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After 30 years, there is a change in the management of the Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine Tigem in Pozzuoli: Andrea Ballabio passes the baton to Alberto Auricchio, former coordinator of the Molecular Therapeutics Program at the Institute, which Telethon founded in 1994 with the mission of studying the mechanisms of rare genetic diseases and developing innovative treatments. The appointment follows a selection process open to scientists from all over the world, conducted by a committee of six internationally renowned scientists.
Alberto Auricchio, Full Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Naples Federico II, has thus collected an important legacy, including excellence in the field of research into rare genetic diseases. Tigem also participated in the Human Genome Project, identifying many genes involved in genetic diseases and launching, since 2016, one of the main Italian projects against undiagnosed diseases. The contribution in the field of precision medicine is also very important, especially for gene therapy of ocular and metabolic diseases. This value is also confirmed by industrial agreements and spin-offs generated by the Institute’s projects: among them AAVantgarde Bio, founded by Auricchio himself, dedicated to the development of new gene therapy platforms for inherited blindness, able to overcome the main current limitation, the transport “capacity” of viral vectors.
Research direction: Translational medicine
« My background is strongly oriented towards translational research and this is the focus that I hope to further impart to the Institute in the coming years – declares the new Director, Alberto Auricchio – Maintaining the very high scientific level of Tigem, giving its soul to translation, will be an exciting but at the same time demanding challenge. I know that I can count on the support of the Institute and of the ecosystem that includes the Foundation, its affiliates, the University and its Hospital Company, the CNR and local authorities, with whom we have been linked through fruitful collaborations over the years. I am therefore convinced that by working together we will be able to achieve the ambitious goal of translating our discoveries into treatments for patients with rare genetic diseases. “
Andrea Ballabio, Full Professor of Medical Genetics at the University of Naples Federico II and Visiting Professor at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston (USA), has directed Tigem since its inception. His team was responsible for the discovery of an important mechanism that allows cells to deal with toxic substances, which is very relevant for the development of treatments for genetic storage diseases and some forms of cancer. It was for this discovery that he received, for the first time in Italy, the 2016 Louis-Jeantet Prize in Medicine, awarded annually to leading European researchers.
30 years of history
“One day in 1994 I received a phone call that changed my life. I was in Houston, Texas, running a research laboratory in the largest medical center in the world. The person who called me was Mrs. Susanna Agnelli, who proposed that I return to my country to create a new institute on behalf of the Telethon Foundation. The proposal was accepted and together with a small group of young researchers who were passionate about their work, I returned to Italy to create Tigem. 30 years later, I can say that accepting this proposal was one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life”, recalls Andrea Ballabio.
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