The Rome-based European BrainResearch Institute (EBRI) founded by the late Italian neurologist and 1986 Nobel Prize winner for medicine RitaLevi-Montalcini has received one million euro in funding from the ministry of universities and research, minister Anna Maria Bernini said on Wednesday.
"Commitment kept," said Bernini on X, formerly Twitter.
The EBRI will be funded with MUR resources to the tune of one million euros.
But we are not stopping here.
We are already studying a structural allocation that, unlike in the past, will guarantee continuity for the institute's work," she continued.
"Research is a government priority because it represents a fundamental driver of progress and development for our society," concluded Bernini.
The intervention became necessary after EBRI missed out on its regular annual funding allocation in the 2024 budget.
In late December EBRI President Antonino Cattaneo said in the absence of funding the institute established in 2002 would have to close.
"For the first time, after more than ten years, the contribution for structural costs that the EBRI Rita Levi-MontalciniFoundation has been receiving since 2012 through the Budget Lawhas not been renewed," said Cattaneo in a statement.
Consequently, the institute "will have to close", he added.
"It is a serious decision, for which the government must take responsibility," said the president.
On Wednesday Cattaneo expressed his satisfaction at the news.
"We are very happy and thank the minister for emphasizing the importance of a structural allocation," he told ANSA.
"This is the first time in many years that this topic is on the table and that the institutions, in the person of the ministerand in Mur, are addressing the issue of ensuring continuity toEBRI's research," added Cattaneo.
"This commitment acknowledges the strategic value that brainresearch has for our country.
It is in fact a field of research that has very important long-term implications, and so funding it means making long-term investment," he concluded.
Established in 2002 by Rita Levi-Montalcini, EBRI uses basic research to identify the molecular and cellular mechanisms that are useful for the development of new therapeutic strategies for neurological and neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease and senile dementia, amyotrophic lateralsclerosis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain, and neurodevelopmental disorders in children.
It also conducts studies on autism spectrum disorders, as well as rare genetic diseases.
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