The border between skin and heart: the emotions of science in the fight against cancer

The Heart, despite constant blood flow, rarely develops tumours.

How can this evidence be used to invent a new therapy for cancer?

Researchers collaborating on a new cancer therapy involving wearable robots capable of mimicking the heartbeat retrace their experiences in this adventure on stage. They bring the highlights of their project to the stage, mixing passion and scientific expertise with the ability to describe and excite through words, gestures, and music.

The event was performed at the Genoa Science Festival in October 2024 and is now being adapted for 5 renditions in Italian, two of which with signing interpreters in 3 cities in the FVG Region and Nova Gorica - including this event in Udine at the Festival Vicino/Lontano.

Serena Zacchigna, Head of the Laboratory of Cardiovascular Biology at ICGEB and Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Trieste, and Domenico Prattichizzo, Professor of Robotics at the Universitỳ of Siena and Senior Scientist IIT, Genoa, have been collaborating for some years on the development of a new anti-cancer therapy using wearable robots capable of mimicking the heartbeat.

Zacchigna and Prattichizzo stage a play, with the help of writer Alessandra Cotoloni and scriptwriter Sarita Massai.

Italian and Slovenian researchers will be with them on stage to retrace their experiences in this adventure in crossing the current boundaries of science. They will recount the highlights of their project with passion and scientific expertise through words, gestures, and music. 

They retrace the initial stages of their meeting, the first hypotheses, the barriers they encountered, and the tenacity in trying to overcome them as a team, the enthusiasm in proceeding with their research, riddled with failures, but also with encouraging results. The work will be staged focusing on the narrators, who will tell their stories in Italian, in unplugged mode (without slides).

The characters of this adventure, Serena, Domenico, and the young researchers in their laboratories, will take turns on stage.

An original and captivating method to captivate the audience, become immersed in the world of scientific investigation, and explore what research can teach us about overcoming borders.