ITALIAN SCIENTISTS & SCHOLARS IN NORTH AMERICA FOUNDATION
Connecting, Empowering, Celebrating the Italian Intellectual Diaspora
CONNECT
ISSNAF reaches out to and connects the Italian Intellectual Diaspora in North America. The guidelines to be considered part of the Diaspora are:
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Be first generation Italian
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Hold a university degree
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Conduct or have conducted research or development in any discipline
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Have, or have had, at least one year of affiliation with a public or private institution in North America
Today, ISSNAF connects more than 3000 scholars, researchers and technologists in North America.
ISSNAF Chapters carry out the ISSNAF mission at the local level. Supported by active members and volunteers, our Chapters are active in:
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Promoting networking with colleagues with a shared heritage
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Organizing in-person and online events of interest to their community
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Highlighting talent, including early career researchers
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Partnering with local institutions on synergistic programs, including the Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute
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Assisting in the implementation of national ISSNAF programs, such as awards and fellowships
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Nominating candidates to leadership roles in ISSNAF
JOIN US
Become an active Member of our community and:
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Extend your personal network to Italian colleagues who share your heritage
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Participate in your Chapter programs and events with priority access
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Take advantage of ISSNAF professional opportunities and resources
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Give back by supporting ISSNAF programs as a mentor or an advisor
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Contribute to the growth of ISSNAF
Membership is free (donations are welcome). Members are automatically assigned to their local Chapter.
The membership requirements are:
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Be first generation Italian
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Hold a university degree
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Conduct, or have conducted, research or development in any discipline
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Have, or have had, at least one year of affiliation to a public or private institution in North America
You are welcome to become an Affiliate and participate in the ISSNAF local activities, if you do not meet the membership requirements (access to certain programs or roles might be precluded).
To join, or update your membership form, please fill out the ISSNAF Membership-Affiliation Form.
MEMBERS RESOURCES
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
New Openings!
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation publishes the list of openings and opportunities on its website.
NIH COVID-19 Response
NIH initiatives to fight COVID-19
In response to the rapid evolution of the pandemic, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have stood up programs to fund research in the relevant field, open to participation by foreign institutions and researchers.
Since the beginning, NIH have been very flexible in organizing their response to the pandemic, offering opportunities to the scientific community to propose ideas to combat it: some innovative initiatives aimed at accelerating the development and commercialization of diagnostic tests, therapies, vaccines and biomedical technologies have originated directly from the NIH, while others have been guided by the government. Among the former are ACTIV (Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines) and RADx (Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics).
ACTIV is a public-private partnership to accelerate the process of the COVID-19 vaccine and possible therapies. The participants are NIH, the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), 12+ pharmaceutical companies, the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) of the Health Department (HHS), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicine Agency (EMA). The initiative has a website and a dedicated portal (NIH-COVID-19) for the submission of research proposals.
RADx supports the development and commercialization of innovative technologies to significantly increase the US capacity to test for SARS-CoV-2. RADx leverages the resources and structure of the network Point of Care (POCTRN) of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). POCTRN connects researchers, clinitians, engineers, technical experts and entrepreneurs in a network to accelerate the technology development and promote the creation and commercialization of products. This initiative has a website, a FAQ page and an application page. Additionally, there are government initiatives to which NIH is a participant. The most relevant is Operation Warp Speed (OWS), a public-private partnership to facilitare development, production and distribution of measures against COVID-19. The participants are: HHS (CDC, FDA, NIH, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)), DoD, private companies and other federal agencies and the initiative is characterized by a highly competitive selection process.
Furthermore, NIH has been actively supporting research during the pandemic, publishing opportunities for COVID-19 related research open to both US and foreign investigators. Foreign researchers are encouraged to apply either independently or in collaboration with US researchers. Information is available, including updated guidelines, FAQs and opportunities for emergency grants. Foreign research institutions can apply to emergency call R01 and R21.
It is possible to register to receive notifications of NIH calls upon issuance here. Further information for NIH supported COVID-19 research opportunities is available from NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) Expenditures and Results (RePORTER). Researchers can use NIH RePORTER and Matchmaker to identify colleagues who work on COVID-19 and verify their interest to collaborate. Also, a list of active COVID-19 research projects (NIH RePORTER) and of funded clinical trials (clinicaltrials.gov) are available. NIH is utilizing the existing research platforms to respond to the SARS-COV2 pandemic, thus allowing the use of active and funded clinical research networks, independently of the original focus of the desease, to rapidly study the efficacy of the medical countermeasures during a public health emergency. Finally, the existing clinical experimentation networks can be utilized to do large scale trials when medical countermeasures are identifies for a rapid evaluation.