UNICAM University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli – ENDOTARGET Project Partner
The University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli” (UNICAM) is a public university in Italy, founded in 1991. Named after the renowned architect Luigi Vanvitelli, the institution carries on the long-lived heritage of the School of Medicine of the previous “University of Naples” and features multiple campuses across the Campania region, including Naples and Caserta. The university is an innovative centre of knowledge and research, shaping the future of education and healthcare. With over 30,000 students and a highly qualified academic staff, it plays a key role in advancing science in Italy and beyond. Its mission is to provide high-quality education, promote scientific research, and foster interdisciplinary collaboration to address global challenges.
The Faculty of Medicine is the founding base and flagship division of the university, committed to excellence in medical education, clinical practice, and biomedical research. The faculty actively collaborates with major healthcare institutions, including university hospitals, to translate research into improved patient care. Each year, its researchers contribute to numerous high-impact scientific publications, enhancing the international visibility of the university.
The Rheumatology division of the Precision Medicine Department, led by Prof. Francesco Ciccia, plays a crucial role in advancing the understanding and treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The research group focuses on uncovering the molecular and immunological mechanisms underlying conditions such as spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Sjogren disease. The works of the Prof. Ciccia-led team, previously in Palermo and, since 2019, in Naples, are focused on in vitro studies aimed at elucidating the links between mucosal immunity disturbances, with a special focus on the role of gut dysbiosis, and the development of inflammatory joint diseases. The UNICAM research group collaborates with leading national and international institutions, partnering in large-scope multicenter research projects enhancing the impact of their findings on both academic and clinical practice.
UNICAM has the leading role in Work Package 2 of the ENDOTARGET project, ensuring coordination among partners for what concerns in vitro studies on samples obtained by patients from focused cohorts. The group also contributes to subject recruitment and the collection of paired samples of blood, stool, and ileum from healthy controls and patients with rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthritis. Future works of the UNICAM group will involve the setup of ileal organoids for comprehensive in vitro studies on the epithelium-immune cell interactions, single-cell RNA sequencing, and FACS studies of blood and ileum-derived immune cells.
