) aims to perform high-level research in neuroscience geared toward the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders and in line with this principle, the research is focused on mechanisms that govern normal neural maturation and defects involved in mental retardation syndromes. THE COLLABORATIVE VISION AT NICO Since its foundation in 2011, the NICO adopted a new (relative to the Departments of origin) view of sharing all facilities, supplies and instruments by all groups. Excepted for the clinical-relevant activities, which have to be performed in dedicated and isolated rooms to maintain privacy related to human material, all instruments are located in common facilities which are shared by all the members of NICO. This has initially created an organizational burden, but it has also obliged people to meet, share decisions, collaborate and interact, also in the formation of new researchers. Internal courses on the use of instruments and facilities have been organised to improve their correct usage. Starting from the practical needs of every day research life, this attitude has boosted collaboration and exchange of ideas among the individual researchers and ameliorated the scientific production of single researchers. To sum up, it has created a scientific environment which, respecting the peculiarities of single researchers, interacts and operates as a real community to apply for grants and develop multidisciplinary projects, and also acts as a whole institutional body in front of the scientific community and to the public. Finally, it represents a fundamental breakthrough to save money and to exploit the use of expensive instruments. POSITIONING OF NICO IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TURIN NICO is part of the University Interdepartmental center for Neuroscience (called Neuroscience Institute of Turin – NIT), which gathers most researchers active in the field in Turin (even outside the University). NICO researchers are part of doctorate schools (Neuroscience and Veterinary Medicine) of the University of Turin, and, as lecturers at the schools of Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Medicine, Psychology and Veterinary Medicine, are involved in the preparation of many theses for Graduate and Master degrees. NICO collaborates with several other research centers of the University of Turin, such as the Molecular Biotechnology center, the IRCCS Candiolo and the Brain Imaging Center. The scientific director of NICO has participated to an Institutional visit of the University of Turin and the Polytechnic of Turin to the University of Haifa, as the University representative for Neuroscience. Several groups of the NICO have projects and funding in collaboration with the Polytechnic of Turin. Starting from 2016, microscopy facilities at the NICO will be part of the Open Access lab program of the University of Turin. POSITIONING OF THE NICO IN ITALY AND IN THE WORLD NICO researchers have several international collaborations in the world, as shown by their publication record. They have also a strong rate of exchange of visits and seminars, as it can be argued from their reports in attachment. Also they participate to exchange programs of bachelor, graduate and doctorate degrees, and NICO is often visited and attended by foreign students. They also participated in the international Young Investigators Training Program established in Italy in occasion of the 2011 World International Brain Research Organisation Meeting and of the 2014 European Neuroscience Meeting. Every second year, an international meeting (Steroids and Nervous System) is organized by Prof. Panzica’s group (with the cooperation of prof. R.C. Melcangi, University of Milan): the meeting has an average 150 people attendance and more than 40 invited speakers from all over the world. The 2013 and 2015 editions were organized with the administrative help of the Ottolenghi Foundation at the Teaching center of the San Luigi Hospital. The Clinical Neurobiology group is organising local and national meetings on multiple sclerosis in the San Luigi Hospital. NICO researchers are/have been members of committees for national and international meetings and societies, and acted as referees for international peer review journals and panels of funding agencies. Researchers of NICO are involved in several collaborative grants at a local (Compagnia di San Paolo), national (PRIN) and international (7-FP and Horizon 2020) level, as detailed in the following reports. NICO has recently (July 2015) applied to the MIUR (Italian Ministry of University and Research) in order to be included in the list of Research Institutes which are allowed to hire directly foreign researchers. Moreover, NICO has a pending application to the MIUR to receive public funds to support private research institutes: NICO has already been included in the list of admitted institutions (http://attiministeriali.miur.it/anno-2015/febbraio/dcd-09022015.aspx) and the final decision on funding is awaiting the Ministry signature. In 2014 NICO has signed an official agreement of collaboration with Italian Institute of Technology for the exchange of researchers and facilities, and in this frame researchers of the two institutions are already collaborating and preparing joint grant applications. Also, in the frame of NIT, an agreement has been signed with the Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (a research and innovation centre of the Compagnia di San Paolo operating in the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) domain). As a result of this collaboration, a grant agreement within the Horizon 2020 program has just been signed in which the director of NICO is the coordinator. THE NICO SPINOFF In 2014 and 2015 some NICO researchers (prof. Eva, Geuna, Panzica, Buffo, Boido and Vercelli) collaborated in preparing the application for an academic spinoff (S&P Brain) of the University of Torino, to provide services to researchers, institution and companies related to behavioral neurosciences. This will allow to provide an income to the NICO, and also to apply for cooperative grants as a company. The spinoff has been approved by the adhoc committee of the University of Torino, and will be discussed in the Academic Senate and Council of Advisors of the University within end 2015. Illustration of the organizational structure and research indicating the current staff, including contractors, and their qualifications, and of the goat educational, scientific and instrumental Organization of the NICO (Neuroscience Institute Cavalieri Ottolenghi) Scientific Director is prof. Alessandro Vercelli