Following the great success of the first edition (over 40.000 participants) the Festival of Medical Science comes back to Bologna, dedicated to the theme of ‘the stages of life’.

The project, promoted by the Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio in Bologna and Genus Bononiae. Museums in the City, will focus on the new human condition at the time of longevity: how many “people” are we during our hopefully long life? How many different “ages” do we go through? And, when we get ill, how does the relationship with illness change over time, from the prenatal stage to senescence?

The Festival will feature many discussions as well as lectures and meetings. A great attention will be given to preventive Medicine, to screenings and implications of genomic medicine, and to the key role that a proper nutrition and lifestyle can have to ensure a person’s well-being, which is the goal pursued by every advanced social system for its members.

The knowledge of today’s medicine together with the awareness of the great path followed in the past can contribute to the health of a future that is perceived as always more present.

The presence of four Nobel Prizes has been confirmed:

Bruce Beutler: 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.

Aaron Ciechanover: 2004 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for characterizing the method that cells use to degrade and recycle proteins using ubiquitin

Tim Hunt: 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for the discoveries of protein molecules that control the division of cells.

Eric Kandel: 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in neurons.

Understanding the evolutionary meaning of the Stages of Life means to go beyond the already challenging aim of personalized medicine, by making it more accurate. Precision medicine, the research of the right diagnosis and therapy for each single individual represents the real challenge for the years to come.

The history of the pharmaceuticals that changed the world, laboratories of clinical trials, the comparisons to the ‘alternative’ medicines together with the guest country China, the challenges of super-bacteria, the pathologies of scientific communication, the world of neonatal medicine, visits in hospital wards and the simulation of the doctor-patient relationship, nutrition in the different life stages, doping ages, the relationship between genomics and public health, why people age differently, sick people in Art and History…and also exhibitions, theatrical performances, events organized by students, guided tours between the arcades of Life and Death…and a final surprise!

A medical science which can only look far ahead. Because in Bologna, medicine has a great future.