Proposal for the establishment of a cross border adriatic clinical network of centers for medically assisted reproduction and regenerative medicine

The FUTURE MEDICINE project is in fact the synthesis and further development of two projects that have already received EU-funding under the INTERREG IIIA Programme, Futuro Donna and Adriatic Telemed, whose objectives included the acknowledgement by health operators of the patient’s right to self-determination, putting emphasis on health as a collective good, and making medical care more humane. All this was achieved through constant training of different teams of doctors specialized in the field concerned, which involved holding very frequent meetings as well as clinical meetings at some of Italy’s best professional centers. The actions foreseen will be implemented in the same areas covered by the two previous projects, namely: Regione Abruzzo (L’Aquila), Regione Puglia (Bari) as well as four territories in the Balkan Region: Croatia (Rijeka) Montenegro (Cetjn), Bosnia Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Albania (Tirana). This will make it possible to take advantage of the participants’ professional skills. The project is structured in such a way that the knowhow gained so far and the cultural and scientific knowledge acquired by participants in the previous projects mentioned above will not be lost. This remarkable deal of knowledge will be fully put to use and expose its value when the Centers are set up. The Excellence Centers to be established under this project will comply with all EU requirements applying to facilities, equipment and staff used in the provision of medically assistedreproduction services. Medically assisted reproduction techniques include both first level and third level techniques. The potential offered by such techniques also allows for work in the field of stem cells, with a view to developing treatment capabilities in the area of so-called Regenerative Medicine. This activity will necessarily make use of cell breeding methods typically used at RM centers so as to use solely adult somatic cells instead of embryonic cells. In addition to human tissue transplants, new cell therapy procedures have been developed that are now commonly used in clinical practice and which are based on the selection and/or expansion of adult somatic or stem cells. The latter procedures and the field of medicine that studies them are referred to as “Cell Therapies” and “Regenerative Medicine”, respectively. The project appears to be a challenge for the future in those places where such centers of clinical and scientific interest are still non-existent - indeed it aims to become the FIRST MODEL FOR 1ST LEVEL REGENERATIVE MEDICINE INTEGRATED CENTERS. Its positive repercussions on the area concerned will arguably be of great value; the human and financial resources involved will help develop a pro-life culture and ensure the successful implementation of the programme; in addition, the human resources concerned will be able to make full use of and upgrade their skills, which in turn will help them to consistently provide high quality services. This development will result in positive economic repercussions on the populations concerned in the areas covered by the project, starting from improvements in their health condition, which in turn will lead to improved work performances. Strengthening of cooperation results from the emergence of a new action approach, which not only acknowledges the plurality of development actors, but also affects mutual relations among them by situating the latter within a new framework with a view to building “a common house”. This involves: • opening Excellence Centers both for couple infertility diagnosis and treatment and for regenerative medicine; • establishing a clinical and scientific network for the study and treatment of couple infertility-related diseases; • devising joint behavioral protocols in the diagnosis and treatment of infertile couples • setting up a scientific and training network with a view to opening various 1st Level Regenerative Medicine Centers;