Marie Curie Actions: Inspiring Researchers - Imdea

co-author scientifi c papers in important journals (the Journalof Cell Biology and Nature Medicine, for example). In terms ofcareer development, this is essential, as publications such asthese can provide a great opportunity to stake a claim in theacademic research community. Perhaps more importantly forDr Catalucci, the access he gained to this community and thenetwork-building opportunities provided also led to severalfruitful collaborations.‘I have had the great opportunity to develop a network ofcollaborations that goes beyond a specific project and aimsto improve the understanding of the principal mechanismsin cardiovascular development, physiology, and medicine,’he says. ‘The sum of this has been to establish a strongbasis that led my own line of research back in Europe.These collaborations have not been lost, but form a solidnetwork base for me back in Italy.’In addition to the support he received in the USA, Dr Cataluccistresses the importance of the mentoring he had back home inItaly, in particular the fruitful working relationship he continuesto have with Professor Condorelli.Since 2007, Dr Catalucci has been a researcher at the Instituteof Biomedical Technology of the National Council of Research(CNR) in Milan, Italy, and has built his own research group incollaboration with the private hospital MultiMedica in Milan.‘The experience has allowed me to develop a critical mindfor investigation and given me the confidence to becomean independent investigator as well as to develop myown line of research in a new and challenging scientificenvironment,’ he says, referring to the opportunity affordedhim by the Marie Curie Fellowship.Dr Catalucci’s group relies on a combination of public andprivate funding to investigate new ways of looking at heartfailure that could well lead to life-saving interventions.Project acronymPumping up the HeartFull project titleMolecular mechanism of Akt-induced myocardial contractionType of grantOutgoing International FellowshipBudgetEUR 245 652.68Duration of project01-11-2004 - 31-10-2007Scientific disciplineLife sciencesHost institutionProf. Gianluigi CondorelliSan Raffaele Biomedical Science Park of RomeVia Castel Romano 100IT-00128 RomeE-mail: gianluigi.condorelli@spr-r.it115