December 22, 2017

The ASSET Final Event was held in Rome, on October 30-31, to present all the main outcomes of the project. The event was targeted to a selected audience of EU stakeholders and policy makers and its aim was to enhance advocacy and intersectoral approach in a multisetting scenario applied to fostering preparedness and response toward Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), like epidemics and even pandemics. In conjunction with the conference, a brokerage event also took place where coordinators of other H2020 projects with a focus on similar challenges were able to present themselves and show their expertise.

December 11, 2017

We are going to face important challenges in public health and we need to improve the collaboration between scientists and policy-makers. Walter Ricciardi, President of the Italian National Institute of Health, explains why science-in-society is not just a slogan but a key perspective for citizens, scientists, healthcare workers and politicians.

October 24, 2017

EUPATI, European Patients’ Academy on Therapeutic Innovation, is a patient-led initiative that uses training courses, educational material and an online public library for empowering patients to engage more effectively in the development and approval of new treatments and become true partners in pharmaceutical research and development. Filippo Buccella, chairman of the Italian Liaison Team explains to ASSET how this initiative can involve healthy citizens as well, improving preparedness to infectious outbreaks and other crises.

October 16, 2017

The internet and social media era is both a great and a hard time to be an empowered patient or citizen. Every day everyone is overwhelmed by information, but also by misinformation. Discerning between the two is not so easy, according to Dennis Costello, Web Communications Senior Manager & RareConnect Leader at EURORDIS (Rare Diseases Europe). Best practices should be adopted by creators of contents and technical tools can further help in selecting them, but patients’ and consumers’ associations have a leading role in this, guiding the public so that they can make better decisions for themselves and their family.

October 11, 2017

The growing role of Big Data in medicine raises an ethical issue for Responsible Research and Innovation: what about privacy and a possible misuse of such information? During “Shaping the Future of Pediatrics” congress in Rome, ASSET met Alberto Tozzi, Research area coordinator and Head of Digital Medicine and Telemedicine Unit at Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Rome. He suggests that technical solutions can help, but they are not enough, without a cooperation among all the actors (patients, family, hospital, authorities, and so on).