Focus

ICb & AutismAid

On February 2016 the Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry (CNR) and AutismAid signed a collaboration agreement for the realization of divulgation and formation activities concerning biomolecular chemistry, aimed to support the social inclusion of children with autism.
AutismAid is a not-for-profit association of parents and volunteers committed to defending the rights of autistic people.
The Institute of Biomolecular Chemistry is committed to chemical study of biological systems and processes to understand their function at the molecular level and explore their new technological applications. Researchers and technicians, besides their research activities, have always paid great attention to public engagement activities and especially to those activities addressed to young students attending the secondary Italian schools. "Moreover, some researchers at the ICB are actively involved in scientific projects concerning neurosciences and close to autism disorder" said dr. Vincenzo Di Marzo, director of ICB.
With this agreement, attention has been addressed to "special" children too. "We planned, together with the involved schools, specific activities concerning our scientific fields, i.e. mainly chemistry and biology" said dr. Giuseppina Andreotti, researcher at the ICB, member of PREDIR (Public RElationship with the territory, DIssemination of Results and formation) and coordinator of the project.
The agreement was announced on the occasion of the 2016 annual World Autism Awareness Day, then a detailed project was set and the activities started during the first months of the current academic year.
Dr. Paolo Vassalo - president of AutismAid- fostered the interactions between ICB and two local schools. All the activities have been scheduled and on January 30th a group of 25 students (among which there was a child with autism) had their first date with two researchers of the ICB (Fabiana Piscitelli e Giuseppina Andreotti). Four more researchers and three technicians will also be involved in the next scheduled dates. All the activities will be completed by the end of April and a final appointment is also planned. On that occasion, all the involved students and teachers, together with the researchers and technicians, will meet and will share their experiences. In particular, the students will illustrate their activities with videos and photos.