Università Campus Bio-Medico
Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma is a not for-profit college situated in Trigoria [it], founded in 1993 and promoted by the Blessed Alvaro del Portillo,[1] according to the principles of the Catholic prelature of the Opus Dei.
In Rome there was not the necessary space to realize such a project, therefore Trigoria was considered the perfect solution for the upcoming innovations and the birth of the urban fabric.
Alvaro del Portillo, a well-known character of the Opus Dei, thought that Italy lacked of a place where the sick were assisted in a concrete way.
Being in contact with the clinic of Pamplona and the University of Navarra, the idea of sending medical students to improve their skills and approach towards healthcare was developed.
The surgeon and professor of clinical pathology, Raffaello Cortesini, wanted to underline the connection between sanitary aid and scientific research.
These were the words pronounced by Luigi Altomare who, collaborating with Paolo Arullani, presented the application to establish a university with degree courses in nursing and medicine and surgery.
Palazzo Lancellotti, relevant for its artistic architecture, was not suitable as a space for teaching, but the problem was solved with the initiative to use the Rome American Hospital as an educational area.
[5] The latter was officially born on February 4, 1992, in Palazzo Lancellotti with the aim of protecting the care of elderly people and establishing the nursing school of which Alberto Sordi was the honorary president.
Nowadays, Campus Bio-Medico offers the possibility to send students in areas like Madagascar, Tanzania and Peru to help these developing countries.
A few days later, October 15, at Palazzo Lancellotti the beginning of the academic year of the University Institute Campus Bio-Medico was celebrated, followed by the ceremony of the current Beatus Alvaro del Portillo at the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Rome.
The Scientific Committee turned to experts in the pedagogical field and student training, including Paola Binetti and Daniele Santini.
Another element was combining scientific subjects with a program of humanities to provide students with knowledge in the philosophical and religious fields because, despite the formation of the university, it wanted to remain civil and not ecclesiastical.
These were the words said by many Italian newspapers to spread the news of the birth of the third general hospital in Rome after University La Sapienza and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
Antonio Polacco was appointed as the director of the general hospital and on October 20, 1994, during the inauguration ceremony at Palazzo Lancellotti, the typical Anglo-Saxon experimental model was presented, divided into an inductive and a deductive phase of verification and diagnosis.
Then, on that very same day, the structure was inaugurated in via Longoni 83 and the first patients were admitted to the rented building of the Rome American Hospital, with 15 initial beds.
Professor Lorenzelli, pioneer of the new faculty, was joined in his project by Marcella Trombetta, who collaborated in the creation of other degree courses that could fit the field of Medicine.
Despite the difficult beginning, the Faculty of Engineering had important developments such as the collaboration with the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa and the arrival of promising researchers such as Eugenio Guglielmelli and Loredana Zollo.
