A new study conducted by researchers from the University of Trieste, the Italian Liver Foundation, and the University of Padua, and published in the international scientific journal Nutrients, investigated the effects of a high-fat, high-sugar diet on skeletal muscle during growth and maturation.

When we think about the consequences of unhealthy eating habits, we usually think of weight gain, obesity, diabetes, or fatty liver disease. However, what we eat can also affect another essential part of our body: our muscles.

Muscles do much more than simply enable us to move. They are essential for maintaining metabolic health, helping the body use and regulate energy, particularly blood sugar levels.

“This work is part of a collaboration in which we investigate the impact of a high-fat, high-sugar diet during growth from different perspectives and across different organs. In a 2024 study at the University of Trieste, we examined the morphofunctional properties of skeletal muscle,” explains Emiliana Giacomello, a University of Trieste researcher involved in the project. “We demonstrated that the diet has different effects on the muscles of male and female mice. In this new study, we analyzed gene expression in muscle tissue, and the data suggest that molecular responses to the diet differ between sexes and depend on the stage of maturation.”

What exactly did the researchers discover?

Using mice as a model, the researchers examined how a high-fat, high-sugar diet affected gene activity in muscle tissue at different stages of development.

The results revealed an interesting finding: muscles do not respond to unhealthy diets in the same way at every age, and males and females exhibit different response patterns.

In female mice, changes in gene activity were more pronounced after a relatively short period of exposure to the unhealthy diet. These changes were primarily associated with processes involved in muscle structure and tissue organization.

In male mice, the initial response was less pronounced, while more extensive changes emerged after prolonged exposure. These changes involved genes associated with energy metabolism, fat utilization, and muscle structure.

Importantly, the study also demonstrated that normal growth and maturation profoundly influence muscle biology. This means that the effects of diet must be interpreted in the context of the organism's stage of development.

Why is this important?

Childhood and adolescence are crucial periods during which organs and tissues are still developing.

The findings suggest that diets high in fat and sugar may influence biological processes in muscles from the earliest stages of life, although the effects may vary depending on biological sex and developmental stage.

These observations are particularly relevant because skeletal muscles are closely connected to the health of other organs, including the liver, and play an essential role in regulating blood glucose levels and overall metabolism.

Although the research was conducted in mice and further studies are needed to understand its implications for humans, the findings provide valuable insights into how diet may interact with the biological processes that accompany growth.

A message for families: prevention starts early

A healthy diet is not just about maintaining an appropriate body weight: it also helps support the development and proper functioning of the entire body.

Promoting a balanced diet and regular physical activity from an early age can help lay the foundations for good long-term metabolic health.

Photo: Seated, Emiliana Giacomello and Pablo Giraudi. Standing, Claudio Tiribelli, Luana Toniolo, Natalia Rosso, and Silvia Gazzin.

A region of Antarctica that could have an enormous impact on the transformation of the natural world and human society is also one of the least understood and explored from a scientific perspective.

A new international scientific review published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, co-authored by Fiorenza Torricella, a research fellow in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Geosciences (MiGe) at the University of Trieste (UniTS), calls for a global campaign to study the Wilkes Subglacial Basin in East Antarctica. The region is one of the most important on Earth for predicting future sea-level rise, as it contains enough ice to raise global mean sea levels by three to four metres.

Led by Professor Matt King, Principal Investigator at the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science and a faculty member at the University of Tasmania, the review brings together findings from geology, oceanography, climate science, satellite observations and ice-sheet modelling to assess what scientists currently know about this vast ice-covered basin.

The study concludes that major gaps in observational data still prevent scientists from predicting with sufficient confidence how quickly changes could occur or which climatic thresholds might trigger large-scale retreat of the ice sheet.

“The Wilkes Basin is probably the last great unexplored region of Antarctica,” Professor King said.

“No ship has ever come within 150 kilometres of the front of one of its major glaciers, Cook Glacier. We have no in situ mapping data of the seafloor and very limited information about the ocean conditions that could drive future ice melt.”

Despite these knowledge gaps, geological evidence indicates that the basin, much of which lies within the Australian Antarctic Territory, experienced significant retreat during previous periods of warmer temperatures. This raises questions about how it might respond to future climate change.

“The evidence from past warm periods is enough to sound the alarm: we need to understand this region much better. Yet it is difficult to find an active scientist who has actually been there,” Professor King said.

The review brings together contributions from researchers in 14 countries and calls for an urgent international effort to map the region, improve observations of the ocean and ice sheet, and reduce uncertainty about future impacts on the climate and sea levels.

“If we can better understand this region and more accurately predict how it will evolve, we will be better prepared for future sea-level rise, the impacts of climate change, and the consequences for coastal communities and vulnerable infrastructure in Australia, the Pacific and around the world,” Professor King said.

The study was led by the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Science (ACEAS), in collaboration with the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP) and Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF). The research contributes to the implementation of the Australian Antarctic Science Decadal Strategy 2025–2035.

A total of 66 active researchers affiliated with UniTS are featured in the latest annual edition of the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” ranking, compiled by Stanford University in collaboration with the Elsevier publishing company. The ranking, which covers approximately 9 million scholars included in the Scopus database in 2025, identifies the most highly cited researchers worldwide across 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields, according to the standard Science-Metrix classification. In addition to these researchers, the ranking also includes contributions from emeritus and retired colleagues.

The following is a list of currently active UniTS researchers featured in the ranking for the single-year 2025 and/or career-long impact categories, grouped by department (researchers ranked among the top 100,000 worldwide are shown in bold):

DF: Angelo Bassi, Federico Becca, Fabio Benatti, Stefano Borgani, Pierre Thibault

DEAMS: Giuseppe Borruso

DSV: Alberta Bergamo, Marco del Giudice, Andrea Nardini, Monia Renzi, Lucia Muggia, Maria Chiara Passolunghi, Alessandro Tossi, Mauro Tretiach, Aurelia Tubaro

DIA: Fulvio Babich, Sylvio Barbon Junior, Chiara Bedon, Alois Bonifacio, Gabriele Bulian, Alberto Carini, Natalino Gattesco, Massimiliano Gei, Mario Grassi, Vanni Lughi, Alessandro Massi Pavan, Thomas Parisini, Gianni Pedrizzetti, Sabrina Pricl, Valter Sergo, Giorgio Sulligoi, Alberto Tessarolo

DISPES: Mattia Zulianello

DSCF: Enzo Alessio, Massimiliano Pio Di Cagno, Paolo Fornasiero, Silvia Marchesan, Michele Melchionna, Tiziano Montini, Federico Rosei

DSM: Rocco Barazzoni, Michele Bertolotto, Gianni Biolo, Paolo Boscolo Rizzo, Milena Cadenaro, Luca Cegolon, Marco Confalonieri, Adamo Pio D'Adamo, Mario D'Oria, Stefano di Bella, Giacomo Emmi, Paolo Gasparini, Mauro Giuffrè, Daniele Generali, Valerio Iebba, Francesca Larese Filon, Paolo Manganotti, Marco Merlo, Giuseppe Ricci, Barbara Ruaro, Gianfranco Sinagra, Giancarlo Tirelli, Serena Zacchigna, Iris Zalaudek

MiGe: Luca Bortolussi, Alberto D’Onofrio, Stefano Parolai, Alex Rodríguez

Among the emeritus professors, honorary professors, and researchers affiliated with UniTS who are included in the ranking are Giovanni Alessandrini, Massimo Bovenzi, Francesca Matteucci, Giuliano Panza, Fulvio Parmigiani, Maurizio Prato, and Gianni Sava.

“While it is important to remember that this is a purely bibliometric ranking,” comments Paolo Fornasiero, Vice-Rector for Research, “and that it should be regarded as a statistical tool rather than an absolute measure of scientific merit, I can only congratulate our colleagues in bibliometric research fields who feature among the world’s most influential scholars and who, through this recognition as well, help showcase the high quality of the research conducted at our University.”

A new clue could help reconstruct the layout of one of the most important residential complexes in ancient Aquileia. This is what has emerged from the 2026 excavation campaign conducted under a ministerial archaeological concession by the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste at the House of the Dancing Putti, one of the city’s largest and most luxurious Late Antique residences.

The investigations led to the identification of what appears to be the perimeter enclosure wall of the Ritter-Zàhony House, a structure discovered in the 1930s by Giovanni Brusin and subsequently reburied. At present, this remains a hypothesis that will need to be verified during future excavation campaigns, but it could shed light on the relationship between the earlier dwellings and the large residence built from the mid-4th century AD onwards.

Research by the University of Trieste, which began more than twenty years ago under a concession from the Ministry of Culture, through the Superintendence for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for Friuli Venezia Giulia, in collaboration with Fondazione Aquileia, has gradually revealed a residence of exceptional dimensions. The evidence currently available makes it possible to estimate its extent at approximately 10,000 square metres.

The monumental scale of the House and the richness of its decorative features – from mosaics and wall paintings to the extensive use of marble and the discovery of a precious dichroic glass diatretum, decorated using a highly refined technique reproducing a “net” pattern – point to an exceptionally high-status patron.

One of the main objectives of the 2024–2026 campaigns has been to reconstruct the organisation of the insula before and after the construction of the House of the Dancing Putti and to identify its various building phases.

This research framework also includes an important recent rediscovery, funded by Fondazione Aquileia under the scientific direction of the Superintendence for Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape for Friuli Venezia Giulia. At the end of 2025, the “Floral Carpet” mosaic was uncovered again in the area adjacent to the Cassis estate archaeological site and the House of the Dancing Putti. Its dating to the 4th century AD appears to support the hypothesis of a possible connection with the same patron who commissioned the House.

This year’s excavation campaign by the University of Trieste involved 15 students, including two from the University of Rijeka, with which UniTS has maintained a long-standing collaboration. The excavation site provides an important training opportunity for students, postgraduate students and PhD candidates, who are able to engage directly with the methods and tools of archaeological research.

“It was a demanding experience, but ultimately fully rewarding, thanks to the curiosity that drove every strike of the pickaxe and the excitement of standing before a reality that had remained hidden for such a long time,” comments Irene Padova, a Classics student at UniTS who took part in the excavation campaign.

Eighteen years after the first study, the follow-up phase of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Genetic Park project is getting underway. The initiative will involve the communities of Erto e Casso, Sauris, San Martino del Carso, Resia, Illegio and Clauzetto. Activities will begin in Sauris on October 12, followed by Illegio in November, San Martino del Carso in January, and subsequently the other municipalities involved.

The project was established to investigate the genetic and environmental factors underlying diseases and complex traits. In its first edition, it involved more than 2,200 people across the six areas. Thanks to the data collected, researchers have been able to carry out numerous studies over the years, resulting in the publication of more than 60 scientific papers in prestigious journals and the establishment of collaborations with major international consortia.

The follow-up further strengthens the collaboration between IRCCS Burlo Garofolo and the University of Trieste, with the valuable support of the Casali Foundations and BeneficentiaStiftung. The initiative also involves numerous young medical residents and researchers, who will contribute to research activities, data collection and engagement with local communities.

The meetings will provide an important opportunity to share the results achieved, collect new information and maintain an ongoing dialogue with local populations. The direct involvement of citizens will make it possible to further explore aspects related to the history, culture and genetic characteristics of residents in each area. The follow-up will also allow researchers to update the data collected, assess the project's evolution and strengthen collaboration among researchers, local authorities and residents.

“Returning to the communities involved after so many years is an essential step in ensuring continuity for the project and giving back to local communities the value of the information collected,” the project promoters emphasize. “Citizen participation remains at the heart of this initiative.”

The full schedule of events and information on how to participate will be announced through the official channels of the local authorities involved.

Paolo Fornasiero, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Trieste’s Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Vice-Rector for Research, has been elected Corresponding Member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in the Class of Physical, Mathematical and Natural Sciences.

His election represents one of the most prestigious recognitions in the Italian and international scientific community and acknowledges Professor Fornasiero’s contribution to research in the fields of catalysis, advanced materials and chemistry for the energy transition.

Becoming a member of the Accademia dei Lincei is a great honour and a responsibility,” says Professor Fornasiero. “This recognition celebrates a journey built together with the many colleagues, researchers and students with whom I have had the privilege of working. I believe that, today more than ever, research must contribute not only to scientific progress, but also to the cultural and social development of the country, addressing the major challenges of sustainability, energy and innovation with scientific rigour and a spirit of collaboration.

Founded in 1603, the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei is the world’s oldest scientific academy still in operation. Throughout its history, its members have included figures such as Galileo Galilei, Stanislao Cannizzaro, Quintino Sella, Benedetto Croce and Albert Einstein. Today, it is Italy’s foremost scientific and cultural institution and serves as a scientific adviser to the President of the Italian Republic.

Professor Fornasiero’s scientific career is internationally recognised. His research focuses primarily on materials chemistry, heterogeneous catalysis, energy conversion processes and the development of sustainable technologies for reducing emissions and producing fuels and chemicals with a lower environmental impact.

The author of more than 370 scientific publications in leading international journals, Fornasiero is among the most highly cited researchers in his field and has served as coordinator and partner in numerous research projects funded by the European Union and by national and international organisations. Over the course of his career, he has received major scientific awards and is a member of prestigious international scientific societies.

His election to the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei also represents recognition of the scientific excellence of the University of Trieste, reaffirming its leading role in national and international research.

Friday, September 25, at 11:30 a.m. in the Talk Area in Piazza Unità d’Italia, the 15th edition of Trieste Next will officially open with the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

After the inauguration, everyone is invited to the UniTS marquee, which hosts the Festival’s exhibition spaces, offering a rich opportunity to discover and experience cutting-edge research.

There will be eight activities, including “Cheers to Science,” “Guess the Country!”, “The Mind at Play,” “From the Sun to Movement,” and “gECO podcast.” One space will also be dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Friuli earthquake, exploring the history of seismic monitoring and the University’s research in this field. Another space will focus on UniTS’s public and social engagement and the role of the University’s Third Mission.

Special events

All of the major events at Trieste Next 2026 will be organised by UniTS.

The Festival’s opening evening, which was previously announced around a keynote lecture by archaeologist and anthropologist Lambros Malafouris, will feature a second guest: Umberto Galimberti.

The event, “The Shape of Thought,” will take place on Friday, September 25, starting at 8:30 p.m. at the Teatro Verdi in Trieste. Admission is free, with advance registration required.

The evening will begin with a keynote lecture by Malafouris, Professor of Cognitive and Anthropological Archaeology at the University of Oxford, introduced and moderated by Gabriele Beccaria, editor-in-chief of La Stampa’s Tuttoscienze science section. Malafouris proposes looking for the origins of consciousness not within the brain, but in the space where the body, environment and material culture intersect: an idea he calls STRANGE, Situated TRANsactional GEnesis. He also applies this perspective to one of the most pressing questions of the present day: what kind of people algorithms are turning us into.

This will be followed by a talk by Umberto Galimberti, one of Italy’s most widely read philosophers, essayists and psychoanalysts, entitled “The Misadventures of Truth.” Galimberti traces a genealogy of truth throughout the history of Western thought, from the Greek alétheia to the Hebrew emet, from Plato to modern science and from Christian faith to contemporary technology. He then explores what truth appears to have become today: effectiveness. If truth is merely what works, he asks, what room is left for critical thinking, and who decides what is true? His investigation addresses the crisis of democracy, the rhetoric of populism and the dominance of artificial intelligence, starting from a fundamental conviction: giving up on truth means giving up on humanity itself.

On Saturday, September 26, the special event “Being and Thought” will feature psychiatrist and writer Vittorino Andreoli. Meanwhile, renowned sociolinguist Vera Gheno will take part in the panel “Knowledge Is Not a Solitary Pursuit”, funded by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. She will engage in a dialogue with Regional Councillor Alessia Rosolen and UniTS Rector Donata Vianelli on the idea of shared knowledge built through relationships and cross-disciplinary exchange.

Also on Saturday evening, science will meet music: evolutionary biologist and philosopher of science Telmo Pievani will engage in a dialogue with Deproducers – Vittorio Cosma, Gianni Maroccolo and Riccardo Sinigallia – in a performance entitled “DNA – The Show That Makes Science Sound”, combining scientific outreach with musical languages.

View the full UniTS programme at Trieste Next 2026:

Friday, September 25

Saturday, September 26

Sunday, September 27

Cardiology at the University of Trieste received two European recognitions at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress in Munich.

Marco Merlo, Associate Professor of Cardiology and Coordinator of the Degree Programme in Medicine and Surgery at UniTS, has been elected Chairperson of the ESC Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases. Merlo also heads the Heart Failure and Cardiomyopathy Outpatient Clinic and leads clinical research within the Cardiology Department at ASUGI’s Cattinara Hospital, directed by Gianfranco Sinagra. His election reflects the Trieste group’s research into cardiomyopathies and heart failure, combining academic work with clinical care.

The congress also recognised “Impact of genetic testing on primary prevention ICD decision-making and clinical outcomes in dilated cardiomyopathy” as the best abstract in Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases. The research was presented by Annalisa Bernabei, a cardiology resident in Trieste.

Conducted under the scientific supervision of Alessia Paldino, Matteo Dal Ferro and Marco Merlo, the study examines the impact of genetic testing on decisions regarding implantable cardioverter-defibrillators for primary prevention and on clinical outcomes in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. It forms part of the Trieste Cardiology group’s clinical and translational research, aimed at translating scientific knowledge into tools for patient care.

On the occasion of World Alzheimer’s Day, observed today, 21 September, the University of Trieste will illuminate the façade of Building A in purple, renewing attention to a disease that represents one of the major health and social challenges associated with ageing. This year’s observance highlights a particularly dynamic phase in research, marked by the emergence of new therapeutic options and by advances in early diagnosis.

The 2026 international campaign promoted by Alzheimer’s Disease International is specifically dedicated to timely diagnosis, under the theme The Earlier You Know, The More You Can Do: A Dementia Diagnosis Matters. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the benefits that a diagnosis can offer people living with dementia and their families, enabling earlier access to treatment, support and care pathways, while also helping to overcome the stigma that still surrounds the disease.

“World Alzheimer’s Day comes at a time of profound change: for the first time, drugs are available that can remove amyloid from the brain and slow the progression of the disease in its early stages,” says Alberto Benussi, Professor of Neurology at the University of Trieste. The University Neurology Clinic at ASUGI is among the Italian centres involved in administering these treatments and studying their use in clinical practice.

Precisely because these therapies are more effective the earlier they are started, research in Trieste is also focusing on early diagnosis, through new blood biomarkers such as p-tau217, one of the tools currently attracting international research interest for its potential to make the identification of the disease earlier and more accurate.

A further line of research, particularly significant in a city and region that are naturally multilingual such as Trieste, concerns bilingualism. “By studying more than seven hundred people,” Professor Benussi continues, “the group observed that speaking more than one language is associated with greater cognitive reserve and with a better ability of the brain to withstand the effects of neurodegeneration.”

Is it possible to recover genetic information from plankton samples preserved in formalin for seven years? The answer is yes. This is demonstrated by a new study resulting from a collaboration between the University of Trieste (UniTS) and the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Research (OGS), recently published in the Journal of Plankton Research.

The study analysed samples of mesozooplankton collected in the Gulf of Trieste in 2017 and preserved in formalin for approximately seven years.

What is mesozooplankton? It refers to the community of small animal organisms that live in seawater and, although often invisible to the naked eye, play a fundamental role in marine ecosystems. It includes, for example, small crustaceans, larvae, and other organisms that form an essential component of the marine food web.

These organisms are normally identified under a microscope. This study instead applied DNA metabarcoding, extracting and sequencing genetic material from zooplankton samples collected and fixed in formalin. In practice, rather than searching for and identifying organisms one by one, the method analyses the “genetic code” present in the sample to reconstruct which species or groups of organisms are present.

Formalin damages DNA, making these analyses particularly challenging. Despite this obstacle, the researchers were able to recover a significant amount of biological information. Comparison with microscopic identification showed that the molecular method can identify a substantial proportion of the organisms present.

Historical collections as biodiversity archives

The most important finding of the study concerns future prospects. Research institutes and museums around the world hold vast historical collections of plankton, collected over decades and often preserved in formalin.

These samples could therefore represent not only archives of biodiversity observable under a microscope, but also genetic archives of marine life from the past.

Analysing them could make it possible to reconstruct how marine communities have changed over time, by comparing present-day biodiversity with that of decades ago. It could also help retrospectively identify the presence of non-native species, including during the early stages of their appearance in a given area.

The study was supported by the Interconnected Nord-Est Innovation Ecosystem (iNEST) and the National Biodiversity Future Center (NBFC)**, both funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR)**.