Women&Technologies®2010: great success for the conference on the theme: e-Health. Award for the "Technovisionaries". Medal from President Napolitano

Monday, November 8, 2010, 9:30 AM - 6:00 PM
National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci", Milan

Monday, November 8, 2010. Great success for the third edition of the International Conference "Women&Technologies®" organized in Milan and this year dedicated to research and innovation in the field of Health , with particular attention to the sectors of bio and nanotechnologies .
The day, during which the "Le Tecnovisionarie®" 2010 award is also assigned, began with greetings from the General Director of the National Museum of Science and Technology Fiorenzo Galli , the Consul General of the United States at the Consulate General of Milan Carol Z. Perez and the President of Farmindustria Sergio Dompé . After the opening speech by Gianna Martinengo – creator and Chairperson of the conference – the first two roundtables coordinated respectively by Daniela Bellomo , General Manager of TT Factor srl and Maria Luisa Nolli , CEO of Areta International. At the opening of the afternoon sessions, there were interventions by Giampaolo Landi di Chiavenna , Councillor for Health of the Municipality of Milan and Marco Accornero , Board Member of the Milan Chamber of Commerce. To coordinate the two afternoon roundtables, there were interventions by Michela Matteoli , Director of the laboratory "Cellular Biology of the Synapse" Department of Pharmacology at the University of Milan, co-founder and President of Neuro-Zone srl and Alessandra Perrazzelli , CEO of Intesa San Paolo Eurodesk. The closing remarks were made by Maria Grazia Cavenaghi-Smith , Director of the Information Office of the European Parliament in Milan.
The initiative received the medal that the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano wanted to designate as his representation award.

The International Conference Women &Technologies ® 2008-2015, of which the award Le Tecnovisionarie ® , proposes a new vision of the relationship between women and technologies, addressed not as a gender issue but as a tool to identify and enhance female talent in research, technological development and innovation, with particular regard to the themes of interest of Expo 2015.
The creator and chairperson of Women&Technologies® is the entrepreneur Gianna Martinengo , who has made the relationship between technologies and innovation one of the main themes of her professional life as a researcher and entrepreneur.

The format of Women&Technologies ® 2010
On a path towards Expo 2015, the format of Women&Technologies® consists of an International Conference , the Le Tecnovisionarie® Award and a Creative Laboratory over a year that includes initiatives organized within the events preparing for the conference and the communication and sharing activities of the community ( Blog and social network ).

The contents of the Conference in the Third Edition The 2010 edition of the Conference focuses on research and innovation in the field of Health , with particular attention to the sectors of biotechnology and nanotechnology . The integrated approach to the theme of e-Health includes the evaluation not only of scientific and entrepreneurial aspects, but also legal and related to venture capital.
The discussion around the first round table " How are our medicines changing? (the influence of biotechnologies in medicine) " concerns the evolution of the biotech industry which has shown significant growth at both national and international levels, bringing innovative drugs to the market. The results of biotech innovation are already available to patients but are still not well known. With the second round table "Advanced Therapies: new frontiers of regenerative medicine" it is highlighted that within the new drugs that are revolutionizing the world of medicine, there is a very innovative niche of bio-drugs that are medications for selected patients and for the treatment of diseases not curable with traditional drugs. With the third round table "Nanotechnologies for health" the theme of nanotechnologies is explored, which represent a new approach based on the understanding and in-depth knowledge of the properties of matter on a nanometric scale. The last round table "Start-ups and Finance for Innovation" addresses the need to build a bridge between research and finance to create companies and support the development of new drugs, also creating wealth and "qualified" jobs for the country. A model for this "bridge" is that of university spin-offs, highly successful in the USA and very attractive to venture capitalists in other countries, but significantly underdeveloped in Italy.

Gianna Martinengo , creator and Chairperson of the conference, highlights: “ Our goal this year, as in previous years, was to demonstrate the excellence of women's contributions in high-tech activities. Despite this evidence, the prejudice that scientific research and technology are male competencies is still deeply rooted; this prevents the country from fully utilizing the talents and capabilities of both genders for its development. With Women&Technologies ® we increase awareness for all on the potential, creativity, quantity and quality of women's contributions in the fields of research and innovation” .

The National Museum of Science and Technology and Women&Technologies® continue, for the second year, the partnership established with the shared goal of spreading scientific culture and educating more aware citizens – declares the Director General of the Museum Fiorenzo Galli - The development of research and innovation in the field of health find ample representation within our institution. Especially for the sectors of biotechnology and nanotechnology, the Museum indeed positions itself as a space for discussion and debate on contemporary themes, protagonists of the changes taking place in our society and in everyday life, placing the individual at the center of reflection.

The International Award “The Technovisionaries ® ” 2010
November 8th is also the day of the awarding of the “Technovisionaries®” 2010 prize. An award dedicated every year to “visionary women” who, with their work in Research, Public Administration, and Business, have been able to "invent the future", combining innovation and technology, maintaining an overall vision and necessary centrality of the individual.
The 2010 award ceremony takes place as part of the gala dinner at the end of the conference, at Palazzo Cusani.
The Technovisionaries® 2010 were proposed and voted on the portal www.womentech.info . The most voted candidates were evaluated by a Jury of experts who used an online system to indicate preferences and motivations and determine the winners.
Winner of the 1st Prize “Bio and Nano WomenTech” is Alessandra Biffi (San Raffaele-Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy in Milan ). She will also be awarded the Medal intended as a representative prize by the
President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano.
4 Special Awards were also given which enhance more specific scientific fields: Special Award: Interdisciplinarity , awarded to Antonella Canonico (ILABS); Special Award: “Space” for health , conferred to Simonetta Di Pippo (Director of Human Spaceflight, ESA); Special Award: Emergency Women, Women in Emergency given to Sister Marcella Catozza (Kay La Association); Special Award for Scientific Communication: If I say Health... for Daniela Mattalia (Editor-in-Chief of scientific information, PANORAMA).
And finally, a Special Mention as the most mentioned technovisionary by the “public” and the youngest of the finalists, goes to Maddalena Paganin (Post-doc at the Pediatric Oncohematology Laboratory, University of Padua).
The permanent laboratory: towards the 2011 Edition
The fourth edition of Women&Technologies® will focus again on the theme of e-Health: research and innovation in the field of Health. The interesting and innovative aspect of the Women&Technologies® approach is that the development of the theme is entrusted, fueled, stimulated by the creative, physical and virtual Laboratory on the themes of research, technological development, and innovation. It is an open laboratory throughout the year with the reference point being the portal www.womentech.info and the network of professionals, experts, or simply curious about the topics under discussion, thanks to dedicated groups on both the blog and major social networks (there are 5 active discussion groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube with over 1100 new members as of January 1, 2010).
The Laboratory is also fueled by initiatives organized within the events that prepare for the Women&Technologies conference ® (2008-2015).
Therefore, throughout the year it will be possible to monitor and be part of the development of the main theme to contribute to the birth of the 2011 edition of Women&Technologies®.
The portal will continue to be active and will become the focal point of an open discussion on conference topics, collecting and disseminating contributions from all interested parties; in this way, it will be an important element of continuity in view of the new " 2011 edition" of Women&Technologies ® .

The numbers of Women&Technologies®
The interest generated by Women&Technologies® 2008-2015 is reflected in the numerous adhesions and participations in the construction and development of the initiative.
For the Third edition of Women&Technologies® numerous personalities from the world of Research, Public and Private Health, Public Administration, Business, and Finance, Scientific Journalism were involved: in particular, 17 members of the Strategic Committee, 21 members of the Program Committee, 33 qualified speakers, 8 members of the Jury of the “Technovisionaries®” Award, 7 individuals who intervened for institutional greetings and finally an organizing committee that benefited from the passionate contribution of 50 women associated and friends of the Women and Technologies Association.
The success of Women&Technologies® is remarkable considering the over 200 registered for the conference and that the dedicated portal www.womentech.info , created by Didael KTS, has recorded 1,011,000 visits and 165,000 visitors from more than 110 Nations.
The portal represents one of the nodes of that physical and virtual laboratory on the themes of research, technological development, and innovation. A network of professionals and experts around the theme that grows day by day thanks to dedicated groups on the major social networks (there are 5 active discussion groups on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube with 4,000 members) and to the buzz (word of mouth, discussion) on the topics covered. “Women&Technologies®” 2010 is also one of the proposals selected by Innovation Festival for their ability to promote the culture of innovation which led to the Futurecamp, an initiative dedicated entirely to young people interested in discovering the paths to enter the world of research and innovation in the field of biotechnology and nanotechnology, which saw the participation of approximately 100 young people.
The “Technovisionaries ® ” Award received over 50 nominations. The Jury identified a group of finalists, from which the winners of this edition were chosen.

Women&Technologies® 2008-2015: www.womentech.info

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