ISSNAF 2011 Annual Meeting - The success of Italian scientists in the US
L’Italo-Americano couldn’t have missed the ISSNAF Annual Meeting: this is one of those situations that make us proud of being Italian. It is an occasion for many Italian researchers to share their success, too often underestimated in their home country.
ISSNAF is a no-profit organization aimed at promoting scien- tific, scholarly and technological interaction among Italians active in North America and Italian academic and non-academic organizations. The annual event took place last Saturday, September 17th, at the Institute of Physics and Astronomy of UCLA. Under the auspices of the Italian Ministry of Health and the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles, ISSNAF dedicated its 2011 Meeting to the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification.
Many representatives of the “Sistema Italia” were present: the Consul General of Italy Giuseppe Perrone, who just started his mandate in Los Angeles; Director of the Italian Culture Institute Alberto Di Mauro; Massimo Casciello, General Director of Scientific and Technologic Research for the Italian Ministry of Health; James Rosenzweig, Chairman of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at UCLA, and Massimo Piattelli- Palmarini, ISSNAF Program Committee Chair.
The meeting has been opened and presented by ISSNAF President Dr. Vito Campese, who remarked the role of the organization in connecting and supporting Italian scientists in the US. The number of ISSNAF chapters is in fact growing fast, having now new chapters in San Diego, Minneapolis, Chicago, New Y ork, Houston, Miami and Montreal.
Very important, Dr. Campese underlined the role of young Italians working in the scientific field. While the United States have always invested a lot on students and young researchers, Italy still finds it hard to recognize the social and economic value of scientists, who very often are forced to move to other Countries to find the adequate support to their projects. For this reason ISSNAF has just started a network of Italian scientists, all under 40, who can now exchange experiences and find career opportunities more easily. The project is called YOUNG ISSNAF: more information can be found on the website www.issnaf.org.
Referring to financial needs for the support of science projects, Massimo Casciello announced a new agreement signed by the Italian Ministry of Health that allo- cates 10 million Euros for new international collaborations, probably followed very soon by other 10 million Euros. We all hope this can be the first step towards the promotion of high-quality research. While all the speakers gave their talk in English, The Director of Scientific and Technologic Research decided to speak Italian, in order to underline the heritage Italian researchers carry with them when moving abroad.
Their culture and their knowledge is a resource for American community, as much as living in the US or anywhere else is an enriching experience for every researcher. Those who decide to leave Italy for another country should receive all our admiration: moving to another place and facing a new language and a new culture is never an easy choice. Casciello also brought the homage of the Minister of Health Ferruccio Fazio and his thanks to the guests and the organizers.
Consul General Giuseppe Perrone also gave an introductory talk remarking his role as coordinator of the “Sistema Italia”, which constantly works to improve the contribution of Italy in the US. “There are already various agreements between Italy and the USA for diverse forms of cooperation” he said, “but they must be translated into actions.” An invitation to start new concrete actions for the valorization of research in an international perspective.
After the introductory part of the conference, aimed to give an insight on what is happening to the research in Italy and to present the role of ISSNAF in the US, it was the turn of the real protagonists of the meeting: researchers. After receiving a considerable number of highly qualified applications, an ISSNAF Scientific Committee selected the research projects that have been presented at the 2011 Annual Meeting. Came from all over the United States, selected scientists they have been given the chance to present the incredible job they are doing in searching for new solutions that might change and improve human life.
Topics discussed were various and included Bio-Medicine, Neuro and Cognitive Sciences as well as Physics and Environmental Sciences. But there has been time also for a guest speaker section, with Dr. Luciano Saccani, Senior Vice President of Thales Alenia Space, talking about the International Space Station Project. In cooperation with Thales Alenia Space of North America and ALTEC, ISSNAF is planning to participate to the International Space Station National Laboratory Program supported by NASA.
The conference closed with an Award Ceremony. Among all the present scientists Claudia Scarlata (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis) has been selected to receive the ISSNAF Y oung Investigator Award, while Ennio Tasciotti (The Methodist Hospital System, Research Institute, Houston) received the Paola Campese Award for Research on Leukemia.
Not only the Italy and America, but the entire world community must be grateful to these young scientists who are dedicating their lives to projects, aiming to give all of us a better life. Without their incredible dedication there would be no scientific and social progress.
Alessandra Mastroianni
contributor
