Terranova Funds Research Award Promoted by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis League
News | 10/9/2025
Terranova funds research award promoted by the Italian Cystic Fibrosis League
We have long been partners with the Italian Cystic Fibrosis League of Tuscany, in memory of Gianluca Masi, a colleague who died prematurely from this disease. This year, our contribution took the form of funding a research award promoted by the LIFC, dedicated to rare diseases and lung transplants.
On 7 October 2025, at the Siena University Hospital, our CEOAlessandro Vistoli, together with Angela Di Ciommo, president of LIFC Toscana, presented the research award ‘Management and conduct of research in clinical trials for the treatment of lung transplant patients’ to Dr Benedetta Di Ruggiero, who carries out intensive clinical research into the identification of new therapies for rare diseases and lung transplantation.
Dr Benedetta Di Ruggiero is Data Manager and contact person for the clinical trials centre within the Respiratory Diseases Unit, headed by Professor Elena Bargagli.
As a company, we wanted to transform our status and become a Benefit Corporation, institutionalising a vocation that combines economic objectives with objectives ranging from support to inclusion. In particular, our vocation is rooted in providing support to those who work to alleviate psychological and physical distress, especially in children and adolescents.
For us, this initiative is strongly linked to a person within our company who left an important mark. We want to remember Gianluca Masi, who suffered from this terrible disease but, at the same time, was welcomed and found much affection within our company.
Alessandro Vistoli CEO, Terranova
Our involvement with LIFC
In 2024, Terranova funded ENRICH, a European research project which, thanks to the purchase of new cutting-edge equipment, aims to study the effects of a new drug therapy for slowing down the disease.
In November 2024, on the occasion of the 3x7 Relay, held in Florence on 23 November, we chose to support LIFC Toscana once again, taking to the track in support of this association in which we strongly believe, arriving in Florence from our offices throughout Italy.
The Italian Cystic Fibrosis League
The Italian Cystic Fibrosis League of Tuscany is an association that helps and manages Tuscan patients with cystic fibrosis, one of the rarest genetic diseases and the most common among rare diseases. It is normally diagnosed through neonatal screening, which reveals the presence of genetic diseases, including this one, which is a multi-organ, genetic disease for which there is currently no cure. This condition determines the patient's quality of life from birth, as it is a debilitating disease that is not visible externally but causes extremely severe internal damage, so much so that life expectancy is currently around 40 years.
The LIFC Toscana association immediately takes charge of affected families to help them with everything that is not medical, starting with moral and financial support, given that at least one parent almost always has to leave work to care for the child. In addition to this, it assists them in recognising their rights and helps them through the complicated process of accessing treatment, up to and including double lung transplantation, which unfortunately is not currently a cure.
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