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One Health Basic and Translational Actions Addressing Unmet Needs on Emerging Infectious Diseases (INF-ACT)

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The University of Pavia is at the center of an ambitious and wide-ranging project on the topic of emerging infectious diseases, with significant scientific impact and important practical and organizational implications. The project aims to identify the major current and future infectious threats. Thanks to the collaboration between the University of Pavia, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), and the National Research Council (CNR), the project has been selected and funded by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Research with €114.5 million, within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Mission 4 “Education and Research,” Component 2, Investment Line 1.3, supported by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.

This funding led to the establishment of the INF-ACT Foundation, which brings together 25 universities and public and private institutions with multidisciplinary expertise to address potential epidemics through a “One Health”approach. This integrated model connects human, animal, and environmental health, taking into account factors such as epidemic events, spillover phenomena, and climate change, which influence wildlife and human interactions.

The Foundation will focus on five main areas of research:

  1. Analysis of emerging and re-emerging viruses.
  2. Study of pathogenic insects and vectors and the diseases associated with them.
  3. Investigation of antimicrobial resistance and the mechanisms of drug resistance gene exchange.
  4. Development of new integrated epidemiological and microbiological surveillance systems, including models for early detection of emerging infections and predictive alert systems.
  5. Identification of novel targets for anti-infective therapies, with the design and validation of therapeutic molecules using in silico, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo approaches.

Members of the INF-ACT Foundation

Public Universities:
University of Pavia
University of Bari Aldo Moro
University of Bologna
University of Cagliari
University of Catania
University of Milan
University of Naples Federico II
University of Padua
University of Rome “La Sapienza”
University of Siena
University of Turin

Public Institutions:
Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS)
National Research Council (CNR)
Association of Experimental Zooprophylactic Institutes
Fondazione Bruno Kessler
Fondazione Istituto Nazionale di Genetica Molecolare

Private Universities, IRCCS, and Other Institutions:
Humanitas University
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Istituto Sacro Cuore Don Calabria IRCCS
Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS
Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti IRCCS
Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico
Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele
Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù
IRBM S.p.A.

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