A project dedicated to Kawasaki disease, coordinated by the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo maternal and child health institute with the scientific contribution of the University of Trieste, has been awarded funding under the 2025 AIFA independent research call on rare diseases.

The study, funded with 983,000 euros, is one of 19 projects selected nationwide by the Italian Medicines Agency. Burlo will act as lead institution, with Prof. Andrea Taddio, Director of the Institute’s Paediatric Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology Unit and Associate Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Trieste.

The project aims to assess the use of anakinra, a biological drug targeting an inflammatory protein called IL-1, as a possible first-line treatment for Kawasaki disease. The approach is also innovative from a methodological point of view: the study will use control groups built from pre-existing clinical data, which will also be analysed through artificial intelligence tools.

Kawasaki disease is a rare inflammatory condition in children that affects blood vessels, particularly the coronary arteries, and can lead to cardiac complications. The standard treatment is intravenous immunoglobulin therapy, but a significant proportion of patients — around 20–25% — do not respond adequately, increasing the risk of severe clinical outcomes.

The aim of the study is therefore to generate new evidence on the efficacy of anakinra, while also assessing its safety, tolerability, impact on hospital stay and overall clinical outcomes.

“Receiving almost one million euros in funding is an important recognition of the scientific quality of the project and of the ability of the centres involved to work together on complex clinical challenges. The aim is to generate new scientific evidence that can translate into better treatment opportunities for children affected by this rare disease,” says Prof. Andrea Taddio, scientific coordinator of the project.

“Being included in the national AIFA ranking attests to the value of the clinical research developed by the network of professionals at our IRCCS and by the institutions collaborating within the Incipit Consortium. This result confirms the effectiveness of participatory research in generating innovation and new opportunities for patients,” says Anna Arbo, Director of the Hospital Pharmacy at Burlo.

The study was developed with the contribution of Prof. Gabriele Simonini, Director of the Paediatric Rheumatology Unit at the Meyer University Hospital IRCCS in Florence, and Prof. Marco Cattalini, Head of Paediatric Rheumatology at the ASST Spedali Civili di Brescia.

The Final Report of the Research Quality Assessment 2020–2024 (VQR4) by ANVUR — the Italian National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research Institutes — ranks the University of Trieste first among Italian universities in the following scientific disciplinary sectors:

- Architectural and urban design
- General and inorganic chemistry
- Medical genetics
- Physics applied to life sciences, the environment and cultural heritage
- Social psychology

UniTS also ranks second in the following sectors:

- Physical chemistry
- Stratigraphic and sedimentological geology
- Pathological anatomy
- Cardiovascular diseases

“The result of the latest ANVUR assessment reflects a University whose overall evaluation of publications is above the national average, one that promotes deserving researchers and, above all, acts as a hub for research with a strong impact on society,” comments Paolo Fornasiero, Vice-Rector for Research. “The latest data presented may also be underestimated, as disciplines involving only a small number of researchers, or those that did not submit at least 10 scientific works, are not included in the report for privacy reasons.”

The Final Report confirms the data released by ANVUR on 16 April: not only is the average evaluation of the 1,789 publications submitted for assessment higher than the national average, but in terms of knowledge valorisation — namely the impact of research on the local area and society — the University ranks sixth.

VQR4 assesses the results of scientific production, knowledge valorisation activities, the ability to attract competitive international projects and, for the first time on an experimental basis and limited to research bodies and voluntary institutions, research infrastructures.

The Royal Society of Chemistry has awarded Federico Rosei the 2026 Centenary Prize for Chemistry and Communication. The award recognizes his contributions to the design, synthesis, and characterization of nanomaterials for renewable energy applications, as well as his excellence in science communication.

The prize is part of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Research & Innovation Prizes, established to celebrate outstanding individuals who advance the chemical sciences in both academia and industry. Previous recipients include more than 20 Nobel Prize laureates.

“This is a great honor, especially when looking at the list of past award winners,” commented Professor Rosei.

The University of Trieste is also among the recipients of the 2026 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Horizon Prize, together with the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (China).

The award recognizes the development of innovative photocatalytic approaches for producing solar hydrogen from sustainable biomass, a promising technology for the energy transition and decarbonization.

For the University of Trieste, the team includes Professors Tiziano Montini and Paolo Fornasiero, Vice-Rector for Research. The international group also includes Professors Nenchao Luo and Feng Wang of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, partners in a well-established scientific collaboration spanning more than ten years.

Cooperation between the two groups has been supported over time through a bilateral program funded by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), highlighting the strategic value of scientific relations between Italy and China.

“This prestigious recognition confirms that only through strong, long-term international collaborations can we address and solve the major global challenges of our time, from sustainable energy to environmental protection,” the researchers involved emphasized.

Commenting on the awards conferred upon the University of Trieste researchers, Helen Pain, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal Society of Chemistry, stated:

“Chemistry and chemists are present everywhere in our daily lives and throughout society, and our awards are designed to celebrate this impact. The winners of the Research & Innovation Prizes include groups and individuals, professors and researchers, as well as people from around the world working across a wide range of roles and sectors. Each contribution plays a vital role in advancing human knowledge and improving the world in which we live. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to the faculty members of the University of Trieste. Winning an RSC award is an exceptional achievement: they now join a distinguished list of award recipients that began more than 150 years ago and includes dozens of individuals who later went on to receive the Nobel Prize.”

The Royal Society of Chemistry is an international organization that connects chemical scientists with one another, with scientists from other disciplines, and with society as a whole. Founded in 1841 and headquartered in London, it has more than 60,000 members worldwide.

PHOTO: Federico Rosei, Paolo Fornasiero, and Tiziano Montini.

An international study has revealed a new piece of Mars’ geological puzzle. The research, led by Brock University (St. Catharines, ON, Canada), in collaboration with the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, ON, Canada) and with the contribution of the University of Trieste, has identified for the first time the presence of garnet in a Martian meteorite, opening up new perspectives on the complexity of the processes that shaped the Red Planet.

The study, published in the international peer-reviewed journal Geochemical Perspectives Letters of the European Association of Geochemistry, involved Ana Černok, a researcher at the University of Trieste.

Garnet is a very common mineral on Earth, often associated with metamorphic rocks and with processes occurring under conditions of high temperature, high pressure or in the presence of hot fluids. Until now, however, it had never been recognised in samples from Mars or directly on the Martian surface. Its identification therefore expands the known mineralogical diversity of the planet and suggests the possibility that Mars may have undergone more complex geological processes than previously documented.

The sample analysed is a fragment of the Martian meteorite NWA 8171, preserved in the collections of the Royal Ontario Museum. During the mineralogical and chemical analyses, the research team identified an unexpected composition, initially attributed to a more common mineral such as pyroxene. Further investigations, carried out using specialised instruments, made it possible to recognise the presence of garnet.

The discovery could point to the existence of a previously unknown type of Martian rock, formed through metamorphic or metasomatic processes, or through new forms of magmatic differentiation. The authors of the study, however, remain cautious: further investigations will be required, particularly into the isotopic signatures of the sample, to establish whether the garnet actually formed on Mars or whether it has an “extra-Martian” origin, linked to a celestial body that was later incorporated into the planet’s surface.

Ana Černok’s contribution focused on the mineralogical and geochemical interpretation of the sample, drawing on her expertise in the study of meteorites and planetary materials. The scientific collaboration originated within the doctoral research of the first author, Tanya Kizovski, then based at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto and now a faculty member at Brock University. Černok contributed to this work as a member of the supervisory team and as a scientific mentor.

“If chemical elements are the letters of the alphabet, then minerals are the words through which planets tell their story,” explains Ana Černok. “Discovering a new mineral on another world is like finding a lost word from an ancient language. Garnet tells us that Mars experienced more complex geological processes than we previously thought, adding a new piece to the story of its evolution.”

The work is the result of an international collaboration involving institutions from Canada, the United Kingdom and Italy, including Brock University, the Royal Ontario Museum, the University of Toronto, the University of Portsmouth, The Open University and the University of Trieste.

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The study Expanding Mars’ lithologic diversity: discovery of a garnet-bearing clast in NWA 8171 was published in Geochemical Perspectives Letters.

Publication link: https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2619

A study published in Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences has unexpectedly found that rhythmic passive movements, such as rocking or carrying-like motions, can change the emotional state of domestic chicks, inducing both calming and pleasurable responses. The study, conducted by Cinzia Chiandetti, Andrea Dissegna and Paolo Gallina from the University of Trieste, and Lorenzo Scalera from the University of Udine, investigates the effects of rhythmic motion in animals outside the mammalian class.

In mammals, slow rhythmic passive motion has long been recognized as an important component of parental care: it can reduce crying, lower heart rate and promote sleep. In humans, anecdotal observations also suggest that faster rhythmic movements in babies and young children, such as playful tossing in the air, swinging or rides such as roller coasters, can elicit pleasure and excitement.

To test whether these effects also occur outside mammals, and to understand when motion shifts from a primarily calming function to a potentially pleasurable one, the research team observed domestic chicks while they were being rocked. The use of chicks to study this phenomenon is unprecedented: these animals are able to walk immediately after hatching and, unlike mammalian infants, are not carried by their mother.

During the experiment, individual chicks were placed inside an opaque box attached to a precision robotic arm, programmed to reproduce rocking and carrying-like motions while varying their frequency — slow or fast — and direction — horizontal or vertical. The animals’ emotional state was monitored non-invasively by recording their vocalizations.

The results show that slow rocking and slow carrying-like movements reduce so-called “contact calls”, vocalizations associated with discomfort, isolation or separation. This finding mirrors the calming effects of maternal carrying already documented in mammals.

A particularly significant result, however, concerns the possibility that specific forms of rhythmic movement can also induce a positive response. When the chicks were exposed to fast horizontal rocking or fast carrying-like movements, they emitted a significantly higher number of affiliative vocalizations — so-called brood calls — which are usually produced in safe and socially positive contexts and are considered indicators of a pleasurable state.

Taken together, the findings suggest that the calming effects of carrying and rocking observed in mammals may stem from a widespread sensitivity to rhythm and motion in animals.

As the study’s authors note: “Our findings expand the functional scope of rhythmic stimulation, positioning it as a regulator of affect with both calming and pleasurable dimensions across vertebrate lineages.”

Because chicks do not experience maternal carrying in their natural history, their sensitivity to rhythmic movement appears to reflect a deeply conserved mechanism across vertebrates, rather than a response to specific parental care strategies.

Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences is a multidisciplinary journal with more than two centuries of history, publishing high-impact research articles, reviews and perspective pieces dedicated to significant advances across all areas of scientific knowledge.

The journal is truly multidisciplinary in scope and welcomes contributions from researchers worldwide in the life sciences, physical sciences, social and behavioral sciences, environmental sciences, and the intersections among these fields.

www.nyas.org

An official delegation from the University of Trieste took part in Mbeya, Tanzania, in the launch event of the international development cooperation project Towards the next generation of sustainable quality coffee producers in South Tanzania (TNG), funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and coordinated by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.

The mission, which took place in the Mbeya region, in the Southern Highlands, marked an important step in the operational launch of the 36-month project and in the strengthening of institutional, scientific and educational relations between the University of Trieste and local partners. UniTS is involved in the project through three of its Departments – IUSLIT, DEAMS and DSV – confirming the interdisciplinary nature of the University’s contribution. The official delegation in Tanzania was composed of Prof. Ilaria Micheli, from the Department of Legal, Language, Interpreting and Translation Studies, coordinator of the project activities planned by the University, and Dr Matteo Carzedda, from the Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics.

The TNG project is based on a broad partnership that brings together, alongside the University of Trieste, Illycaffè, the Ernesto Illy Foundation, the Bari branch of CIHEAM – Mediterranean Agronomic Institute, the Regions of Mbeya, Songwe and Ruvuma, and the civil society organisation Café Africa – Tanzanian Branch.

The project aims to reach at least 12,000 local coffee producers in Southern Tanzania, contributing to the improvement of the production chain and to the development of a more sustainable, informed and resilient model. Within this framework, the role of UniTS is twofold, combining applied scientific research and knowledge transfer.

The research activities will focus on understanding the effects of climate change on the territory and identifying possible mitigation strategies, with the contribution of Giovanni Bacaro and Alberto Pallavicini from DSV; enhancing local practices and facilitating communication between farmers and trainers through the creation of multilingual technical-cultural vocabularies and manuals, under the coordination of Ilaria Micheli; and identifying economic and agricultural strategies suited to the local context, with the aim of strengthening farmers and improving the value of the raw material in the early stages of the value chain, with the contribution of Matteo Carzedda, Gianluigi Gallenti, Giuseppe Borruso and Barbara Campisi. Based on the evidence emerging from the research activities, the most appropriate content and methods will be defined for the training of local stakeholders and beneficiaries.

The official launch of the project took place in the conference hall of the Eden Highlands Hotel in Mbeya, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Tanzania, Giuseppe Sean Coppola, a UniTS alumnus; Paolo Razzini, AICS representative in Tanzania; Stefano Zannier, Friuli Venezia Giulia Regional Councillor for Agri-food, Forestry, Fishery and Mountain Resources; the highest authorities of the governments of the three Southern Tanzanian Regions involved in the project; and representatives of the Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST) and the Catholic University of Mbeya (CUoM), which will support the University of Trieste in its activities on site.

During the meeting, Ambassador Giuseppe Sean Coppola and Paolo Razzini highlighted the value of a particularly broad and diversified partnership, in which public bodies, universities, research institutions, companies and civil society organisations work together to pursue common goals. Research, technology transfer and training are the three pillars on which to build a shared development pathway, capable of generating concrete benefits for local communities and for the coffee supply chain as a whole.

The presence of the UniTS delegation in Tanzania also made it possible to strengthen cooperation with local academic institutions. The University’s representatives met with colleagues from MUST and CUoM to define how the two universities will support the project and to lay the foundations for future joint initiatives in the fields of development cooperation, research and international exchange of academic staff, technical and administrative staff, and students.

These collaborations will be developed within the framework of Memoranda of Understanding involving the University as a whole. The first agreement, with the Catholic University of Mbeya, was signed during the project launch, in the presence of the Italian Ambassador, the Regional Councillor and the Bishop of Mbeya, Wolfgang Pisa. The process for signing the agreement with the Mbeya University of Science and Technology is also nearing completion.

The mission also allowed the UniTS delegation to learn more about other international cooperation projects funded by AICS in the Mbeya region and carried out by civil society organisations and Italian volunteers, with particular attention to initiatives dedicated to children with disabilities. In this context, the delegation also visited the Utengule Coffee Plantation, one of the most advanced local organisations in coffee cultivation and selection, with which promising synergies were identified for the next phases of the project.

A significant part of the mission was also devoted to observing field training activities for operators of central coffee pulping units and for representatives of local AMCOS cooperatives in the Mbeya and Songwe regions. The training, led by Francesca Pellis and Gianluca Malvicini from Illycaffè, provided an initial opportunity for operational discussion on the needs of the supply chain and on the most effective ways to support local producers in improving the quality and sustainability of the production process.

The next step for the University of Trieste will be the selection of three research fellows who will support the academic staff in the field activities. The fellows will acquire specific skills and work closely with local networks, contributing to the continuity of the project activities and to their long-term integration within the territory.

Accessible tourism does not begin when people reach their destination, but much earlier: when someone looks for information, checks whether a facility truly meets their needs and tries to understand whether they will be able to enjoy an experience independently and safely.

This is one of the main messages that emerged from the final event of DATIS – Digital Pioneers of Accessible Tourism, a project funded by the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia 2021-2027 Programme, held on Tuesday 19 May 2026 at the Grand Hotel Entourage in Gorizia. The event, entitled Accessible tourism starts with accessible information, provided an opportunity to present the results to tourism and social-sector operators, institutions, organisations representing people with disabilities, researchers and accessibility experts from Italy and Slovenia.

In this process, the University of Trieste played a central role through its Department of Political and Social Sciences, contributing to the development of the project’s scientific basis and to the analysis of the real needs of the people involved. The research coordinated by UniTS collected more than 400 questionnaires from people with disabilities, interviewed online and in person, and explored the topic further through interviews and focus groups with around 50 people with visual, cognitive and mental disabilities, as well as operators, caregivers and family members.

The work was led for UniTS by Moreno Zago, Professor of Responsible Tourism Practices, with the support of the Quolity team, composed of Luca Bianchi, Marta Candussi and Francesca Samogizio. The University’s contribution made it possible to translate data, experiences and testimonies into useful guidance for tourism operators, institutions and local communities, with the aim of designing more accessible services, more reliable information and genuinely inclusive pathways.

Through a cross-border sample survey, in-depth interviews with people with disabilities, and analyses of accommodation facilities and tourism websites, DATIS connected physical, digital and communication accessibility, highlighting how decisive the quality of information is in making travel a truly possible and inclusive experience.

One figure shows the relevance of the issue particularly clearly: for more than 90 per cent of people with motor, sensory, cognitive or age-related disabilities, travelling is considered quite or very important. Travel is not only a leisure activity, but an experience that contributes to physical and mental well-being, strengthens autonomy and self-confidence, and helps counter social isolation.

At the same time, barriers continue to limit the right to travel for all. These are not only physical obstacles, but also incomplete, poorly readable or unreliable information, which can generate “false accessibility”: facilities or services presented as accessible, but not actually suited to people’s needs. Although respondents generally reported being treated respectfully, only 17 per cent of the people involved considered staff adequately prepared to respond to the needs and expectations of people with disabilities.

Digital tools are now one of the main gateways to travel: almost 60 per cent of the people involved use online tools to organise their tourism experiences. However, one third of the sample avoided choosing a destination precisely because of the lack of accessible information online. Complex navigation, poorly readable texts, lack of inclusive support tools and inaccessible content can become barriers as concrete as an architectural obstacle.

The analysis carried out as part of DATIS on 100 tourism websites in the cross-border area confirmed this critical issue: many portals are visually modern and technically structured, but still not fully usable by everyone. The average level of digital accessibility detected was 37 per cent for Slovenian tourism operators and 40 per cent for Italian operators.

The project’s results also include the DATIS web database, designed to make information on the digital accessibility of tourism operators in the cross-border area more visible and verifiable, together with guidelines and a strategy for more accessible tourism communication. These are useful tools both for people planning their journey and for operators seeking to improve the quality and clarity of the information they provide.

Specific attention was also given to pilot activities carried out at the Museums of Monte San Michele in Sagrado and the Museum of Industrial Heritage in Ajdovščina, involving people with visual, cognitive and mental disabilities. The pilot activities showed how immersive technologies, digital accessibility and multisensory content can transform cultural heritage into a more inclusive experience, provided that the solutions are simple, accessible and accompanied by adequate human support.

The direct involvement of people with disabilities is one of the central elements to emerge from the project. Accessible solutions cannot be designed solely on the basis of formal standards or technical checks, but must be built through listening to users, co-design and the concrete evaluation of experiences.

Climate change can significantly affect wine quality, but its effects are not the same across all varieties. This is the focus of the study Climate and the quality of wine: Whites vs. reds, published in Open Access in the Journal of Cleaner Production and conducted by a UniTS research group.

The study is authored by Giovanni Millo, Paolo Bogoni, Barbara Campisi, Matteo Carzedda, Gianluigi Gallenti, Valentino Riva and Gaetano Carmeci. The work is part of the project “Climate change and sustainability of viticulture in the Collio Goriziano area”, launched within the Department of Economics, Business, Mathematics and Statistics “Bruno de Finetti” (DEAMS) and funded by Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Gorizia.

The study focuses on Collio, a wine-growing area in Friuli Venezia Giulia where both white and red wines are produced, offering a suitable context for a comparative analysis of the effects of weather conditions on wine quality. The aim of the research is to understand how climate variables, such as temperatures and seasonal patterns, may influence the final quality of the product.

Wine quality depends on many factors. Some are relatively stable or controllable, such as soil, winemaking techniques and the characteristics of the territory. Others, however, are beyond the producers’ control, such as climate, weather variability and extreme events.

The results show that white wines respond to weather conditions differently from red wines. In particular, the study highlights a delicate balance between spring and summer temperatures, with effects that may vary significantly even between individual varieties. Climate change, therefore, does not produce uniform consequences, but requires specific analyses by territory, grape variety and type of wine.

The study provides useful insights not only from a scientific perspective, but also for producers and policymakers. Understanding which varieties are more or less sensitive to climate conditions can help define adaptation strategies, including targeted choices in vineyard management and in the selection of the varieties best suited to new climate scenarios.

The research project also had an educational impact: the funding made it possible to support a two-year research fellowship, which later developed into a doctoral path within the University’s PhD Programme in Circular Economy.

Silvia Palmisano, Director of the UniTS School of Specialization in General Surgery, has been appointed member of the European Surgical Association (ESA).

The appointment confirms the value and visibility of the Trieste surgical school within the European context, further strengthening the role of the University as a centre of excellence in medical and surgical education and research.

Founded in 1993, the European Surgical Association is one of the most prestigious surgical organizations in Europe and serves as a leading reference point for the promotion of science and research in the field of surgery. ESA plays a central role as an international forum for presenting state-of-the-art developments and the most advanced innovations in both general and specialist surgery, contributing to the continuous improvement of professional standards.

Its members come from leading European academic and medical institutions and represent excellence in the field, sharing knowledge, experience and research outcomes at an international level.

Dr Antonella Muzzo, research fellow at the University of Trieste, has received the ASCPT Presidential Trainee Award, a prestigious recognition granted by the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) to early-career researchers who have distinguished themselves for scientific excellence.

Each year, the Scientific Program Committee selects the highest-scoring abstracts submitted by clinical pharmacologists and translational researchers in training, granting them special recognition as part of the Society’s Annual Meeting.

The award was granted for the doctoral research project carried out at the Department of Medical, Surgical and Health Sciences of the University of Trieste and at IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, under the supervision of Professors Marianna Lucafò, Giuliana Decorti and Gabriele Stocco.

The work was presented as a poster entitled “Thiopurine treatment responses in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease are determined by a newly identified TRIM32-cGAS-STING pathway: a pharmacokinetic study in organoids”.

The project also involved the Department of Life Sciences, with which Professors Lucafò and Meroni and Dr Lazzari are affiliated.

The study provides an integrated analysis of the molecular and pharmacokinetic mechanisms that regulate the response to thiopurines in paediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), using an innovative, patient-specific preclinical model: intestinal organoids derived from patients affected by IBD.

For the first time, the research demonstrates that thiopurines exert direct pharmacological effects on intestinal epithelial cells, in addition to their well-known systemic immunosuppressive actions. The findings also highlight significant interindividual variability in treatment response, mainly determined by pharmacokinetic factors.

At the intestinal cell level, thiopurines show an anti-inflammatory effect by acting on specific molecular mechanisms involved in inflammation, including the TRIM32-cGAS-STING and NF-κB/p65 pathways.

Overall, these findings contribute to the development of personalised therapeutic strategies and to the identification of new potential therapeutic approaches in the paediatric field.