With the help of 114 million euros, Italy established Heal Italia, the first national supply chain devoted to Precision Medicine research and innovation. Proposed by the University of Palermo in collaboration with eleven other institutions of higher education, Heal Italia (Health Extended Alliance for Innovative Therapies, Advanced Laboratory Research, and Integrated Approaches to Precision Medicine) is the first national network of scientists, technicians, and young researchers working to usher the Italian National Health System into the age of Precision Medicine. New methodologies, new services, and a network of clinical data will be evaluated to enable translational research for advanced cancer and cardiovascular, metabolic, and uncommon disease diagnosis and treatment. Within this initiative, the Bi-Rex-Competence Center of Bologna, which specializes in Big Data, will play a crucial role by facilitating digital transformation and Big Data Management procedures aimed at the healthcare, pharmaceutical, research, and innovation sectors. The research team now comprises of 350 researchers and will be reinforced further with the recruitment of more than one hundred additional researchers and the training of over one hundred PhD students. Professor of Technical Sciences in Laboratory Medicine Giorgio Stassi is leading this effort to "identify and minimize the health disparities that are exceptionally vast between North and South Italy, building a roadmap of interregional cooperation to create novel techniques based on scientific evidence and easily useable in clinical practice".
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