FONDAZIONE IRCCS CA' GRANDA - OSPEDALE MAGGIORE POLICLINICO

Their core work

Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda is Milan's largest public teaching hospital and a nationally recognized clinical research institute (IRCCS designation). In H2020, they contribute clinical expertise and patient cohorts to translational medicine projects — from stem cell therapies and regenerative medicine to autoimmune disease stratification and pediatric drug development. Their strength lies in bridging laboratory science with real clinical settings: running multicentric clinical trials, providing patient-specific data, and validating therapies in hospital environments.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their early H2020 period (2016–2018), the hospital focused heavily on regenerative medicine: pancreas organoids for type 1 diabetes, bone marrow stem cell therapies for orthopedic conditions, and advanced fluorescence microscopy for cell characterization. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted toward disease stratification and clinical trial infrastructure — understanding why patients don't respond to treatments (3TR), building pediatric trial networks (c4c), and immune profiling for viral infections (IP-cure-B). The trajectory shows a move from developing individual therapies toward understanding treatment response at a population level.

Moving toward precision medicine and patient stratification, combining their clinical trial capacity with molecular-level understanding of treatment response — an attractive partner for personalized therapy projects.

How they like to work

Exclusively a participant or third party — they have never coordinated an H2020 project, which is typical for large clinical institutions that contribute patient access, clinical expertise, and trial sites rather than leading research design. With 206 unique partners across 26 countries, they operate in large, well-funded consortia (average 20+ partners per project). This makes them a reliable clinical partner who integrates smoothly into big collaborative structures without seeking the administrative lead.

Extensive European network spanning 206 unique partners across 26 countries, reflecting participation in large health-sector consortia. Their connections are broad rather than concentrated, giving them reach across major clinical research networks in Europe and beyond (CROSS-NEUROD includes transatlantic EU-USA collaboration).

What sets them apart

As an IRCCS-designated hospital — Italy's top tier of clinical research institutes — they offer something most universities cannot: direct access to large, well-characterized patient populations within an active hospital setting. Their combination of clinical trial infrastructure, biobanking capability, and translational research makes them a go-to partner when projects need to validate laboratory findings in real patients. For consortium builders, they bring the clinical endpoint that turns a research project into a credible pathway to therapy.

Highlights from their portfolio

• 3TR
  Largest single grant (EUR 952,222) focused on understanding treatment non-response across autoimmune diseases — a flagship precision medicine initiative.
• LSFM4LIFE
  Combined organoid biology with advanced light-sheet microscopy for diabetes cell therapy — an unusual intersection of imaging technology and regenerative medicine.
• CROSS-NEUROD
  Transatlantic EU-USA collaboration on neurodegenerative disease models using iPSC technology, covering ALS, Parkinson's, and frontotemporal dementia in one project.