Università degli Studi di Foggia - EPIET
Contact person
Domenico Martinelli
Alessandra Cozza
Tel. +39 0881 733086-91
Description of the institute
The University of Foggia was founded by decree of the Ministry of University and Research on 5 August 1999. It is located in the center of Foggia town, Apulia Region, South-East Italy, and is served by a large number of long-distance trains as well as by a close network of regional trains and buses. The closest airport is in Bari.
From its birth, the university, at a training and research level, has been dynamic and innovative. This model is characterised by teaching that gives priority to national and international research projects, internationalisation, orientation, cultural events and promotion of events.
Its departments (Agriculture, Economics, Law, Arts and Philosophy, Medicine and Surgery), with their three-year degree courses, specialist degree courses, numerous masters, research doctorates and specialisation schools have contributed towards making the University a cultural center which enables young people to acquire the professional training necessary for society and the working world.
Training opportunities
The Unit of Hygiene at the University of Foggia, Italy, closely connected to the Italian Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health, manages most of the epidemiological activities at Apulia regional Public Health Authorities. The Head of the Unit (Rosa Prato) is a medical doctor specialised in Public Health, epidemiologist, professor of Hygiene, with over 20 years of professional experience in infectious disease and chronic disease epidemiology, leading a team of 12 persons, chief of a Public Health Department, with >15 years of experience in coordinating international and national research projects in public health field. The other key staff members are two medical doctors, specialised in public health, PhDs in oncology, field epidemiologists, associate professor (Domenico Martinelli) and assistant professor (Francesca Fortunato) of hygiene. The Unit team includes also three research fellows, several medical residents at the School of Hygiene, one management engineer, two nurses and one administrative manager.
Communicable diseases activities of the Unit consist of management of routine surveillance system, active surveillance for hepatitis A, measles, rubella, arthropods-transmitted pathogens, invasive bacterial diseases, influenza, healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial-resistance, outbreak investigations and reporting through the communicable diseases bulletin in the regional official website.
Immunisation activities include regular updates of the regional immunisation schedule, vaccination coverage assessment (e.g., routine data collection and analysis, ad hoc surveys), immunisation information system handling (e.g., data quality analysis and development of new tools) and regional coordination of the National Immunisation Plan and other national policies, such as plans for elimination of measles and congenital rubella syndrome and for vaccination of adolescents against HPV.
Moreover, the Unit manages data from the Apulian routine administrative and population health datasets: hospital discharge registry, causes of death registry, database of outpatient services, user fee exempts registry, drug prescription registry. The Unit has also a consolidate experience in carrying out quantitative and qualitative studies to assess community-based preventive interventions.
In the framework of the European “Gaining Health” strategy, the Unit coordinates at the regional level the activities of nationally representative surveys such as the Italian behavioural risk factor surveillance system, “Silver Steps”, aimed at monitoring "active aging" and health status in people aged over 64 and at developing preventive health programs to reduce frailty (for more information, visit the website).
The Unit is an associated partner, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Health, in the Joint Action "Antimicrobial Resistance and Health Care Associated Infections" (JA-04-2016) under the 2016 workplan of the EU Health Programme 2014–2020 and it is also third part in the Consortium with ISS (Competent Authority for Italy) in the 2017 Joint Actions: “JA-02-2017 - Innovative Partnership for Action against Cancer” and “JA-03-2017 - European Joint Action on Vaccination”.
Training supervision
The fellow will be fully integrated in the Unit team.
An assistant professor of Hygiene and epidemiologist will day-to-day supervise him/her. In addition, fellows will have different supervisors for specific projects they are involved in. Supervisors on-site will provide four hours supervision per week.
Expert statistical support will be provided throughout the training of the fellow who will have free access to all the databases available for the analysis at the Unit.
Language requirements
Staff at the Unit speak English fluently. It will be helpful for the trainee to have a basic understanding of and ability to communicate in Italian in order to operate effectively in outbreak investigations and surveillance activities.
Training history
Number of EPIET fellows trained at the institute: One MS-track (Cohort 2012) and One EU-track (Cohort 2015)