Research & Innovation

Italy recorded an estimated 13,585 new cases of pancreatic cancer in 2024, and more than 90% of them were pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). With five-year survival of 11% in men and 12% in women, it is one of the hardest cancers to treat. Diagnosis often comes late, because the symptoms are...

How to use AI critically, and which skills will matter in a job market that AI is already reshaping: these are the questions we put to Roberto Mordacci, Full Professor of Moral Philosophy and Vice-Rector for Humanities and Social Sciences at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, and one of the...

Among large Italian and European companies, 90% now use artificial intelligence (AI) mainly for one task: translating emails. Professor Telmo Pievani, philosopher of biology and evolutionary biologist, who joins the University of Milan on 1 October 2026, cited the figure in his lecture at the...

The psychological impact of breast cancer can emerge before a diagnosis. It makes itself felt when a woman is invited for a routine mammogram and fear of the result leads her to put the test off, and it can stay with her throughout treatment, down to the way she comes to recognise herself in the...

The phenomenology of pain distinguishes localised pain from existential suffering, discusses lived time and empathy, and defines the difference between pain and suffering: what happens when we feel pain? We discuss it, on the occasion of Pain Awareness Month, with Professor Francesca De Vecchi,...

From how organisations relate to other people to the search for a shared corporate purpose, philosophy helps organisations tell simple change apart from genuine progress. We discuss this with Prof. Roberto Mordacci, Vice-Rector for Human and Social Sciences, Full Professor of Moral Philosophy and...

Behind the word serendipity lies the tale of a lost camel in a Persian fable. As the story goes, King Giaffar of Serendip once dispatched his three sons into the world to gain experience of life. Along their journey, the princes encountered a man who had lost his camel. Before he could utter a...

Predictive testing estimates the probability that a person will develop a given condition. For potential patients, that information can be valuable: knowing about a risk in advance can support prevention, guide lifestyle choices and allow earlier diagnosis, in some cases improving the outcome of...

Biological aging explains why life expectancy in Italy has doubled in just a century, rising from 40 to over 80 years. A century ago, families rarely lived long enough to see their grandchildren grow up, and adults barely past forty already looked elderly. Today the picture has changed: couples...