Ilaria Capua was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Veterinary Sciences

The University of Sassari has awarded an honorary Doctorate for the first time in its history. The chosen person is Ilaria Capua, an internationally renowned scientist, who today was the protagonist of a memorable morning together with the Magnificent Rector Gavino Mariotti and the entire academic community.

The event opened with the planting of an olive tree in memory of the late veterinarian Rina Mazzette, professor at the University of Sassari since 1992. At the botanical garden, Ilaria Capua, founding member of the WeTree association, explained the meaning of this gesture: to remember, through the new life of a plant, figures of women who have given so much, distinguishing themselves with their activities for a better society. The Rector, Ilaria Capua herself, the director of the Department of Veterinary Medicine, Enrico De Santis, and one of Rina Mazzette's brothers spoke.

In the Aula Magna the atmosphere became more solemn, thanks to the robes worn by a representation of professors of the Doctorate in Veterinary Sciences. After the greeting from the Magnificent Rector Gavino Mariotti, the speakers included Eugenio Garribba, Director of the Doctoral School of the University of Sassari, Alberto Alberti, Coordinator of the Doctorate Course in Veterinary Sciences, Pier Luigi Fiori, former Full Professor of Microbiology and Clinical Microbiology, who delivered the laudatio , recalling Professor Capua's long scientific curriculum starting from the degree in Veterinary Medicine obtained in 1989. She was responsible for introducing the concept of "Circular Health" (starting from the "One health" intuition of Rudolf Virchow in 1800), a model that proposes an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to health, as a single system that includes human beings, animals, plants and the environment.

Come sottolineato a più riprese durante la presentazione della “dottoranda”, uno dei suoi contributi principali è stato aver reso pubblici i dati genetici del virus dell’influenza aviaria, con grande senso etico di responsabilità. “Because what was awarded today is a recognition of the person and not just the scientist,” said Eugenio Garribba.

There lectio doctoralis  by Ilaria Capua “Circular Health, the necessary synthesis between health and sustainability”, had the priceless merit of clarity, a distinctive trait of a charismatic scientist with sure communication skills. Spanish flu, bubonic plague, HIV, spillovers, species jumps, tiger mosquitoes: a journey from the origins to the present day within the pandemic lexicon, sadly made popular by the Sars-Cov-2 epidemic which has established itself as a watershed in everyone's lives.

In closing, a nod to the challenge of our times, antibiotic resistance, and a wish: the dedication of a tree to the virologist and swine fever expert Cristiana Patta, who passed away in 2012. At the end of the ceremony, the Rector Gavino Mariotti proclaimed the honorary doctorate, giving Ilaria Capua the parchment together with the historical seal of the university

Ilaria Capua , born in Rome on 21 April 1966, graduated in Veterinary Medicine cum laude in 1989; he obtained a specialization in Virology at the University of Pisa and a doctorate in Public Health in Padua. He has directed research groups in Italy and abroad for over three decades, dedicating himself to the study of viruses with zoonotic and pandemic potential. He is Courtesy Professor and director emeritus of the One Health Center of Excellence at the University of Florida. He has published numerous popular essays translated into the main languages, including Circular health. A necessary revolution (Egea, 2019); The after. The virus that forced us to change our mental map (Mondadori, 2020); Wonder and transformation. Towards circular health (Mondadori, 2021); The words of circular health (Aboca, 2023).