Florence – “For the high value of his contribution to scientific progress and the dissemination of knowledge, along with his official activity as a Member of Parliament.” This is the reason for awarding the award Planet Galileo 2022 For professor and senator for life Elena Cataneo. The President of the Regional Council presented her with the prestigious award this morning in the council chamber of the Palazzo del Pegasso Antonio Mazzio President of the regional student parliament Maria Vittoria D’Annunzio. The ceremony was attended by a delegation from the Regional Parliament of Students and Grade 5 C of the AM Enriques Agnoletti State Institute of Higher Education in Sesto Fiorentino.
Elena Cataneo Professor of Pharmacology, Co-Founder and Director Stem Cell Research Center “UniStem” at the University of Milan. He directs the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Pharmacology for Neurodegenerative Diseases at the Department of Biosciences of the University of Milan, in agreement with the National Institute of Molecular Genetics. She is known for her studies of Huntington’s disease, working with the aim of understanding its pathogenesis, slowing its course or preventing its onset.
She is the author of books “Everyday Between Science and Politics” (Mondadori, 2016) and “Armati di Senza” (Cortina, 2021). Academician of Lincei, W August 30, 2013 he was appointed Senator for life by President Giorgio Napolitano.
It is a tribute to the great research work that Senator Cattaneo has done for many years now – said the President – Mazzeo – which has contributed to Italy’s position in the world, but also a prize for the many women, girls and boys who work hard in the world of research. I am very fond of the Planet Galileo project because it speaks to girls and boys, it spreads science and knowledge: I am convinced that this is a very beautiful and important thing. As an institution, as a regional council, we will continue to implement these initiatives because only when there is more science and more knowledge, there is more freedom.
The Senator gave a master’s lecture on the “Adventure of Knowledge”, which was very engaging for the students and raised many questions.
“I am very happy about this recognition and I thank the region of Tuscany for the concern it shows towards young people. This student parliament is something surprising, an initiative I would like to know more about: I will meet with them, we will talk to each other and, I hope, we will continue to meet, ”said the senator. Cattaneo. “I hope that today there will be greater awareness of the fact that science and its method are the compass to which we must guide us in stormy seas. Science is nothing more than a way to deepen and understand how things exist around us. It conquers bits of knowledge for all of us, and makes them available with data and evidence and evidence that is visible, public, verifiable, and reproducible. It would be absurd, with the wealth of experience we have, to come to decisions independent of facts, so I hope that more and more legislative decisions will incorporate evidence and scientific evidence.”
“We are really grateful for this opportunity to discuss with the senator – he said Maria Vittoria D’Annunzio Parliament is the institution it represents 160 thousand students We are confident that we will be able to use this moment as an opportunity to raise awareness not only of this legislature, but also of those who will come.”
Established in 2017, the Pianeta Galileo Prize aims to honor a pioneering figure in the scientific field who has combined significant research activity with an active interest in scientific publication and communication, especially towards younger generations.
“Professor and Senator for Life in the Republic Elena Cattaneo perfectly meets these requirements – explained the professor at the University of Siena Stephen Ciampimember of the Scientific Committee of the Prize – because in addition to scientific activity at the highest level, she has always done her best to spread culture through initiatives aimed at youth, and as a Member of Parliament, she makes her authority felt in another field than from which she came.
Dean of the University of Siena, Robert DePetraVice Chancellor of the University of Florence Giovanni Tarle BarbieriAnd the Marco Machiadelegate of the Dean of the University of Pisa for relations with the region, Hilaria BaroniRepresentative of the Tuscany Regional School Office.
The Rector of the University of Siena said: “This award represents a beautiful moment recognizing the importance of science in our society Robert DePetra – We must give space to the role of science not only in universities but in society, especially at times when approaches are being questioned that do not do justice to what science has done for the development of our society and the contribution it has made in the last two years of epidemiological emergencies.
Hilaria Baroni And remember how the award is part of the Planet Galileo project, required by the regional school office as well as by the university and the district, which was able to benefit high school students. “I find the senator’s award for her role as a scientist of the highest caliber and as a woman spreading science very important – she said – also for her mediating role towards young people,” she said.
Cattaneo dedicated the first part of the lesson to Rita Levi-Montalcini “a model of the inclusive scientist who had the strength to grow her ideas against all odds,” said the senator, and Catalin Carico, a pioneer in Vaccines to me mRNA. “In every historical period there are tribulations that seem to want to prevent science from working,” said the senator, “but with commitment, will and transparency, solutions can be found, as the stories of these two great scientists show.”
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