Research
Institute of Life Sciences
The way in which we implement the third mission
How can we make a difference in this world?
The scientific mission of the Institute of Life Sciences covers two macro-areas:
- Agricultural Sciences and Plant Biotechnology
- Biomedical Sciences
Our aim is to provide a multifaceted and challenging scientific environment to a broad spectrum of students: undergraduates, postgraduates and PhD. Courses and research activities span from classical and molecular human and plant biology to preclinical and clinical sciences, plant biotechnology, food quality and nutraceutics, agroecology and agrobiodiversity, and novel sustainable agricultural systems. Strong emphasis is placed on technological innovation.
Lecturers have strong scientific expertise often acquired in a multidisciplinary international environment.
Research carried out in the macro-area Agricultural Sciences and plant Biotechnology addresses two main domains: plant sciences and agronomy, with a focus on various aspects of plant biology, food and energy crops, agrobiodiversity, and agroecosystem management.
Research carried out in the macro-area of Biomedical Sciences addresses the physiology and pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system, the development of new diagnostic techniques, and the application of nanotechnology to medicine.
The various topics covered by the 6 Seasonal Schools that will take place on the first months of 2022 include photonics, long-distance communication, anticorruption in public-private systems, sustainability, climate change, management of innovation and common good. Subscriptions are already open or will shortly be available on the School’s website, where you can also consult the detailed and updated agenda for each Seasonal School
A new precision strategy to hinder the infection of the coronavirus and its rapid spread between cells will come from Italian scientific research, destined to be the basis of a new drug, for which a patent has already been filed. The road that will lead to the drug has started from the study sponsored by the IIT, Sant’Anna School, University of Milan, now published in the journal “Pharmacological Research”
The crop genetics team at Sant’Anna Shool keeps collaborating with Ethiopian smallholder farmers to explore new paths to crop breeding for local adaptation. In a new study recently just published in Communications Biology, the Sant’Anna team worked with international institutions and with 1.165 local farmers demonstrating that farmers’ traditional knowledge can be combined with genomic and climatic data to increase the genetic gain associated to prediction accuracy of wheat performance in challenging farming conditions
