In 2022, you were awarded Ambassador by the city of Florence, together with microbiologist Mariagrazia Pizza, for having contributed to the awarding of IUMS 2024, the International Microbiological Societies Congress. How important is the hosting of this type of conference for Florence?
If you go to the iums.org website, you’ll find information on the IUMS Congress in October with the words: the Renaissance in Florence and in microbiology. That is to say, holding the meeting in Florence allows us to connect the history and the great cultural revolution that Florence has brought to the entire world and to use it as a starting point to understand how it is necessary, especially in science, to be continually reborn – to innovate and move into the future.
Just one year after your award, news arrived of another important award in which you and Dr. Pizza, together with Professor Chiara Azzari, played a significant role. In 2025, the city will host the International Pathogenic Neisseria Conferences, which will bring together the leading experts in infectious disease research. How much does the support of a destination for its academic-scientific community affect the acquisition of such prestigious conferences?
People from all over the world willingly come to Florence, so when you organize a meeting in this city, you always start with an extra gear. However, the city alone is not enough, you also need the presence of scientific excellence. In the case of the meeting on Neisseria, the presence of Chiara Azzari, a figure of high scientific prestige, was essential for this choice.
What impact can scientific events such as these have on a destination like Florence, not only in economic terms, but also scientific and cultural? How can we best capitalize on this?
The legacy that international meetings leave is scientific connections, the possibility for young people and local scientists to interact with the best in the world in their field. It’s very important that there’s an active participation of academics, students, Biotech companies and industry in the events that are held in Florence.
