Rocky Strollo e Gianluca Vadalà, selected from over 1700 projects, won two grants worth over 400 thousand euros
June 05, 2019 -There are two projects of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma on diabetes and chronic low back pain among the 146 awarded by the Ministry of Health, both winners of two grants of over 400 thousand euros, in the context of the Finalized Research call for the "Young Researchers and starting grant" section.
The ceremony held at the Accademia dei Lincei in Rome on Tuesday 4 May saw the type 1 diabetes project led by Rocky among the protagonists Strollo, doctor of the Endocrinology and Diabetology Unit of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital and that of Gianluca Go there, researcher of the Orthopedic Unit of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital on chronic low back pain.
By Rocky Strollo is the project entitled “Role of post-translational insulin modifications in the pathogenesis, staging and therapy of type 1 diabetes" which will be carried out together with researchers from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, and will be aimed at defining the role of a new biomarker based on a modified form of insulin (oxPTM-insulin) in the pathogenesis, early diagnosis and therapy of type 1 diabetes. The work, lasting three years, will be able to identify early, through a simple blood test, whether or not the person will develop type 1 diabetes. The data available today demonstrates the effectiveness of the biomarker in 91 percent of cases. The validation of this data will make it possible to predict the onset of the disease which in Italy alone affects over 300 thousand people, with a growth of 3 percent per year in the number of young people diagnosed with it.
The project led by Gianluca Go there It is entitled 'Intervertebral disc regeneration mediated by autologous mesenchymal stem/stromal cells intradiscal injection: a phase IIB randomized clinical trial' and aims to evaluate the efficacy of intradiscal transplantation of autologous mesenchymal stem/stromal cells in patients with intervertebral disc degeneration. If today there are no treatments to cure chronic low back pain, which affects over 700 million people and is the leading cause of disability in the Western world, Vadalà's project aims to regenerate the intervertebral discs by restoring their natural function as "shock absorbers" of the back .
Ucbm researchers Rocky Strollo e Gianluca Vadalà they received a plaque during the event wanted by the Minister of Health himself to enhance the strategic role of the National Health Service and give space to the excellence of young Italian researchers. In 2018, the Call for Finalized Research examined over 1.700 projects, assigning (out of a total of 95 million) funding of over 50 million to young researchers.
