Humanitas is what is known in Italy as an Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS: a Scientific Institute of Admission and Care) that has been recognised by the Ministry of Health and Lombardy’s Regional Government as a centre of excellence in terms of the quality of its healthcare services and its ability to translate the results of research and innovation into everyday clinical practice.

Research is the driving force of scientific dynamics and essential for extending the breadth and depth of knowledge: in Humanitas, it has been planned as an integral part of the training of physicians because of its natural interaction with clinical skills. This is why the Humanitas Research Foundation was established with the aim of supporting and orienting basic and clinical research with scientific and technological high-profile, and promoting the training of young researchers in an international dimension.

Internationalisation is a key element in Humanitas’ research as it provides a point of reference and comparison with academics from all over the world.

The currently ongoing basic and clinical research projects include verifying the efficacy of new drugs, identifying genetic characteristics that can be used to diagnose and treat oncological diseases, defining innovative diagnostic methods, and developing increasing advanced operating techniques thanks to the support provided by new technologies.

In terms of basic research, the work of the immunology laboratories is particularly important because it is focused on the inflammatory mechanisms underlying the formation and development of diseases ranging from cancer to inflammatory gastrointestinal and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to applied molecular biology studies mainly in the fields of gastroenterology and oncology.

The projects are characterised by the application of the so-called “translational” model, which is based on the integration of laboratory and clinical activities in order to allow the continuous exchange of information necessary to ensure that research results are transferred to a patient’s bedside as rapidly as possible.

The research work of Humanitas is also carried out in collaboration with other national and international institutions, such as Fondazione Michele Rodriguez (dedicated to scientific quantitative measurements in medicine), Fondazione ARIEL (active in the field of infantile neuromotor sciences), and Fondazione Mercuriale, which is involved in biological and biomechanical research in the field of orthopedics.

Undergraduate and post-graduate training

Humanitas hosts the International Medical School, offered by Università degli Studi di Milano (www.mimed.it). It combines academic training and hospital experience as well as laboratory research. The degree distinctive features are here presented:

• international profile, with lessons held in English by Italian professors and contributions from European and North American visiting professors
• innovative teaching methods: problem base learning through structured training problems, small study groups, and discussions of medical cases. Exchange programmes with foreign universities are also foreseen as a milestone of the study path.
• highly integrated curriculum, with the teaching activities and different courses are divided into blocks right from the start, with closely linked, integrated content for a limited number of students, targeted trainings could be followed at Milan Faculty, as part of the MD-PhD medical research degree
• particular attention is paid to students welcoming, by creating both meetings with skilled medical professionals and a sense of academic community between students and teaching staff.

The idea of combining clinical with scientific and research activities means that Humanitas is involved in both undergraduate and post-graduate training projects. It is recognised as a university centre of education and training in which, as a result of agreements with the most important universities in Italy, undergraduate medical students and physicians attending different post-graduate schools undertake a part of their training by participating in the clinical activities of the hospital’s Operating Units directed by university-appointed teachers.

Istituto Clinico Humanitas is also the site of Milan University’s Nursing degree course - the teaching of which is based on theoretical lessons in clinical, humanist and nursing disciplines, as well as practical training in various hospital services - and Biotechnologies.