The Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neurosciences intends to respond with responsibility, scientific rigor and innovation to the challenges that concern the educational and scientific sector of health. The mission of the Department is divided into three dimensions: research, teaching and third mission.
On the scientific level, the objectives pursued by the Department are the study of the morphology, biochemistry, physiology and pathology of biological processes, the study of cognitive processes and their neural correlates, studies on the genetic and genomic bases of diseases, the search for new pharmacological approaches and, more generally, for diagnosis and therapy in the cardiovascular, endocrine-metabolic, neurological, psychiatric, oncological and skeletal fields, research in the epidemiological and public health fields, as well as research on mental health, from neurobiological to psychosocial aspects, with particular attention to developmental age. These lines of research are based on an approach that integrates basic and clinical sciences and on study methods that include experimental approaches in silico, in vitro (on cellular and molecular systems) and in vivo (on animal models and humans).
The Department carries out its teaching activity in pre- and post-graduate courses of study within
the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery, to whose Mission it adheres, and to which it provides a substantial and highly qualified fraction of the teaching staff, ensuring the teaching
of most of the basic and psychological disciplines, of Public Health, of
Vascular Surgery, Endocrinology, Geriatrics, Neurology and Psychiatry and of a
significant part of Internal Medicine.
The Department includes the directors/coordinators of the Doctoral Schools in
Clinical and Experimental Medicine and in Neuroscience, of the Specialization Schools in Cardiology,
Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, Pharmacology and Clinical Toxicology, Geriatrics,
Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, Diseases of the Cardiovascular System, Occupational Medicine, Forensic
Medicine, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Child Neuropsychiatry, Psychiatry and
Nutrition Science.
The healthcare facilities supporting teaching and clinical research activities are located
at the Modena University Hospital (Modena and Baggiovara campuses) and
the Arcispedale S. Maria Nuova in Reggio Emilia.
The Department recognizes the importance of the Third Mission as a natural complement
to its fundamental functions of training and research and as a tool to
contribute to the well-being and development of the community, spreading
scientific culture in general and the knowledge acquired through the Department's research in
particular throughout society. The Department makes it a strategic objective of the University, namely to strengthen collaborations with the social and economic context, also in order to increase the valorization of research results. Furthermore, the Department recognizes the need to
enhance non-curricular lifelong learning and open teaching to address changes in the world of work and the need to continuously update and strengthen citizens' skills and competences and aims to significantly increase the contribution given to ongoing and recurrent training. Finally, the Department aims to give an important boost to the activation of a wider range of ongoing training aimed at medical-health personnel working in hospital and territorial facilities, to address evolving training and professional needs, also related to communication between medical personnel and patients and to strengthen the facilities in the territory.
The Three-Year Plan represents the planning document that outlines the strategic vision of the Department . This document describes the main objectives and the actions considered to have the greatest impact on teaching, research and third mission activities.