L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 26 L'Italo-Americano T he connections between Silicon Val- ley and the Italian Regions expand as the P res ident of Regione Tos cana, Enrico Rossi, visited San Francisco and the Bay Area late in January. D uring his four-day s tay, Mr Rossi, accompanied by the Italian Consul General, Loren- zo Ortona, had the opportunity to meet many Italian expats who left their mark in the Bay Area during the last years. From visits at biotech compa- nies to a panel on the future of the European Union and a talk about Blockchain and Bitcoin, Mr Rossi reflected on potential opportunities that could foster relations between Califor- nia and Tuscany. Tuscany is today the third Italian region for international investments, after Lombardy and Lazio, and is also leading innovation efforts , thanks to local companies and startups focused on robotics and biotech. It's not by s urpris e that Mr Rossi opened his visit with a meeting at Genentech, the first pharmaceutical company in the United States, whose develop- ment is also possible through the collaboration with other compa- nies, as 36% of its sales comes from partnering activities. Tus cany is today home to Toscana Life Sciences, a non- profit organization supporting research activities and promoting the creation of innovative com- panies in the life sciences field. Active since 2005, it has been working on research activities in life science and, in particular, on sustaining the development of projects from basic research to industrial application. D u r i n g o u r c o n v e r s a t i o n , M r R o s s i u n d e r l i n e d t h a t "Toscana Life Sciences is an organization based in Siena that supports research activities and encourages innovation in the life sciences field, on the whole ter- ritory. We support it because the organization has shown the abili- ty to manage the entire techno- logical field related to life sci- e n c e s . " H e c o n t i n u e d : "Personalized medicine is one of the things we would like to focus more on to make our health sys- t e m b e t t e r . A l t h o u g h research is mainly done in the l a b , t h e b r o a d e r i d e a i s t o take it on a larger scale, outside the lab itself. The final goal for us, as local government, is to get some savings in terms of public spending." The visit at Genentech was followed by another important meeting, this time at IBM, where t w o I t a l i a n s c i e n t i s t s i n t r o - duced Mr Rossi to their work in SERENA PERFETTO s o m u c h h o m e l e s s n e s s , i n a place known for its wealth. I hope this problem will be solved with kindness and humanity. San Francisco is a beautiful place but, if nobody takes care of fixing this issue, it will dam- age the image of the city. I am sure local politicians will work hard to solve this problem. On a different note, I was surprised to see many successful Italians here, yet, too many young peo- ple who left our country because of the lack of opportunities. What do you think about th e presence of so many Ital- i a n s h e r e , a n d h o w d o y o u compare it with the situation in Italy? I think that brain and people c i r c u l a t i o n i s s u r e l y a g o o d thing, however in Italy it is not happening the way it is sup- posed to. There is no actual brain circulation because many young people leave but they a r e n ' t r e p l a c e d b y s i m i l a r skillset. There are no public or private investments that can help or support skilled and smart people from other countries, so we only see Italians migrating a n d n o t h i n g h a p p e n i n g i n the other direction. What's your take on the lack of investments in Italy? Unfortunately, our political s y s t e m i s n o t h e l p i n g p e o p l e w h o w a n t o r w i s h t o i n v e s t . S i l i c o n V a l l e y h a s become the place where things happen because, in my opinion, scientists, professionals, and intellectuals come together to create something special. In these days, the Leonardo da Vinci Society - San Francisco Chapter launched the program for the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death, with a special prize, called Leonar- do500, that will recognize Ital- ian or Italian American early career researchers working in the San Francisco Bay Area. A c c o r d i n g t o P r e s i d e n t Rossi, who met with the local representatives of the Leonardo d a V i n c i S o c i e t y , " T u s c a n y has a heritage that speaks to everybody in the world. While globalization seems to prevail, people feel the need of looking at this heritage and learn all things related to humanistic studies. Though he was born in Vinci and worked in Tuscany, people from my land are proud to believe that Leonardo belongs to everybody and his genius benefits everybody all around the world". Artificial Intelligence and Engi- n e e r i n g . T h e v i s i t b e c a m e a moment to think of a possible partnership on the tech side. That became obvious especially w h e n S i m o n e B i a n c o - w h o graduated at the University of Pisa, Italy, and got his PhD in Physics from the University of N o r t h T e x a s - n o w t h e s i t e Director of the Center for Cellu- lar Construction, explained his work towards transforming cell biology into an engineering dis- cipline, aiming to understand the design principles of viral defec- tive interfering particles to be used as antiviral therapy. On Thursday, the Institute of European Studies, Department of Italian Studies at UC Berke- ley, shifted the focus on politics, society, and the challenges of globalization. The conversa- tion placed attention on Italy and the European Union while they both undergo a delicate political moment. Journalist Marco Deaglio and President Rossi reflected on the key role played by Italy in international relations in order to advance the EU's objectives to promote sta- bility, safeguard diversity, and stimulate economic growth. President Rossi, what did you find in Silicon Valley that you did not expect? The visits and the meetings we attended showed and dis- cussed important subjects relat- ed to research and innovation. It looks like the Bay Area is the place where everything comes t o g e t h e r , w h e r e E a s t m e e t s West, and where things happen. What surprises me the most is the fact that there are no bound- aries between applied research and basic research, on the other hand there is an incredible level of research done with a specific goal, with the support of either the public government or the private sector, or both. W h i c h k i n d o f r e l a t i o n s can Regione Toscana build on the basis of what you discov- ered here? We need to keep on talking and meeting. The Consul Gener- al offered his support and we are very happy about this. Tuscany has a center of research that can be a good starting point, because is also well known abroad. We are interested in a kind of per- sonalized healthcare system and many companies here are now focusing on this. They will need to make experiments for their products and we would like to be part of it and take this oppor- tunity when it comes. Thanks to the the support we have been giving to Toscana Life Sciences, we can surely work together towards this goal. Is there anything that real- ly struck you? I w a s c o n c e r n e d t o s e e Silicon Valley and Regione Toscana looking to build relations between biotech and health system, research and innovation SAN FRANCISCO ITALIAN COMMUNITY From left, President Rossi, Catherine Stefani, and Consul General Lorenzo Ortona during the opening celebrations for Leo- nardo 500 Anniversary @Enrica Cavalli

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