Gimbe Foundation partner for the selection of applications
For 125 years, Research and Development activities have represented a strategic imperative for Roche, which has translated into concrete solutions capable of changing the natural course of various serious diseases for which there was no cure. Research is in the company’s DNA, so much so that Roche invests on average 20% of its annual turnover in research and development activities and in 2021 it invested 47 million euros in Italy managing 249 clinical trials.
As recently underlined by the Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, clinical research “must be at the center of Italy’s growth”, and the funds made available by the NRP can be an opportunity to invest in skills and innovation and enhance the value of human capital in our country. From the third edition of the ‘Report on research and innovation in Italy – Analysis and data of science and technology policy; elaborated by the CNR, it emerges that many Italian PhDs (about 13%) find employment abroad, testifying to the good quality of the training received. To maintain a competitive role at European level, it is necessary to invest more and in increasingly specialized figures.
It is now evident, in fact, that in order to ensure the qualitative and ethical standards required in the field of research, the added value is represented by new professional figures, essential not only to guarantee the quality of the data collected but above all for the coordination of clinical studies. procedures and all personnel involved in the trial. In support of the continuing education of these figures, Roche today awards the 10 winners of the second edition of the “Roche for clinical research – In support of data managers and research nurses” who have nominated projects for the areas of oncology, hematology oncology, respiratory diseases, rheumatology, neuroscience and hereditary coagulopathies, and launches the 2022 edition.
The research coordinator, also known as the data manager, is responsible for coordinating clinical trials, assisting the physician and managing data to ensure its accuracy. The research nurse contributes personally to the success of clinical trials through the management of the treatments, the therapeutic education of the patient and the family, in order to increase the adherence to the treatments and the consequent stay in the study.
Thanks to the funding received, the winning projects will be able to be developed for 12 months at the public or private bodies of reference by data managers and research nurses, who will be able to consolidate their skills to better manage clinical trials and thus bring more an improvement in the quality of the research itself but also in the safety of the patients participating in it.
The essentiality of these two new figures, which despite having existed for some time have begun to be recognized only in recent years, is currently consolidated at a national level not only for the ordinary management of the data, but above all for the coordination of procedures and everything. staff involved in clinical trials.
The winning Bodies, in fact, come from different regions of Italy:
Friuli Venezia-Giulia (ASU Friuli Centrale of Udine and ASUGI of Trieste), Lombardy (ASST of
Monza, ASST Spedali Civili of Brescia and IRCCS Humanitas Clinical Institute of Rozzano),
Emilia-Romagna (IRCCS of Bologna, AOU of Modena and AOU of Parma), Piedmont (University
of the Studies of Turin) and Sicily (AOU Policlinico G. Rodolico-San Marco of Catania).
“Covid-19 has clearly brought out the value of a healthy collaboration between public and private – he comments Anna Maria Porrini, Director of Medical Affairs & Clinical Operations at Roche Italia – to accelerate and amplify access to new treatments and the development of health technologies, not only financially but also as cultural and objective contamination, which in research are always linked to improving the health of the individual and the community .
Research has always been at the heart of Roche’s activities, which supports it with a strong commitment both through the conduct of clinical studies and with the support of independent research, and through training and information initiatives to make people understand how valuable research is. for young people, for scientists, for patients and for the whole country. Commitment also confirmed for the new edition of the Call, which starts today and will close on May 20, 2022, and which will see the funding of € 300,000 thousand for a further 10 applications between data managers and research nurses in the therapeutic areas of oncology, oncological hematology, ophthalmology , neuroscience and hereditary coagulopathies “.
As evidence of Roche’s commitment always aimed at guaranteeing maximum transparency in the interaction and collaboration with the medical profession, hospitals, research institutions, patient associations, the scientific world and associations, the selection and the evaluation of the applications was entrusted to the Gimbe Foundation, as an external partner.
“The candidate projects – he says Nino Cartabellotta, President of the GIMBE Foundation – were assessed taking into consideration first of all the quality of the project, determined by the relevance of the research question, by the methodological rigor and by the potential impact on the health and sustainability of the National Health Service of the Project, in addition to the quality of the scientific activities of the Body based on the impact of the scientific publications produced by the relevant researchers. Today more than ever it is essential to support and promote the work of Data Managers and Research Nurses, who play a fundamental role in the innovation of the Health system and therefore for its sustainability. The greater attention paid to these professionals in fact offers the opportunity to improve the management of clinical trials, thus making our country increasingly competitive in the field of research “.