Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation

Quicklinks

Website presentation

This website is edited and owned by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation.

It is an instrument to inform about the developments of Cystic Fibrosis research, both from different investigations around the world and projects promoted and financed by the Foundation itself in Italy and Europe. Moreover, the Foundation publishes the description and the results of each project funded.
The website is also means of information for the Foundation's supporters and the volunteers who cooperate: several pages are dedicated to news related to fundraising events.
The website is addressed to an Italian public (scientists, health workers, CF patients and families, Foundation supporters and general population), even though there are several friends and scientists who work with the Foundation and do not speak Italian. There are also people outside Italy often interested in knowing what happens in Italy and in Europe in relation to Cystic Fibrosis.
At the moment we are not able to publish a website both in Italian and English, therefore we present this summary with the essential information and links to some website pages of interest for non-Italian speaking visitors.

What is the Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation (FFC)

The Italian Cystic Fibrosis Research Foundation is a non-profit organization with scientific and social purpose.

Main purposes of the foundation:

- To promote and support scientific research in order to find and implement innovative therapies for patients affected by Cystic Fibrosis.
- To educate and keep investigators and health professionals updated in order to improve their research competences and ability to take care of the patients.
- To provide the population with information about the disease, how to prevent it and how scientific research is working towards a cure.
Every year the Foundation, in order to support the research, offers new grants open to Italian and European researchers for new innovative research projects. The projects, after a public call for application, are evaluated by the Foundation's scientific board and by international experts with the peer review system. 193 projects have been selected and financed from 2002 to 2011; more than 200 international experts have collaborated with the selection. The results of each project were consequently published on international scientific journals (more than 270 publications with a mean impact factor over 5) or presented at international conferences (about 250 presentations).
The main research areas include: CFTR physiopathology and therapy of the basic defect, genetics, lung infection and inflammation, clinical and epidemiological investigations.
More than 500 researchers and 170 laboratories or clinical centres are involved in our projects: they constitute a solid network of scientific inter-cooperation and a promising task force for CF research in Europe. Moreover, some facilities, funded by FFC, support the FFC research network: animal models, primary cell coltures, lab for quantification of gene expression.
The researchers meet every year in a convention with the purpose of updating the CF research community with the results of the studies already done and the planned ones.

For what concerns the education of researchers, doctors and other professionals, the Foundation organizes every year conventions, seminars and educational programs. Moreover, it supports young researchers financially.

The means of information to the general population are this website, a monthly newsletter and a printed magazine published every 4 months. In addition, the Foundation publishes brochures, videos, seminars and conventions' proceedings, interviews, articles and news on the press and TV-radio.

On this website it is possible to find the bulletins' pdf (Notiziari) (in Italian) and the seminars and scientific conventions' brochures (both in Italian and English) in the Brochures page (Brochures seminari e conventions).

Structure and organization of the Foundation

The Foundation is composed of a Board of Directors, a Scientific Advisory Board and a Scientific Direction. It operates on a national level with the collaboration of more than 90 delegations or support groups based in several Italian regions. 15 people constitute the headquarters' team.

Board of Directors

President
Vittoriano Faganelli

Members
>Luigi Bozzini
>Sandro Caffi
>Paolo Del Debbio
>Giuseppe Ferrari
>Annamaria Giunta
>Gianni Mastella
>Andrea Bolla
>Eugenio Bertolotti
>Michele Romano
>Luciano Vettore

Scientific Advisory Board

President: Lucio Luzzatto

Counsellors:
>Giorgio Berton
>Paola Bruni
>Roberto Buzzetti
>Gerd Döring

Scientific Direction

Director: Gianni Mastella
Vice Director: Graziella Borgo

The list and contacts of Delegations and Support Groups (in Italian) can be found in the page: Delegations and Support Groups FFC (Delegazioni e Gruppi di Sostegno FFC)

Grants and CF Research Projects

Every year, on December 15^th, the Foundation issues new grants for new CF-related research projects. The deadline for applicants is on February 15^th of the following year. The principal investigators of every project must reside and operate in the European Union, but they can be associated as partners also other scientists from other countries. The evaluation and selection process ends on mid-June and the results are directly communicated to the beneficiaries of the grants by the end of June of the same year.

More information on the page Research grants announcement (Bandi)

The projects selected and funded by the Foundation are synthetically presented, divided by year, on the page: Research projects (Progetti di ricerca).

Project Adoptions and Donations

Individuals, companies, delegations and support groups can fund the projects through the Project Adoption. The adoption involves a special relationship between the donor, the adopted project and the researchers' team. The donor follows the researchers' activities, the projects developments and is regularly updated with the results of the study.

The regulation of the project adoption (in Italian) and the list of the adopted projects and the available ones to be adopted can be found on this page: Adopt a project. (Adotta un progetto)The list is divided by year and shows who has adopted each project.

Individuals, companies, banks and volunteers can support the research through many initiatives of fundraising and with direct donations to the Foundation, even on-line.

More information on the page: Donations (Donazioni).

How to contact us

Fondazione Ricerca Fibrosi Cistica onlus
Ospedale Maggiore
Ed. Geriatrico, lato Mameli, 3° piano
Piazzale Stefani, 1
I - 37126 Verona

Scientific Direction

Prof. Gianni Mastella

Phone: +39 045 812 3567
gianni.mastella@ospedaleuniverona.it

General Secretariat

Phone: +39 045 812 3438
Email: fondazione.ricercafc@ospedaleuniverona.it
Fax: +39 045 812 3568
Website: www.fibrosicisticaricerca.it

On this website, in the Questions and Answers (Domande e risposte) section (in Italian), it is possible to pose questions about scientific themes, also in English: they will receive an answer both in English and Italian.