From our campuses

The Ernesto Illy Foundation’s Master’s course in the Economics and Science of Coffee has reached its 14th edition; it is held in collaboration with illycaffè, the University of Trieste, the University of Udine, SISSA and Area Science Park. This Master’s course is addressed to young graduates in economics, engineering and agricultural sciences; it offers comprehensive training on the biological, agronomic, technological and economic aspects of coffee, from the plant to the final product. There are 25 students in this edition, coming from 18 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua and Tanzania. The educational programme includes over 430 hours of lessons, supported by 60 professors. The classes are taught in a blended-learning format. They will begin remotely, and starting in May 2025, they will continue face-to-face, concluding with project work on one of the subjects covered during the course. Again this year, the Friuli Foundation and the CRTrieste Foundation will financially support the Master’s course, with 16 students who will receive scholarships from the Ernesto Illy Foundation: 10 with a full contribution and 6 with a partial contribution. Since its first edition, the Master’s course has involved over 272 students from more than 30 countries, with the aim of training professionals specialised in the coffee sector, capable of adopting an ethical and sustainable approach.

Five projects from companies based in Area Science Park were among the 22 selected under the first call for the “Booster for Life Science-TRL Advancement” programme. This initiative, promoted by the Life Sciences Cluster Friuli Venezia Giulia at the request of the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, aims to fund “industrial research and experimental development projects in the Life Sciences sector, with an initial overall budget of €10.040.000.” The 22 projects awarded funding will each receive between €200.000 and €500.000 to “raise the technology readiness level (TRL) of innovative products and services in the development phase, supporting both the validation of ideas and the creation of technologies, bringing cutting-edge solutions closer to the market.” The companies that presented the approved projects include AB Analitica srl, Alifax Research & Development srl, Clonit srl, Dr. Schär SpA and Prodigys Technology srl. The types of projects funded include start-ups, innovative start-ups and spin-offs (27%); small enterprises (23%); innovative SMEs (18%); large enterprises (9%); universities (9%); micro-enterprises (9%); medium-sized enterprises (5%). AB Analitica is a cutting-edge company in the field of molecular diagnostics and deals with medical-diagnostic laboratory devices for virology, bacteriology, parasitology, mycology, molecular genetics and oncology. Alifax is one of Italy’s most prominent companies specialising in the development, production and distribution of clinical diagnostic instruments for laboratory automation. Since 1987, Clonit has been focusing on the development, production and distribution of in vitro diagnostic equipment and innovative, reliable reagents for molecular diagnostics. Prodigys applies the latest and most innovative artificial intelligence and business intelligence technologies and systems for software cybersecurity, both web and mobile. It also provides design, implementation and support services for complex information systems. Dr. Schär is a company specialised in the development, production and marketing of dietary foods for individuals with specific nutritional needs, including the ketogenic diet, which is the focus of the funded project.

In a pioneering experiment conducted at FERMI, the Free Electron Laser (FEL) of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, active in Area Science Park, has, for the first time, made it possible to directly control quantum hybrid electron-photon states in helium atoms, demonstrating quantum control of nonlinear electronic dynamics. This significant achievement, the result of international collaboration between theoretical and experimental groups led by Dr Lukas Bruder from the University of Freiburg, involved several Italian institutions: the Polytechnic University of Milan, the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnologies of the National Research Council in Milan (CNR-IFN), the Istituto Officina dei Materiali of the National Research Council in Trieste (CNR-IOM), the National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), the National Laboratories of Frascati (Rome) and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste. This is an important milestone in quantum physics, opening up new perspectives for studying and controlling chemical reactions on an atomic scale, thanks also to FERMI’s extraordinary technological capabilities. The research, published in the scientific journal Nature, demonstrates how precise manipulation of light pulses generated by the FERMI FEL makes it possible to facilitate specific quantum processes, through an approach known as “coherent control”. While this method has been well-established for visible light and at low intensities, it has now been successfully applied to extreme ultraviolet wavelengths, opening up a new field of research for analysing atomic and molecular phenomena occurring on attosecond timescales (one billionth of a billionth of a second). The FERMI laser stands out on the international scene as the only source of its kind capable of ensuring such precise control of the generation of ultraviolet radiation and X-rays, thanks to the use of an “external seed”. This innovative approach makes it possible to impart further coherence to the light during the amplification process, finally making coherent control experiments feasible. In fact, without this process, amplified radiation would be chaotic and incoherent, with a random sequence of pulses very close to each other. This experiment exploited ultraviolet radiation pulses with intensities in the range of 10–100 trillion watts per square centimetre, generating quantum states known as “dressed states”, where electrons strongly interact with the light field, altering their energy levels. Thanks to this precise manipulation of the phase and amplitude of these light pulses, the researchers achieved unprecedented control of these dynamics. The results obtained first of all demonstrate the efficiency and technical maturity achieved by FERMI, since the ability to reproduce effects well known at optical frequencies in X-rays was, and remains, a highly sought-after achievement that can by no means be taken for granted. Right now, we have new methodologies available for investigating fundamental quantum systems. Very short wavelengths and correspondingly shorter pulse durations generally allow us to handle electrons on their natural length and time scales – i.e. atomic. This also opens up new prospects for developing techniques to control material properties and chemical reactions, with potential implications in sectors such as photovoltaics, catalysis and materials science in general. When going into such minute details, it becomes increasingly challenging to grasp and understand the events being observed, and these very precise pulses allow us to isolate the smallest details very quickly and with equal precision (as with an ultra-high-resolution camera). Thanks to this technology, it is not only possible to passively explore all these phenomena but also to guide and manipulate them towards new discoveries and new hypotheses.   Institutions involved: Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany Max-Planck-Institut für Physik komplexer Systeme, Dresden, Germany Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., Trieste, Italy Institute of Physics, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany Department of Physics, IFN-CNR, Milan, Italy Institut für Ionenphysik und Angewandte Physik, Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria Department of Physics, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden Istituto Officina dei Materiali, CNR (CNR-IOM), Trieste, Italy National Institute of Nuclear Physics, National Laboratories of Frascati, Frascati, Italy Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY, Hamburg, Germany The Hamburg Centre for Ultrafast Imaging CUI, Hamburg, Germany IFN-CNR, Milan, Italy Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Institute for Experimental Physics, University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

For the first time, direct evidence of the use of psychoactive substances during rituals in the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Ancient Egypt has been provided. The discovery, published in the journal Scientific Reports, is based on the analysis of a ritual vase over 2,000 years old, which revealed traces of psychoactive plants used in religious and spiritual practices. The vase is adorned with the head of the Egyptian god Bes, a grotesque but benevolent deity often used as a protective amulet for the home. The research, coordinated by Professor Enrico Greco from the University of Trieste, in collaboration with the Tampa Museum of Art, the University of South Florida and the University of Milan, was made possible thanks to the crucial support provided by Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, which contributed with advanced techniques, such as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (SR µ-FTIR) coupled with synchrotron radiation. Chiaramaria Stani, CERIC-ERIC researcher at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste’s SISSI beamline, explained: “These analyses made it possible to identify the ceremonial content of the vase, although the residual traces were minimal, but well preserved in the porosity of the pottery”. This technology made it possible to analyse the residual traces inside the vase, revealing the presence of plants such as Peganum harmala (Syrian rue), Nymphaea nouchali (blue lotus) and species of the Cleome genus, all known for their psychoactive properties. The analysis also indicated that the vase was used in rituals involving the achievement of altered states of consciousness, probably a means for communicating with the divine and facilitating mystical-ritual experiences. The research not only confirms previous hypotheses based on texts and iconography but it also provides solid physical evidence of the sophisticated use of natural substances by the Egyptians. The multidisciplinary approach, combining science, history and culture, was essential for solving this ancient mystery, confirming the importance of collaboration between research institutes like Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste and the universities involved.

An international study, involving the Italian National Research Council (CNR – Istituto Officina dei Materiali) and the Universities of Trieste and Milano-Bicocca for Italy, along with the University of Vienna, has unveiled a simple and innovative method for creating a new category of materials. These materials combine the exceptional properties manifested by individual metal atoms with the robustness, flexibility and versatility of graphene, for potential applications in the fields of catalysis, spintronics and electronic devices. The study is published in Science Advances: the method involves depositing metal atoms, such as cobalt, in a controlled manner, during the formation of the graphene layer on a nickel surface. Some of these atoms are incorporated into the carbon network of graphene, forming a new material with exceptional robustness, reactivity and stability. The method was developed at the CNR-IOM laboratories in Trieste: “This is still a preliminary result, but it is already very promising and the result of an original idea that arose in our laboratory and initially seemed unfeasible,” says Cristina Africh, a researcher at the CNR-IOM who led the team. The material’s ability to detach from the substrate while maintaining its original structure makes it potentially usable in various applications. “The methodology has been tested for trapping nickel and cobalt atoms, but our calculations suggest that it could be extended to other metals for different applications,” explains Cristiana Di Valentin, professor of General and Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Moreover, the material has proven to be stable even under critical conditions. “We have demonstrated that this material remains intact even in critical conditions, including the electrochemical environments used for applications in fuel cells and batteries,” adds Jani Kotakoski of the University of Vienna. The study, which is the result of international collaboration, made use of different and complementary skills. “This aspect was decisive in demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach, which is simple and powerful at the same time,” concludes Giovanni Comelli from the University of Trieste.

Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste has announced the launch of ElettraBot, an innovative digital assistant based on artificial intelligence, designed to support researchers using the beamlines and laboratories of Elettra and FERMI. The first prototype has been successfully implemented for the TwinMic beamline, named TwinBot. This beamline, one of the 28 beamlines at the Italian synchrotron located in Trieste, specializes in X-ray microscopy, offering sub-micrometric spatial resolution. Thanks to its ability to combine transmission imaging and X-ray spectroscopy, TwinMic enables multidisciplinary studies ranging from biology to materials science. Its main applications include studying nanoparticle accumulation in cells and understanding chemical mechanisms related to asbestos in human tissues. TwinBot represents a significant innovation in basic research, providing immediate and intuitive access to the technical and experimental information offered by the TwinMic beamline. Leveraging artificial intelligence, TwinBot provides real-time responses to inquiries made in natural language, facilitating the preparation of proposals and experiments. TwinBot provides quick and accurate answers, significantly enhancing their operational efficiency, therefore researchers no longer need to spend long hours manually searching through technical documents. This tool has the potential to be extended to other beamlines and services at Elettra, further strengthening the scientific ecosystem of the institution. No other synchrotron has yet adopted similar technology for these purposes, making TwinBot a unique innovation. The project not only positions Elettra at the forefront of integrating artificial intelligence into scientific infrastructures but also establishes new standards for supporting basic research. Artificial intelligence is not limited to automating repetitive tasks, it goes far beyond that: it analyzes large volumes of data, identifies complex patterns, and can contribute to generating new insights that lead to innovative hypotheses, often based on extensive datasets or complex models that are difficult to analyze manually. This radically changes research methods, allowing scientists to focus more on creative and analytical aspects. Thus, artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming an essential element of modern scientific research, with applications that extend well beyond automation.

Monsieur François Bonet, Consul General of France in Milan, visited Area Science Park accompanied by the Honorary Consul of France in Trieste, Riccardo Illy. In Trieste to participate in G7 Education, scheduled to be held at this time in the Friuli Venezia Giulia administrative centre, the French Consul was welcomed by the President of Area Science Park, Caterina Petrillo, and by the Director of the Research and Innovation Structure, Salvatore La Rosa. President Petrillo illustrated the main activities of the national research body and the ongoing strategic projects: from the “North Adriatic Hydrogen Valley” project to IP4FVG-EDIH, the European Digital Innovation Hub to IMPRESS, in which French scientific entities are participating. A small focus was devoted to the research and technological infrastructures, which Area Science Park has been developing recently. The Consul expressed great interest during the meeting, in particular towards the scientific vocation of Trieste and the numerous institutions that operate there. François Bonet, previously ambassador to El Salvador, was appointed Consul General of France in Milan in August 2023. Then, Monsieur Francois Bonet and Riccardo Illy visited the Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste light laboratory accompanied by Andrea Locatelli, line group coordinator, and Claudio Masciovecchio, Director.

Thanks to Data Science, today we can analyse and manipulate an enormous amount of data, derived from the most disparate platforms: From social networks to medical records, from geolocators to streaming services. All with the aim of extracting new knowledge and value. The data scientist uses advanced mathematical and physical techniques to find correlations, causal relationships, and interactions among data, developing hypotheses to test, and gradually improving analysis algorithms. Many of the techniques used are inspired by the results of fundamental physics, ranging from the physics of complex systems to high-energy physics. These fruitful correlations and their repercussions on society, the economy, the world of work, and industry will be explored during the international conference “Data Science in Fundamental Physics and its bridge to industry & society”, which will be held in Santiago De Compostela (Spain) from 3 to 7 June. It is organised by the Galician Institute of High Energy Physics (Instituto Galego de Fisica de Altas Enerxias, IGFAE). Matteo Biagetti, a research physicist at LADE – the Data Engineering Laboratory active in Artificial Intelligence and Data Management, will represent Area Science Park and his research activities in the field. The conference will highlight career opportunities within the field of fundamental physics and its synergies with the job market. It will also include a session where companies can present their needs related to Data Science. By bringing together both aspects, this occasion aims at creating a framework for the mutual exchange of knowledge and will allow the development of practical synergies from Data Science to fundamental physics and from Data Science to industry. More information on the event: Data Science in Fundamental Physics and the Bridge to Industry (usc.es) Find out about the LADE and its team of researchers

A team of Italian researchers published a study in the Annals of Hepatology that represents a significant advancement in transplant medicine. The study sheds light on the molecular mechanisms that influence the success of liver allografts. The Italian Liver Foundation Onlus, the Liver Transplant Centre of the “Friuli Centrale” University Health Authority and Area Science Park with the Genomics and Epigenomics Laboratory worked together to write the article. It gives a thorough look at how genomics and epigenomics affect transplanted liver. Allograft – the transplant of organs or tissues between two individuals of the same species – involves rejection risks due to the recipient’s immune system recognising the transplanted tissue as foreign. The study focuses on how variations at the genomic and epigenomic levels – the latter is a field that examines changes in gene expression that do not involve changes in the DNA sequence – can influence the recipient’s response and the outcome of the transplant. The results of the study provide new insight into how transcriptomic changes, that is, changes in the transcription of DNA into messenger RNA, can contribute to the initial damage to the transplanted liver, the recurrence of chronic disease, or organ rejection. This research opens up new perspectives for preventing these complications, thus improving the chances of the success of liver allografts and the quality of the patients’ life. “The project – states Pablo Giraudi of the Italian Liver Foundation – involved the collection, at the time of surgery, of liver biopsies and blood samples from patients who have undergone a transplant due to various chronic liver diseases (including liver cirrhosis due to viral infections such as hepatitis C and B, alcoholic cirrhosis, cirrhosis associated with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and cryptogenic cirrhosis) and the use of DNA and RNA obtained from the respective biopsies. Analyses with specific bioinformatic platforms allow us to obtain information on the expression of genes that is useful in a personalized therapy and diagnostic/prognostic biomarkers”. “This project – explains Danilo Licastro, head of the Genomics and Epigenomics Laboratory of Area Science Park – allowed us to apply our research knowledge in an integrated and organic way. Our laboratory produced and analysed information regarding RNA sequence and the status of DNA methylation for all the samples provided by our partners. The result of this scientific project was only possible because of the high degree of collaboration between the two research structures, and it constitutes a fundamental step towards continuing on from research towards clinical-diagnostic application on a large scale. We are confident that the results of this experimentation will be the starting point for further studies also involving other international institutes”. “This is a pioneering experimental research project – affirms the scientific Director of the FIF, Claudio Tiribelli – which, by generating big data, will make it possible to create databases that will be useful for initiating collaboration in digital health based on artificial intelligence models towards a more personalized type of medicine, such as, for example, the use of immunosuppressants which are more suitable to the patient, in order to avoid rejection of the transplanted organ. It is also proof that the interaction between scientific and clinical realities makes it possible to achieve high-level results.” “Area Science Park’s choice to enhance investment in cutting-edge laboratories and technologies increases internal skills in the Life Sciences sector and strengthens collaboration with research institutions on large projects of common interest that have a significant social impact, ” declared the President of Area Science Park, Caterina Petrillo. “The achievement of the established objectives – states the President of the FIF, Decio Ripandelli – will lead to the continuation of the important relationships among the various bodies involved, for the definition of new directions in national and international research and the training of highly specialised human resources, with a consequent increase in local and foreign collaboration”.

As part of the initiatives on the occasion of the 7th edition of the “Italian Research Day in the World”, the Italian Embassy in Sweden organised a scientific exchange meeting between researchers of Area Science Park and the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, a prestigious Swedish university specialising in biomedical disciplines. The meeting at Karolinska, which followed an invitation from the Italian Ambassador to Sweden, Michele Pala, and his scientific attaché, Augusto Marcelli, to the President of Area Science Park, Caterina Petrillo, was the final stage of an institutional visit to Sweden that started on Monday 8 April in Lund and which included, in addition to the participation of researchers and technologists from Area Science Park, also representatives of some research centres and startups located in the science and technology park – CNR-IOM, ICGEB, Elettra Sincrotrone and Aindo – as well as other centres of prestige operating in Trieste – Sissa and IRCSS Burlo Garofolo. The aim of the visit is to strengthen scientific cooperation with the research centres of a country that offers many opportunities in the fields of life sciences and materials sciences, to build possible new cooperative ventures and to strengthen some already existing ones. “The Italian collaboration with Swedish research centres is long-standing. Italy has been, in fact, one of the partner countries of the European Spallation Source (ESS) since the design of the facility with important contributions to the construction of the accelerator and instrumentation. Even with MaxIV, there are several joint projects with our research institutions also thanks to the numerous Italian researchers who work there”, declared the President of Area Science Park Caterina Petrillo, who added: “With this visit, we hope to consolidate and enhance collaboration in the high-tech sectors of materials and life sciences.” In Lund, the delegation led by President Petrillo visited MaxIV, the Swedish national laboratory for research with synchrotron radiation hosted by the University, the European Spallation Source (ESS), a strategic European facility, of which Italy is among the founding countries, and the second largest European project in the field of accelerators, and Nano Lund, one of the most important Swedish laboratories for the development of nanotechnologies for the academy and industry. The visit to the three research centres was also an opportunity to present activities and laboratories in the scientific and technological park of Area Science Park and that are active in the study of materials. In addition to President Petrillo, the following people were present at Lund: the director of the CNR-IOM, Giancarlo Panaccione; the head of the Electron Microscopy laboratory, Regina Ciancio; the head of the Fermi machine, Luca Giannessi. Following the presentations, there were valuable moments of discussion for in-depth study and support for the cooperative project with the aim of generating new perspectives and seizing opportunities. In Stockholm, the institutional visit was concentrated at the Karolinska Institutet, where the following speakers presented their research and principal ongoing projects in the life sciences: Lawrence Banks, Director of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology – ICGEB, spoke about cancer and infections; Mathew Diamond, professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at Sissa, illustrated the activities and research of the School and the Sensory Experience (SENSEx) Lab; Lisa Vaccari, coordinator of the beamlines group and IDEAS laboratories, presented studies and analysis possibilities that can be carried out at the Elettra and Fermi laboratories; Pio D’Adamo, geneticist at the IRCSS Burlo Garofolo and professor at the University of Trieste, presented the studies conducted on genetics and rare diseases. Alberto Cazzaniga, head of the Data Engineering Laboratory of Area Science Park, spoke on the applications of Artificial Intelligence and data science techniques in the field of life sciences, in particular for the study and diagnosis of rare diseases, followed by Sebastiano Saccani, co-founder of Aindo, a startup specialized in the use of synthetic data founded in Sissa and established in Area Science Park. Finally, a parallel session was devoted to innovation models applicable to deep tech innovation and the generation of innovative businesses and included talks by Salvatore La Rosa, director of Research and Innovation of Area Science Park, and Fabrizio Rovatti, Innovation Manager of Area Science Park. Karolinska’s researchers, professors and innovation experts were constant participants in the various meetings, illustrating the activities carried out in the sectors of interest. The day ended with a visit to the hospital, a centre of excellence and one of Europe’s most technologically advanced hospitals. “Scientific-technological cooperation is one of the Embassy’s priority areas of activity – declared Ambassador Michele Pala on the occasion of the three-day event – so we are particularly pleased with the success of the visit of the prestigious delegation from Area Science Park. Their presence has made it possible for us to promote Italian excellence here in Sweden and to commemorate the 7th day of Italian Research in the World in a meaningful way. The meetings made it possible to consolidate existing relationships and lay the foundations for new and promising cooperation in the fields of Life Sciences, materials, ICT energy and the environment, areas particularly well-represented by Italian researchers who participated in the visits that the embassy organised in Lund and Stockholm”.

The most important European scientific journal on lung diseases, the European Respiratory Journal, has just published the results of a multidisciplinary research project carried out at Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, which demonstrated how, thanks to the unique characteristics of the X-rays produced by the Elettra source, it is possible to obtain a significant improvement in X-ray images of the lung compared to a CAT scan made at a hospital. The study, coordinated by Dr. Giuliana Tromba from Elettra, involved the collaboration of Prof. Marco Confalonieri, Director of the Struttura Complessa Pneumologia (Complex Pneumology Structure) of the Cattinara University Hospital in Trieste, and doctors Christian Dullin and Willi Wagner, researchers from the Universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg in Germany. Currently, with the latest high-resolution CAT machines, it is possible to observe details of the human lung down to the limit of about 0.5 millimeters; however, extending visibility to smaller details would result in a significant increase in the radiation dose administered to the patient. At Elettra, the German-Italian research team demonstrated that, thanks to the innovative ‘phase contrast’ technique, which takes advantage of the peculiar characteristics of synchrotron light (such as monochromaticity and spatial coherence), a view of lung tissue can be obtained with effective resolutions of 0.067 millimeters, i.e., much higher, with a radiation dose to the patient reduced by 2-3 times compared to CAT. Practically speaking, with this technique it is possible to produce an image of a significantly higher quality by discriminating the various anatomical components and structures much better than with a conventional CAT scan. This makes potentially very useful information available for early recognition of pathological lesions such as tumors and pulmonary fibrosis. The experiments at Elettra were carried out at the SYRMEP (SYnchrotone Radiation for MEdical Physics) beamline and on an animal model, i.e. pig lungs, which have the property of being the most similar to human lungs. The lungs, obtained as waste from pig slaughtering in Germany, were transferred to Italy and exposed to the Elettra synchrotron light. The newly published results have made it possible to explore the morphology of lung tissue with an unprecedented level of resolution. With the new Elettra 2.0 light machine currently under construction, which will achieve much higher X-ray energies, these studies can be extended to patients in hospitals in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. In the examinations of patients, the new technique will allow the densitometric and structural changes caused by different pathologies to be highlighted very effectively, recognising the nature of the pathological lesion more quickly. According to Prof. Marco Confalonieri “The research work carried out in Trieste will soon allow us to study the human lung as if we had a huge microscope available to us, maximising resolution and mimimising the radiation dose. I am extremely satisfied that our multidisciplinary research work has received this important European recognition. It is the result of the multi-year collaboration between the School of Specialisation in Respiratory Diseases of the University of Trieste and Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste with which we have had an agreement since the opening of the School of Specialisation”. Dr. Giuliana Tromba is also delighted with the work done and the results obtained, which have been appropriately recognised and enhanced in value by this prestigious publication: “The research team hopes to soon be able to make available to the Trieste healthcare system an innovative way of viewing the alterations created in the lung by serious diseases such as tumors and pulmonary interstitial fibrosis.” The first lung CAT clinical protocol will be aimed primarily at cases where traditional diagnosis leaves interpretive doubts. These are the situations in which the potential of synchrotron light proves crucial in understanding and characterising tissue abnormalities. The President of Elettra Sincrotrone Trieste, Prof. Alfonso Franciosi, expressed great appreciation for the research carried out, announcing that “from 2026 onwards, when the new Elettra 2.0 light machine becomes operational, a dedicated radiology clinic will be set up on the new SYRMEP-Life Science line which will be able to accommodate patients from all over the Region and will be a unique worldwide resource for medical research”. Download the research study here

Contrary to the widely held belief that Dengue is severe in Secondary infections, a new collaborative study from ICGEB New Delhi has found that a substantial number of primary dengue infections also carry severe disease conditions. Published in Nature Medicine this week, an analysis of severe dengue cases in a cohort of children in India has shown that more than half could be attributed to primary rather than secondary infection. Over the past two decades, Dengue infections have greatly increased in India and India now has one of the largest number of dengue cases globally. With 4 serotypes of the dengue virus, typically, Dengue patients fall into two categories- one, those experiencing the infection for the first time, known as primary infections and those, who get re-infected after a previous exposure, known as secondary infections. Traditionally, the prevailing belief has been that only secondary infections pose significant risks, leading much of the research into vaccine development and treatment to focus on this group. But now this widely held perception seems to loose its ground. A new study carried out in India and based on a wide sampling approach has shown that it is not just the secondary infections but the primary infections as well which can be severe and could jeopardise the life of the patients. This finding suggests a need to reevaluate our understanding of Dengue and the strategies employed to combat it. Dr. Anmol Chandele, Group Leader of the ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Program, ICGEB New Delhi, India, in collaboration with Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA, the All India Institute Of Medical Sciences AIIMS, New Delhi, and St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, India authored the paper on “Severe disease during both primary and secondary virus infections in pediatric populations.” Dr. Chandele states: “Dengue virus infection is a huge public health problem in India. Many patients develop severe disease that can also be sometimes fatal. However, much of the ongoing vaccine intervention research is based on the currently widely held global belief that primary dengue infections are not usually dangerous and that the severe dengue disease is mainly due to secondary dengue infections.” She continues: “Our study questions this currently widely held belief and shows that primary infections constitute a substantial fraction of severe disease cases and fatalities.” This finding has important implications for public health and in developing and implementing effective and safe vaccine strategies for controlling dengue. These findings are highly relevant not only in the Indian context but also on a global scale since dengue viruses continue spreading worldwide. Italy is a striking example of the expansion of dengue as also evidenced by a recent study being published on which Dr. Alessandro Marcello, head of the ICGEB Molecular Virology laboratory operating in the Area Science Park in Trieste, Italy, collaborated. “During 2023,” he tells us, “In Italy we had the highest number of cases and autochthonous transmissions of dengue so far. Climate change, above all, but also the movement of people, are the biggest contributors to the circulation of dengue in new areas. The study by our Indian colleagues shows us the need to protect our population also from the first encounter with the virus.” The Chandele lab studies human immunology of infectious diseases, vaccine research and therapeutics. The ICGEB-Emory Vaccine program is a unique partnership established to facilitate international collaborations in vaccine research for tackling diseases of public health importance in developing countries.