In recent years, thanks to the introduction of new technologies, we have witnessed an impressive expansion of scientific breakthroughs in biomedical sciences. Achievements in basic science pose the challenge of bringing their innovative potential into the clinical arena for the benefit of patients. With some exceptions, this process is long and complex. Translational medicine starts with a relevant clinical question, posed to scientists in the laboratory, or an insight from basic research, both of which share the goal of bringing effective diagnostic and therapeutic implications to the clinic. Therefore, researchers should have appropriate knowledge and methodological skills; efforts are also needed to eliminate communication gaps between scientists and clinicians.
The PhD program in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine (BSTM) is aimed at graduates from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, who are highly motivated to address advanced experimental research in preclinical or clinical biomedicine. The founding principles of the program are a multidisciplinary approach to training in biomedical sciences and the aim of promoting the integration of preclinical and clinical research. The overall objectives are to generate new knowledge on the pathophysiology of diseases, identify useful biomarkers for diagnosis and targets for the development of innovative drugs, and enhance their transfer to medical sciences.
The program is divided into three curricula: Neuroscience; Immunology and Oncology; Pharmacology and Microbiology. Despite their specificity, the curricula are closely integrated with each other.
The program includes advanced research activities and advanced teaching activities. The latter includes: courses that are specific and relevant to the research topics of the BSTM PhD program; courses of interest across the Department's doctoral programs; general and interdisciplinary courses offered to all the University doctoral programs; and international seminars.
The program encourages the mobility of doctoral students, encouraging periods of study at Universities, research institutions, or companies abroad. These periods are chosen based on relevance to the student's research project, the need to acquire new techniques, or their expectations for professional development.
Active participation in workshops, summer schools, and national or international conferences relevant to their specific research programs is also encouraged.
From the perspective of translational medicine, the Pharmacology and Microbiology curriculum takes the clinical question as a starting point to investigate the pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases and identify new pharmacological targets and biomarkers for diagnosis and for the follow-up of therapy. The departmental facilities and technology platforms will provide support for animal models, cellular and molecular studies, image analysis, proteomics, metabolomics, and cellular bioenergetics. In the field of pharmacology, the aim is to develop, characterize and validate, by means of in vitro and/or in vivo preclinical studies, new drugs, nutraceuticals, or bioactive compounds potentially useful for therapeutic purposes, with possible progression into clinical studies. In particular, the training includes the study of chronic diseases of ageing, endocrine-metabolic, neurological, psychiatric, cardiovascular, ophthalmic, or infectious diseases.
In the microbiological field, the course involves a research activity focused on studying the anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative activity of proteins and peptides of viral origin on human cells derived from different organs and tissues. The aim is to identify molecular mechanisms underlying viral proteins' ability to modulate the biological activities and function of target cells. The Computational Modelling approach is applied to develop, by means of 'drug discovery' and 'drug repurposing', molecules capable of mimicking the biological activities of viral proteins for therapeutic purposes. A second line of research is based on the study of virus-host interaction. In this area, research activities include: isolation, culture and expansion of viruses of medical interest; identification of cell receptors and signal pathways activated by different viruses; development and study of antiviral drugs using Computational Modelling.
The Neuroscience Curriculum includes the study of neurological, psychiatric, neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental diseases at the cellular and molecular level to characterize their pathophysiological mechanisms and develop new therapeutic strategies. In addition to classical experimental models (based on in vitro studies or animal models of disease - rodents and zebrafish - that are also characterised from a behavioural perspective), innovative patient-specific experimental models are used (neurons and glia derived from induced pluripotent stem cells, organoids). Further, technologically advanced approaches are available, such as confocal microscopy with in vitro and in vivo image analysis, proteomics, transcriptomics, and cellular bioenergetic technologies.
The faculty members' expertise in the clinical and diagnostic domains complement the training with a critical view of the translational aspects of the expertise generated.
The Oncology and Immunology curriculum focuses on studying the mechanisms responsible for tumour progression and the activation of the immune system in pathological conditions such as autoimmunity and sterile inflammation.
In the field of experimental oncology, functional aspects of the basic biology of the tumour cell such as growth/proliferation, energy metabolism, angiogenesis, invasiveness and metastatic dissemination are investigated as determinants of the progression of solid and haematological tumours. Associated with these aspects is the study of new therapeutic approaches and the mechanisms of resistance of tumour cells to conventional therapies.
In the immunological field, the main interest lies in understanding the mechanisms leading to the activation of so-called 'sterile inflammation', i.e. caused by stimuli produced by the organism itself as a result of cell damage or genetic alterations, potentially prodromal to the development of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The model used are primary cell populations separated from the blood of healthy donors or patients, or differentiated from circulating precursors, analysed for their ability to produce inflammatory mediators and activate T lymphocytes, but also for changes in their energy metabolism and phenotypic, transcriptional and epigenetic structure using single-cell and '-omics' approaches.
The close link between oncology and immunology finds its application in 'immuno-oncology'. Here, aspects of inflammation-associated tumourigenesis and the study of the tumour microenvironment are explored, on the one hand, to understand better the mechanisms associated with immune evasion in the tumour context and, on the other hand, to improve immunotherapy approaches in oncology.