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The Giovanni Armenise-Harvard Foundation About the Symposium When the Armenise-Harvard Foundation convened its 3rd Annual Symposium at Il Ciocco, a conference center high in the Alpi Apuane, breathtaking views of tawny mountains and lush valleys reminded participating scientists that their work unlocks "the impressive beauty of the biosphere," in the words of Foundation President and CEO Daniel C. Tosteson, former dean of the Harvard Medical School. In his opening remarks to more than 100 researchers who gathered for the Symposium, HMS Dean Joseph Martin noted that it has been only three years since the Foundation began stimulating collaboration among Harvard's six basic science departments and between scientific centers in Italy and HMS. In his view, the Foundation has succeeded on both fronts. Today, its generosity supports not only the annual Symposium but also a broad range of joint ventures, including exchanges of technology and personnel and an increasing number of small seminars. Armenise-sponsored research is conducted at five Italian institutions: the European Institute of Oncology in Milano, the University of Padova, the Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment at the University of Torino School of Medicine, the Dipartmento di Ricerca Biologica e Tecnologica (DIBIT) at Scientific Institute San Raffaele in Milano, and Universita' Di Roma La Sapienza. At Harvard, the four Armenise centers are structural biology, neurobiology, cell signal transduction, and human cancer viruses. Representatives from all the Armenise programs participated in the 3rd Annual Symposium. Impressed with the productivity of the Italian centers, the Foundation recently invited all of them to apply for a two-year extension of their original award. Dean Martin announced, during his opening remarks, that on the previous day the Foundation's board voted to extend funding for all five. "This is very gratifying for the Italian part of the enterprise," Dr. Jacopo Meldolesi of DIBIT said in response to Dean Martin's news. The Armenise funding brings not only money, he said, but also scientific challenge and the opportunity to develop more mature, ongoing relationships with collaborators. A considerable exchange of human talent is already underway. For example, Dean Martin cited the recent move of Armenise fellow Andrea Musacchio from HMS to the European Institute of Oncology, where he will lead a new structural biology department. In Dr. Daniela Pietrobon's closing remarks, the Padova researcher reminisced about three years she spent at HMS early in her career and credited the Foundation with making it possible for two young scientists from her group to follow in her footsteps. The Armenise grant has been invaluable for the support of young investigators and the strengthening of laboratory infrastructure, she said, and other scientists agreed. The strength of the 3rd Annual Symposium's scientific program is one measure of the Foundation's success in fulfilling its mission. The event drew 112 basic scientists, slightly more than two-thirds of them from Italy. This year there were 46 poster presentations and 20 formal lectures grouped into five sessions:
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About the Symposium
