Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo (Neuromed)

The Institute is accredited with the National and Regional Health Service, for both activities of outpatient and hospitalization, with 41 clinical specialties. It is recognized by the Italian Ministry of Health as Scientific Institute for Hospitalisation, Treatment and Research (IRCCS). Research is carried out at the Research centre and is essentially used to update knowledge and offer patients advanced care. Neuromed research is focused on the study of the molecular mechanisms involved in the anatomo physiology of cells and systems (neuro and related cardiovascular) and in the processes of neurodegeneration / neuroprotection and is aimed at identifying new "targets" for symptomatic and neuroprotective drugs that are potentially used in stroke and in the main chronic neurodegenerative diseases.

The Department of Epidemiology and Prevention (DEP) completes Neuromed's experimental and clinical research with epidemiology, adding to the traditional diagnosis and treatment activities those of prevention, at the population level, of chronic degenerative diseases. The DEP has a long-lasting experience in nutritional and molecular epidemiology and nutraceuticals and, at present, it leads and coordinates numerous national and international projects focused on the diet-health relationship for a total of approximately € 14 million in the last five years.

DEP brings together a strong interdisciplinary team involving researchers from several different and complementary areas: nutritional epidemiologists, nutritionists, statisticians, bioinformatics, pharmacologists, molecular biologists, geneticists, science communicators. DEP has successfully managed a vast number of competitive projects. The Moli-sani Study, a large population-based cohort including over 24,000 subjects from the general population, pays great attention to diet and nutrition as key determinants of human health, with a particular focus on the Mediterranean diet, as well as on the socioeconomic and psychosocial factors associated with adherence to healthful diets and lifestyle. More than one hundred studies on the diet-health relationship from the Moli-sani data have been published to date. 

Over the years, the Neuromed Institute has strengthened its ability to network with national and international research structures capable of giving added value to research, training and clinical performance activities by signing numerous agreements with bodies of excellence. Scientists at DEP are active members of the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and of the Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS). The DEP is involved in the Global Dietary Database (GDD; https://www.globaldietarydatabase.org/).