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The DSV at UNIMORE participates to the OneHealthDrugs (COST Action CA21111, www.onehealthdrugs.com), which is an interdisciplinary European network dedicated to discovering drugs for vector-borne diseases. Coordinated by Prof. Maria Paola Costi, it operates under the One Health principle, acknowledging the interconnected health of humans, animals, and the environment.

The Action coordinates a synergistic drug discovery pipeline with four key focuses:

  1. Integrated R&D: Finding leads effective across human and veterinary species to reduce costs and timelines.
  2. Environmental Sustainability: Prioritizing "Green Chemistry" and ecotoxicology to identify drugs with low environmental persistence.
  3. Innovation: Utilizing nanotechnology, PROTAC strategies, and in silico modeling to predict efficacy and toxicity.
  4. Global Collaboration: Maintaining a central compound library and database to bridge knowledge gaps between countries.

Through the OneHealthDrugs Academy, the network trains the next generation of "One Health Ambassadors" via:

  1. Training Schools: Intensive programs across Europe covering topics from natural products to lead optimization and ecotoxicology.
  2. Mobility Grants: Funding Short-Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) to facilitate lab-sharing and technical skill transfers across 54+ countries.
  3. Mentorship: Connecting Early Career Investigators (ECIs) with industry leaders through workshops and virtual platforms.

By integrating chemistry, biology, and environmental science, OneHealthDrugs ensures future treatments are effective, affordable, and ecologically responsible.

The DSV at UNIMORE serves as a primary hub for international networking in Nanomedicine, hosting the secretariat of the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine (ETPN, https://etp-nanomedicine.eu/) under the coordination of Prof. Giovanni Tosi.

A core objective of this network is to accelerate the clinical translation—bridging the gap between basic scientific discovery and industrial production. Through the ETPN HealthTech Translation Advisory Board (TAB) and dedicated Working Groups (clinical translation, regulatory compliance), the DSV facilitates the path for innovative nanotechnologies to reach the patient. This includes providing strategic support for Horizon Europe consortia (Cluster Health, IHI, EIC) and fostering "living labs" that connect academic excellence with regulatory authorities and industrial partners.

In terms of high-level education, the DSV integrates these global connections into the HIP-TECH PhD Program (Health Innovative Products and Technologies). The networking activities provide doctoral students with unique supportive teaching tools, including:

  1. METRINo Academy: Specialized training sessions and webinars focused on professional development and practical research outputs.
  2. International Mentorship: Structured talent development programs and researcher exchange opportunities with prestigious partners such as IDSIA (Lugano) and the ETPN member network.
  3. Brokerage & Soft Skills: Students participate in "Flash Brokerage" events, learning how to build international research consortia and navigate the European funding landscape.

This system is further strengthened by the Italian Nanomedicine Platform (INP, https://www.nanoitalyassociation.org/home/index.php/main-activities/italian-nanomedicine-platform/scope-aims), coordinated by the DSV. The INP links 140 researchers from 100 institutions, ensuring that Italian scientific priorities are perfectly aligned with the ETPN European roadmap, creating a seamless pipeline from doctoral training to international research leadership.

The DSV, through its "Evolutionary Zoology" research group, coordinates a group of international researchers engaged in research and training on the topic of "Soil Biology." From a scientific perspective, the network aims to study soil biodiversity, ecological indicators for assessing soil quality, and the functional role of its fauna. From an educational perspective, the network's objectives include training and organizing workshops for young taxonomists interested in the taxonomy of soil organisms, particularly pauropods, scorpions, tardigrades, nematodes, and rotifers. This activity includes the SoilMATs (Soil Meiofauna Advanced Taxonomy school) project, coordinated by Prof. Roberto Guidetti, https://tettris.eu/2024/09/19/soilmats-training-the-next-generation-of-soil-meiofauna-experts/), a satellite project of TETTRIs (Transforming European Taxonomy through Training, Research, and Innovations). The network includes research groups from the Natural History Museum of Crete-University of Crete (Greece), the Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz (Germany) and the Biology Centre Czech Academy of Science (Czech Republic).