Molecular biologist Giulio Superti-Furga has been selected by the Italian Ri.MED Foundation and UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) for the position of director of the new Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC) currently under construction in Sicily. Superti-Furga currently heads the Research Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), is a professor for Medical Systems Biology at the Medical University of Vienna and a member of the ÖAW. He will remain part of CeMM in Vienna.
Superti-Furga will initially support the Ri.MED Foundation with consultancy services of one week per month, to advise on the organisation of the new research center, until the buildings are completed. The goal is to create an international hub where the relationship of humans with the environment will serve as a new perspective approach for cutting-edge biomedical and biotechnological research. The results will be rapidly translated into innovative clinical procedures and products.
The designated BRBC Director Superti-Furga: “I am extremely pleased to be able to apply my experience in the management and organisation of cutting-edge research institutions to a promising international project. As geographical and historical center of the Mediterranean, Sicily can become a cultural interface and a hub of scientific innovation. A dense international cooperation network will be part of the research strategy".