The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation
Supporting Science at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and in Italy
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Mission
To establish multi-disciplinary, basic scientific research that will
support leading scientists at Harvard Medical School and at
foremost institutions in Italy, in the pursuit of knowledge and
scientific discovery for the benefit of humankind, in the fields of
medicine and agriculture.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Building Science at HMS
Senior Faculty
Armenise-Harvard
Basic Science Centers
• Cancer Biology
• Genomics & Post Genomics
• Integrative Biology & Physiology
• Microbial Pathogenesis & the Host
Response
• Neuroscience
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
 Discretionary funding for 7
basic science centers
Results
Supported:
Over 50 HMS faculty, new recruits,
equipment, seminars, workshops,
technical support and publications
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Endowed Professorships at HMS
The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard
Professor of Neurology
The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard
Professor of Basic Biomedical
Science
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Building Science at HMS
Junior Faculty
Two-year
awards for
innovative
science
Results
38 scientific
programs funded
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Building Science in Italy
Career Development
Results
 14 new centers
researching basic
science have
been established
in Milan, Trieste,
Padua, Rome,
and Palermo
Provide support for talented
young investigators to establish
new labs in Italy
Training at HMS
Results
 Science Writer Fellowships
 Pilot Summer Research
Fellowships for Italian laureandi
 Support for Italians to take
Harvard PhD
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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 21 Science
Writer Fellows
 4 Summer
Research
Fellows
 3 PhD Students
Science Writer Fellowships
Co sponsored with UGIS
Results
Unione Giornalisti Italiani
Scientifici
21 Science Writer Fellows
Candidates must:
 be Italian science writers in the
earlier stages of their career &
currently working in Italy.
 Have a good command of
English and previous
experience writing about
science for the general public.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Science Writer Fellowships
Co sponsored with UGIS
 interview top HMS
researchers from diverse
fields
Unione Giornalisti Italiani
Scientifici
 tour laboratories
 attend Armenise-Harvard
and/or HMS symposia and
conferences
 meet science writers from
the HMS community
 work with editors at HMS
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Summer Research Fellowships
Applicants from:
Fellows from:
Istituto San Raffaele (15)
Istituto San Raffaele (3)
Università di Pavia (7)
Univ di Pavia (1)
Università di Milano (7)
Università di Milano Bicocca (6)
Università Federico II Napoli (2)
Università di Parma (2)
July & August at HMS
Università di Roma La Sapienza (2)
Università di Brescia (1)
Università di Bologna (1)
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Summer Research Fellowships
Working in the HMS lab
of:
2010 Fellows:
Chiara Baragli, 2nd year
organic chemistry &
biochemistry, HSR
Dr David Clapham on the
role of TRPV channels in
neuronal function
Angelo Amabile, 1st year
Medical Molecular and
Cellular Biotechnology, HSR
Dr von Andrian on the
regulation of the immuno
response
Chiara Giacomelli, 1st year
Medical, Molecular and
Cellular Biotechnology, HSR
Dr Richard Gregory on
microRNAs in cancer and
cellular proliferation
Manuel Zocco, 2nd year
Molecular Biology and
Genetics, University of Pavia
Dr Danesh Moazed on
chromatic stucture and
gene silencing
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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PhD Program
Candidates must:
 be young Italian science
graduates
 accepted into one of the four
PhD programs within the
Harvard University Division of
Medical Sciences: Biological
and Biomedical Sciences
(subdivided in five areas),
Immunology, Neuroscience, or
Virology
 have some previous research
experience
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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PhD Program
Roberto Bonasio
Università di Milano
HMS
PhD
Immunology
2002-2006
Luigi Adamo
Università di Palermo
Silvia Piccinotti
Princeton University
Biology & Biomedical Sciences
2004-2009
Postdoc at NYU &
HHMI, epigenetics
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Postdoc at HMS, cell
differentiation
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Virology
2008-
??
Career Development Award Program
The Career Development Award
 provides three to five years of support
for newly independent scientists at an
agreed host institute in Italy.
 It is intended to foster the development
of outstanding scientists and enable
them to expand their potential to make
significant contributions to their field of
research.
 At the same time, the Foundation hopes
the Award will provide an incentive for
Italian research institutes to strengthen
their departments by providing a
sufficiently attractive package to invite
applications from the best possible
candidates.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Award Program
Who is eligible?
Candidates must:
 be young, emerging scientists
with demonstrated productivity
and the capacity to function as
an independent investigator.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Award Program
Who is eligible?
Candidates must:
 be young, emerging scientists with
demonstrated productivity and the
capacity to function as an independent
investigator.
 have a minimum of 3 years of
postdoctoral research
experience in basic biological
sciences (at least two years
abroad) and be no more than 10
years beyond their PhD
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Award Program
Who is eligible?
Candidates must:
 be young, emerging scientists with
demonstrated productivity and the
capacity to function as an independent
investigator.
 have a minimum of 3 years of
postdoctoral research experience in
basic biological sciences (at least two
years abroad) and be no more than 10
years beyond their PhD
 be researchers not currently
living in Italy who wish to enter
the Italian research community.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Award Program
Who is eligible?
Candidates must:
 be young, emerging scientists with
demonstrated productivity and the capacity
to function as an independent investigator.
 have a minimum of 3 years of postdoctoral
research experience in basic biological
sciences (at least two years abroad) and
be no more than 10 years beyond their
PhD
 be researchers not currently living in Italy
who wish to enter the Italian research
community.
 have an agreement for
development of a novel research
area in a suitable host institution in
Italy.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Awards
What do we look for
in an application?
Excellence
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Awards
What do we look for in
an application?
Excellence
Potential
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Career Development Awards
What do we look for in an application?
Excellence
Potential
Independence
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Where do they come from?
Harvard Medical School (5)
Duke University (1)
Massachusetts Inst of Technology (1)
Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry,
Munich (1)
Stanford University (1)
Scripps Research Institute (1)
University of Denver (1)
University of California,
San Francisco (1)
University of California,
Santa Cruz (1)
University of Utrecht (1)
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Where do they go?
IFOM- IEO Milano
HSR, Milano
CNR, Milano
Università di Milano
CIBIO, Università
di Trento
SISSA, Trieste
VIMM, Padova
Università di Roma, La Sapienza
EBRI, Roma
Università di Palermo
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Carlo Sala (CDA 2001)
CNR Neuroscience Institute, Milano
Dendritic spines and excitatory
synapses in the hippocampus and
how this affects cognitive
impairment
Results
a novel pathophysiological
mechanism of the cognitive
impairment
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Rosella Visintin (CDA 2002)
European Institute of Oncology, Milan
Research
Chromosome segregation to better
understand how errors made
during this process contribute to
the transformation of a healthy cell
into a cancer one.
In particular
How phosphatases balance kinase
activities thereby ensuring the
correct execution of cell division
events.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Sabrina Sabatini (CDA 2003)
Università di Roma, La Sapienza
Research
Molecular basis of cytokinin
function using the Arabidopsis
thaliana root meristem.
Applications
More efficient root system and less
water consumption
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Stefano Gustincich, (CDA 2003)
SISSA, Trieste
The dopaminergic neurons of the
Substantia Nigra and why they
degenerate in Parkinson’s disease.
Results
Dopaminergic neurons express
alpha and beta chains of
hemaglobin. A potential source of
oxygen protecting nerve tissue
against cerebral microischemia.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Davide Corona (CDA 2004)
Università di Palermo
Epigenetic role of ATP-dependent
chromatin remodeling activities in
DNA accessibility mechanisms.
Results
Identified new mechanisms of
regulation of ATP-dependent
chromatin remodelers and
developed new bioinformatic
tools to study chromatin
remodeling genome wide.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Alberto Bacci (CDA 2005)
European Brain Research Institute,
Rome
Research
The cellular physiology of various
elements of cortical microcircuits,
the properties of their connections
and their contribution to various
network activities.
Results
Self-modulation of neocortical
pyramidal neurons by
endocannabinoids.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Claudia Lodovichi (CDA 2006)
Venetian Institute of Molecular
Medicine, Padova
The formation and function of
central nervous system circuits,
particularly in the olfactory system.
Olfactory disorders are symptoms
of neurodegenerative disorders.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Stefano Casola (CDA 2006)
IFOM-FIRC, Milano
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
The molecular mechanisms
responsible for the development
and transformation of mature Blymphocytes, with a particular
emphasis given to germinal center
B cells.
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What are they working on?
Research
Tiziana Bonaldi (CDA 2007)
European Institute of Oncology,
Milano
The multiple levels of gene
expression regulation, using
proteomics and functional
genomics.
Focus on epigenetic mechanism
and post-transcriptional regulation
by miRNAs.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Nico Mitro (CDA 2008)
Università di Milano,
Dipartimento di Scienze Farmacologiche
Research
How hyperglycemia contributes
and accelerates the development
of diabetes complications.
His studies are focused on
LXR, a protein that plays a role
in lipid and in glucose
metabolism.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Rosa Bernardi (CDA 2008)
DIBIT, Istituto San Raffaele, Milano
Research
The causes and consequences of
the expression of pro-angiogenic
factors in leukemia.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Sheref Mansy (CDA 2009)
CIBIO, Università di Trento
How life-like processes
emerge by the synthesis of
an artificial cell.
By building life-like systems from
the bottom-up, we help to expose
the underlying chemical and
physical principles that form the
foundation for biological function.
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What are they working on?
Research
Matteo Iannacone
Imaging immune cell
dynamics.
&
Research
Eelco van Anken
How proximal sensing and
signaling determine
adaptive versus
maladaptive unfolded
protein response in disease.
(both CDA 2010)
Istituto San Raffaele, Milan
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What challenges do they face?
Transition from
postdoc to
group leader
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What challenges do they face?

Transition from postdoc to
group leader
 Italian bureaucracy
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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What challenges do they face?

Transition from postdoc
to group leader

Italian bureaucracy
 Isolation
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Building the Scientific Community
Networks & Symposia
Annual symposia on cutting
edge science are held in the US
and in Italy for all scientists
supported
Annual CDA meetings
Annual CDA meetings are held
at host institutes and often
provide an opportunity to meet
Count Auletta and members of
the Italian Scholarship
Advisory Committee
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Over 2,500
scientists have
attended symposia,
conferences and
workshops
Is the program a success?
Publications
Funding
Since their arrival in Italy, the CDAs
have published 61 papers in peer
reviewed journals including Science,
Molecular Cell, Nature, Nature
Genetics, Nature Methods, Nature
Neuroscience, PLoS Biology, PLoS
Genetics etc.
 Since 1996 the ArmeniseHarvard Foundation has invested
some $20 million in science in
Italy
 CDAs have attracted other grants
totalling over €9.5 million
including
• €2.4 million from the
European Research Council,
• €1.1 million from the
European Commission, and
• €1.2 million from the
Cariplo Foundation
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation
www.hms.harvard.edu/armenise
amason@harvard.edu
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Governance
Harvard Corporation
Board of Trustees
Giovanni Auletta Armenise,
Chairman
Jeffrey S. Flier, President, CEO &
Dean of Harvard Medical School
Giampiero Auletta Armenise
Peter M. Howley, Chair, Scientific
Advisory Board
Daniel Ennis, Clerk
Lisa Mayer, Executive Director
www.hms.harvard.edu/armenise
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Administration
Lisa Mayer, Executive Director
Alexa Mason, Director of
Italian Affairs
Cheryl King, Operations
Manager
Scientific Advisory Board
12 Directors of ArmeniseHarvard Science Centers &
other HMS leaders.
Chair: Peter Howley, Director,
Center for Cancer Biology
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ISAC
11 Prominent Italian
Scientists in Italy &
abroad.
Chair: Marino Zerial,
MPI-CBG, Dresden
Scientific Excellence at HMS and in Italy
Supporting leading scientists at HMS and at foremost institutes in
Italy in the pursuit of knowledge to benefit humankind
PhDs
Principal Investigators
Postdoctoral
Fellows
© 2008 President and Fellows of Harvard College
Junior
Faculty
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Senior
Faculty
Nobel Laureates?
Chairs