Annual report 2004 - Compagnia di San Paolo

Institutional activities in 2004
Scientific, economic and juridical research
Agency (ASI) on the effects of the absence of gravitational force on the human body. Additionally,
support is accentuated for the Foundation for Biotechnologies, of which the Compagnia is a
founding member (see the specific box). In the field of Biomedical Research in 2004 the most
important grants related to support for the continuation of activities of the Sub-alpine Oncology-
Haematology Centre (COES) as “model of application of translational research” and the financing
to the ISI Foundation – Institute for Scientific Interchange for a European study of Gene-Environment
Interaction and for a project of the computational aspect of complex biological systems (see the
schedule dedicated to this). Again on the subject of Biomedical Research, the Compagnia has
financed some important projects in the field of oncology (see the chapter on the “Oncology
Programme”). The collaboration with the Telethon Foundation of Rome has continued for the
support of the Dulbecco Telethon Institute for training the best Italian researchers (see the specific
box). One of the fields in which the Compagnia has recorded the most significant results is that of
Telethon 2004 -
Matteo Caroli on behalf
of the Compagnia di
San Paolo participates
in the television
Marathon on
18 December
Telethon Foundation - Rome
The Telethon Foundation of Rome performs activities of
biomedical research on hereditary genetic diseases and
technological research on aids for people struck down by
motorial disabilities; it conducts operative management of
the research activities performed by the Telethon
Institutions: Istituto di Genetica e Medicina (TIGEM)
(Institute of Genetics and Medicine); Istituto HSR -
Telethon di Terapia Genica (TIGET) (Genetic Therapy
Telethon); Tecnothon, laboratory for technological aid for
the disabled; “Dulbecco Telethon Institute” (DTI). The latter
has the purpose of creating a career route for independent
researchers, chosen by virtue of the project “Telethon
Careers”. During 2004 the Compagnia gave a grant to
Telethon Foundation and, in particular, the “Dulbecco
Telethon Institute” of € 732,000 for the second year of the
project “Identification and study of the interactions
involved in the ontogenesis of hereditary diseases”.
The initiative, aimed at the development of new diagnostic,
preventive and therapeutic approaches, aims at completing
and extending research relating to the identification of the
genes responsible for rare hereditary illnesses and the
functional study of the genes involved. The project is set
out in five sections which involve the following DTI
laboratories: Genetic illnesses of the nervous system;
Cardiac muscular system; skeletal muscular system;
metabolism; biology of the stem cells. As of today’s date,
also thanks to the financing disbursed by the Compagnia
for the first year of the project, the researchers operating in
the DTI laboratories have attained significant results. The
various mechanisms involved in the illnesses subject to
research have been studied and it is planned to extend the
methods of analysis previously perfected to further
illnesses and to deal with two new studies on ontogenesis
of spinal muscular atrophy and dominant optical atrophy.
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