Clinical Research
Doctoral programme (PhD)
A.Y. 2025/2026
Study area
Medicine and Healthcare
PhD Coordinator
Students will learn a correct research approach for studying the causes and the clinical-therapeutic management of diseases.
Specific objectives:
- identify clinical issues and uncertainties in pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis and in therapeutic approaches in various diseases;
- correctly apply different research methodologies (randomized trials, longitudinal, cross-sectional or transversal studies and case control studies);
- identify and use biological and genetic markers for studying clinical syndromes, guiding diagnosis and assessing the clinical outcome of different pathologies;
- develop critical skills to analyse and comment clinical research results published or presented at national and international conferences;
- introduce students to independent clinical research methods and to the issues and critical points relating to ethics in clinical research.
The programme is entirely in English.
Specific objectives:
- identify clinical issues and uncertainties in pathogenesis, diagnosis, prognosis and in therapeutic approaches in various diseases;
- correctly apply different research methodologies (randomized trials, longitudinal, cross-sectional or transversal studies and case control studies);
- identify and use biological and genetic markers for studying clinical syndromes, guiding diagnosis and assessing the clinical outcome of different pathologies;
- develop critical skills to analyse and comment clinical research results published or presented at national and international conferences;
- introduce students to independent clinical research methods and to the issues and critical points relating to ethics in clinical research.
The programme is entirely in English.
Classi di laurea magistrale - Classes of master's degree:
LM-41 Medicina e chirurgia
LM-46 Odontoiatria e protesi dentaria
LM/SNT1 Scienze infermieristiche e ostetriche
LM/SNT2 Scienze riabilitative delle professioni sanitarie
LM/SNT3 Scienze delle professioni sanitarie tecniche
LM/SNT4 Scienze delle professioni sanitarie della prevenzione
LM-41 Medicina e chirurgia
LM-46 Odontoiatria e protesi dentaria
LM/SNT1 Scienze infermieristiche e ostetriche
LM/SNT2 Scienze riabilitative delle professioni sanitarie
LM/SNT3 Scienze delle professioni sanitarie tecniche
LM/SNT4 Scienze delle professioni sanitarie della prevenzione
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Chirurgiche ed Odontoiatriche, Via della Commenda, 10 - 20122 Milano
- Main offices
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Chirurgiche ed Odontoiatriche, Via della Commenda, 10 - 20122 Milano - PhD coordinator: Massimo Del Fabbro
[email protected] - Website
https://disbioc.unimi.it/
| Title | Professor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1. Impact of Non-Surgical therapies on Clinical and Instrumental Outcomes in gastroesophageal reflux disease 2. Enhanced hiatal hernia repair: combining innovative crura buttressing and biocompatible medium for recurrence prevention 3. Towards personalized risk assessment for Esophageal Cancer: developement of an environmental-genetic predictive model. 4. Prospective evaluation of GERD-Related aspiration in end-stage lung disease patients awaiting transplant: impact of tailored fundoplication on allograft microbiome and Immunity 5. Perioperative optimization of the oncology patient candidate for surgery.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Intra-operative protection of the saphenous vein used as a graft in cardiac and vascular surgery to allow for greater patency at a distance. 2. Study of the interaction between mechanical and paracrine factors in the progression of saphenous vein bypass disease. 3. Aortic valve insufficiency in relation to left ventricular size: what is the correct surgical timing? 4. Transcatheter aortic implantation (TAVR) in aortic valve disease: a study of access routes 5. Transcatheter aortic implantation (TAVR) in reoperations on degenerated aortic and mitral prostheses using the Valve-in-Valve technique (ViV TAVR)
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Prevalence of Chagas disease among people from Latin America living in Milano.2 Prevalence of Trypanosoma cruzi infection among Latin American pregnant women and incidence of vertical transmission.3 Epidemiology and clinical aspects of SARS-CoV-2 infection during different waves.4 Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis among patients affected by Covid-19critical disease.5 Chronic pulmonary aspergillosis 6 Leishmaniosis
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Pathophysiology, therapy and complications of hypothalamic-pituitary diseases . 2. Thyroid and adrenal cancers: Studies on clinical aspect, prognostic risk factors, new biomarkers and innovative treatments . 3. New approaches for the diagnosis and prognosis of rare endocrine diseases 4. Pathophysiology, diagnosis and therapy of thyroid autoimmune diseases and Graves' ophthalmopathy
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1, Morphological and functional adaptation of right ventricle ad different stages of pulmonary circulation involvement in heart failure patients with reduced ejection fraction 2. Cardiopulmonary physiopathology of cardiac amyloidosis
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Videolaparoscopic surgical treatment of symptoms associated with pathological gastroesophageal reflux through the use of devices: cardiac magnetic sphincter (MSA) and refluxstop (RS). Intraoperative pathophysiological evaluation of the esophageal distensibility index using endoflip.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Prehabilitation in upper digestive surgery; 2. Endoscopic screening of gastroesophageal reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus with brush citology; 3. Hemodynamic effects after repair of large hiatal hernia;
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Diseases of the pericardium. 2. Pregnancy in autoimmune diseases. 3. VASCULITIS: pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy, folow-up. 4. FRAGILE MULTIMORDIB PATIENTS.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Innovative approaches to early diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders 2. Multidisciplinary characterization of epilepsy and/or neurodevelopmental disorders 3. Rare diseases with CNS involvement, in particular Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, Neurofibromatosis, Rett Syndrome
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Radiomics and "multi-omics" in diagnostic and interventional radiology: 1. evaluation of radiomic features for the choice of optimal treatments, with particular attention to oncological and vascular disease (malformations of head-neck district); 2. integration of radiomic data with different sets of features (genomic, metabolomic, proteomic) for better selection and definition of patients eligible for different therapies (responders/ non responders)
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Diagnostic systems for the differential diagnosis of pneumonias 2. Use of liquid biopsy in the follow-up of pulmonary nodules 3. Methods for evaluating the mechanisms underlying type 1 respiratory failure
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Endocrine disorders in patients with common diseases (diabetes mellitus and/or hypertension and/or osteoporosis)
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Bariatric-metabolic surgery as a model for studying nutritional ketosis
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
C. Conte
|
| 1. Clinical methodology (critical evaluation of choosing in medicine and scientific literature). 2. Risk stratification in cardiovascular diseases and in emergency situations, expecially in syncope.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Study of microcirculation:pathophysiologic and clinical implications.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Modulation of the metabolism of the malignancies through the use of metformina and fast mimicking diet
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) "Nasal Function" - CFD 2) "Sleep disorders in ENT" 3) Olfactory impairment in SARS-Cov-2 infection 4) Audiology and vestibology 5) Personalized medicine in chronic rhinosinusitis
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Clinical Aspects,imaging, genetics and bimolecular aspects of nurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system. In particular: 1) Role of the glymphatic system in neurodegenerative diseases: multimodal characterization through neuro-imaging and plasma/serum biological markers 2) From neuroinflammation to neurodegeneration: expression of inflammatory proteins in biological fluids and extracellular vesicles 3) miRNA and lncRNA expression in biological fluid and exosomes.4)Role of atypical lymphocytes in aberrant microglia activation during neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative processes, with particular attention to CD3+CD20+ cells
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Physiopathological mechanisms of insulin-resistance in obesity and diabetes. 2. Implications for atherosclerosis acceleration and microvascular complications. 3. Differential effects of hypoglycemic therapies on survival in diabetic patients with COVID 19
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Hepatic steatosis and its cardiovascular complications as co-morbidities in different clinical settings (diabetes, viral infection, includings, IBD, liver transplantation). 2. Bidirectional relationship between hepatic steatosis and altered body composition (obesity, sarcopenia and sarcopenic obesity). 3. Role of gut and saliva microbiota and sarcopenia in determining liver and cardiovascular damage in diabetic patients with Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. 4. Dynamic scores (including clinical, anthropometric, and genetic data, with application of artificial intelligence) for risk stratification of severe liver and cardiovascular disease
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Clinical characterization, biomarkers, and innovative treatment of adults with severe mental disorders
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Clinico-pathological characterization of the effects of specific therapies on the bone marrow, for the treatment of patients with MielodisplaticMieloproliferative syndromes.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Custom-made maxillary and mandibular reconstructions prior to implant surgery and maxillofacial oncologic surgery. 2. Sars-CoV-2 and other viral infections in HNSCC: genetic and epigenetic susceptibility characterization and related patient clinical profiles 3. Customized three-dimensional synthesis means in orthognathic surgery and in OSAS maxillofacial surgery; evaluation of splintless planning accuracy
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Use of ex vivo confocal microscopy in the diagnosis of oncological pathologies in urology
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
B. ROCCO
|
| Role of the autologous adipose tissue in tissue regeneration, in fibrosis reduction and in scar-pain control.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| "Retinal and choroidal disorders"
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Immunotherapy in head and neck tumours.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Development of personalized therapies in tumors of the nervous system. 2) New knowledge and surgical therapies in movement disorders.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Use of transcranic electromagnetic stimulation for the treatment of the endocrino-metabolic diseases. 2. Olfactory alterations and diabetes: early biomarker for disease complications 3. Metabolic effects of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) cardiologic and pneumologic implications of OSAS. 2) development of new diagnostic tools for the siagnosis of OSAS
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Cutaneous manifestations associated with COVID-19 vaccines and new disease variants : clinical, histopathological and immunological study based on an Italian registry 2) Comparison between classical and syndromic HS: a genetic and immunological study
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Clinical and immunohistochemical characterization of immune-mediated alopecias: from the pathophysiological scenario to possible treatment targets
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Urothelial cancer: new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches 2. Translational analysis of the impact of HLA-G-related tolerance in overall health in infertile vs. fertile men. 3. Rare urological malignancies: penile and testicular cancer. Risk factors and predictors of lymph nodal and advanced disease analysis to develop personalized treatments.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Assessment and modulation of autonomic nervous system in acute and chronic diseases - Effects of social isolation and confinrmrnt on autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular and immune systems, and sleep: possible countermeasure for spaceflights.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Pathophysiology, clinics and personalized therapeutic strategies in myelodisplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasms. 2. Cutaneous T-cell lymphomas in advenced stages: study on the biological-molecular factors and on the main clinical variables in predicting the response to the diverse therapeutcal strategies 3. Clinical Development of Innovative Cellular Therapies for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia 4. Clinical Development of Innovative Cellular Therapies for Mature B-cell Lymphoproliferative Disorders
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Recurrent infective-inflammatory disease of the upper airways. 2. Mini-invasive surgery for airways obstructions. 3. Clinical expressions and relapse in ENT of the COVID-19 pandemic. 4. Biologic treatments for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. 5. The role of nasal microbiota in pediatric upper airway infections
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Assessment of structure/funcion relationship in glaucomatous damage 2. Efficacy of neuropritection in slowing glaucoma progressio 3. Evaluation of the role of inflammation in retinitis pigmentosa: therapeutic implications 4. Evaluation of the ocular surface in the elderly: comparison of different molecules in restoring lacrimal film
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. HIV infection: clinical, metabolic and pharmacological correlates and focus on genotypic and phenotypic resistance. 2. In vitro pharmacological response of SARS-CoV-2 to different drug classes with a different mechanism of action
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Setup of a national database for the functional, respiratoty and clinical characterization in a wide population of patients suffering from cronic obstructive broncho-pulmonary disease. 2. Burden and clinical outcomes of respiratory viral infections 3. The role of lung ultrasound in assesing idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis progression and its correlaion with lung function.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Identification of integrated nutritional models and innovative clinical-nutritional biomarkers for the prevention, early diagnosis and personalized treatment of eating and nutrition disorders and obesity in a multidisciplinary residential setting
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Autonomic nervous system from bench to bedside: physiopathological and clinical aspects and new therapeutic approaches using vagal stimulation.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Evaluation of the role of radiant therapy in the treatment of intractable ventricular tachycards co. 2. Role of transcathere ablation of the back wall of the left atrium for the treatment of persistent atrial fibrillation 3. Role of hybrid therapy (surgical+electrophysiological) in the treatment of chronic forms of atrial fibrillation 4. Effectiveness of mechanical closure of the left auricola compared with conventional anticoagulant therapy in thromboembolic prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation 5. Effectiveness and safety of new leadless pacemakers with accelerometer sensor for AV synchronization in patients with intermittent AV block 6. Effectiveness and safety of left branch stimulation in patients with a need for heart stimulation 7. Role of endomyocardial biopsy in arrhythmic risk stratification in cardiomyopathy patients 8. Efficacy and Safety of Modulation of Myocardial Contractility in Heart Failure Patients.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| New pathophysiological knowledge for the design of endovascular treatment of thoracic and abdominal aorta diseases.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Analysis of cardiovascular stiffening after thoracic and abdominal aortic diseases management using endovascular treatment
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Safety and efficacy of the Thulium laser system for endoscopic therapy of gastrointestinal lesions: a multicenter study. 2. Novel biomarkers for complicated and non-responsive celiac disease. 3. Nutritional status as a prognostic index in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Short Bowel Syndrome: evaluation of therapeutic strategies.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Ocular surface pathophysiology, clinics and therapeutic strategies 2. The Ocular Surface–Brain Axis: Understanding Pain, Discomfort and Neuropathic Dry Eye 3. The Eye as a Window to the Body: Integrating Oculomics in Systemic Disease Diagnosis 4. Value-Based Ophthalmology: Measuring What Matters to Patients with Ocular Diseases
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Development and validation of a four-dimensional modeling software of the musculoskeletal system with focus on the lower limb, aimed at replicating with good reliability the kinematics and dynamics of the body segment. Design and implementation of innovative tools for the preoperative planning of hip and knee replacement, in order to optimize the identification of alignment targets for the prosthetic components.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Diagnostic, interventional and quantitative radiology, with particular reference to musculoskeletal system and applications of artificial intelligence to imaging.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Identification and validation of retinal and optic nerve biomarkers for the diagnosis and monitoring of systemic diseases. 2.Development and optimization of advanced imaging techniques for the diagnosis and follow-up of posterior segment diseases. 3.Innovations in the diagnosis and clinical-therapeutic management of anterior segment diseases, with a particular focus on corneal disorders and dry eye disease
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| “The complications in clinical trial: management and medical liability"
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Importance and role of evidence in rehabilitation medicine 2. Verification of the effectiveness of treatments and technological innovations in the rehabilitation treatment of spinal pathologies
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Caring for and treating autoimmune diseases in rural areas of the world 2. Skin and disability
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1- Study of the predictors of functional recovery in patients suffering from respiratory pathologies, through the investigation of diaphragmatic and peripheral muscles function 2- Study of predictive models of post-lung transplantation outcomes validated through clinical and instrumental follow-up 3- Identification of the intraoperative phase during lung transplantation of onset of the phrenic nerve conduction defect and therefore of post-transplantation diaphragmatic dysfunction 4- Identification of patients at risk by dedicating a personalized approach to the prevention and treatment of diaphragmatic dysfunctions 5- Study the impact of the transplant on the shape of the diaphragm and the functional consequences of the mismatch on the size of the donor/recipient lung 6- Identify clinically measurable predictors of diaphragmatic dysfunction assessed by ultrasound, histology and molecular biology
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Drug interactions: clinical pharmacology study approaches and new approaches with artificial intelligence.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Neural control of ventilation: breathing pattern, pulmonary-volume feedback and respiratory muscles electromiography
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1.Optimizinig the management of patients with acute respiratory failure (i.e., mechanical ventilation, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), with particular focus on the clinical and biological phenotyping of patients' cohorts
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Assessment and optimization of the critical care management of patients ungergoing solid organ transplant
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Advancing ICU Care: Development of AI and Machine Learning Algorithms for Clinical Decision Support
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. clinical and immunologic features of vaccination in immune depressed patients; 2. Clinical and immunologic features of Long COVID; 3. real-life studies on novel anitibiotics for MDR germs and implementation of antimicrobial stewardship strategies; 4. clinical and immunologic features of HIV-infected patients receiving different antirtetroviral therapies
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Non-invasive study of coronary atherosclerosis through cardiac CT; 2. Physiopathology of cardiomyopathies through genetic assessment and advanced imaging; 3. Clinical studies on pericardial syndromes (acute pericarditis, chronic pericarditis, and pericardial effusion); 4. Diagnostic and prognostic evaluation in the field of sports cardiology.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
Edoardo Conte
|
| 1 Immunology and virology of HIV-1 infection 2 Epidemiology, virology and immunology of SARS-COV-2 infection 3. Pathogenesis of Long Covid focusing on NeuroCOVID 4 Safety and efficacy of vaccines in immunocompromised subjects 5 Clinical trials on antiretroviral drugs and new vaccines
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
A. RivaI
|
| 1) Role of inlammaging in the pathogenesys of acute a chronic damage in nephropaties and transplantation 2) Innovative nutritional approaches in acute anc chronic dialysis
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Development and validation of a therapeutic algorithm for the management of patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, on the basis of the BCLC staging system and therapeutic hierarchy: multiparametric model.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Optimization of the management of patients suffering from HBV-related chronic hepatitis with/without HDV coinfection: from early diagnosis to optimization of treatment, surveillance and management of medium/long-term complications (clinically significant portal hypertension, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver failure)
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Analysis of the relationship between geriatric syndromes (multimorbidity, sarcopenia, polypharmacy, frailty) and cardiovascular diseases, in determining clinical management, the risk of major adverse clinical events and the impact on quality of life and the use of healthcare resources
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Epidemiology, immunopathogenesis and microbiological characterisation of bloodstream infections, with particular reference to immunocompromised individuals; 2. Clinical, virological and immunological characterisation of low-level viremia in chronic HIV infection; 3. research into new strategies to combat antimicrobial resistance
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Chemical-toxicological research of forensic biomarkers in alternative matrices using innovative targeted and untargeted mass spectrometry approaches
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| Development and implementation of AI systems in gastroenterology to improving diagnostic accuracy, enhance efficiency of management strategies, increase accessibility to the current best of care, and identify novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets for personalized medicine.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) Study of the mechanisms underlying aortic and mitral valve degeneration, aiming to identify therapeutic windows for early pharmacological treatments and new therapeutic targets. 2) Research and validation of circulating or tissue biomarkers to improve diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis in patients with cardiovascular diseases. 3) Study of the role of perivascular and epicardial adipose tissue in inflammation and in the development of cardiovascular diseases.
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1) New retinal imaging biomarkers for metabolic evaluation of retinal and systemic diseases for early diagnosis and definition of risk for progression of systemic micro/ macrovascular and neurodegenerative complications
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
|
| 1. Audiology and fine-tuning of hearing aids and cochlear implants: in-person and remote assessment and fitting, speech tests, electrophysiological tests, enviremntal study of sound localization and central auditory processing 2. Musicotherapy in pediatric audiology 3. Artificial intelligence systems applied to wearable hearing amplification systems 4. Sudden hearing loss: optimization of therapy in relation to the audiological/vestibular assessment and neuroimaging to genetic and biomolecular factors (i.e. microcirculatory dysfunction)
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
D. ZANETTI
|
| 1) Immununutrition in squamocellular oral cancer 2) Auricle reconstruction: 3D printing with PCL and TPU materials 3) Augmented reality in orthognathic surgery 4) Analyses of HPV and host body fluid biomarkers as noninvasive strategy for detection of head and neck cancer relapse. 4) Probiotics therapy and nutrition in inflammatory blowel disease
Curriculum: specialized medical sciences |
G. A. BELTRAMINI
|
Enrolment
Call for applications
The call for applications is being finalized. Please refer to the call, once it is available, for admission test dates and contents, and how to register.
Application for admission: application deadlines will be published shortly.
The call for applications is being finalized
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