Around Temple

Nickelodeon films Partnership School students
for feature on after-school program held at Temple

Cable network Nickelodeon visited the Pearson Hall pools Tuesday, June 28, to shoot a feature about the SPLASH! Kids' Aquatic Program run by the Arthritis Foundation Eastern Pennsylvania chapter, one of 81 recipients nationwide of a Nickelodeon "Let's Just Play" grant.

SPLASH!, an after-school program held at Temple for elementary and middle-school students, combines wellness education with aquatic exercise to promote healthy lifestyle choices among children.

Tuesday's shoot involved students from Ferguson Elementary, one of four Partnership Schools managed by Temple.

The feature will air on Nickelodeon during its second annual Worldwide Day of Play on Oct. 1, after the network resumes broadcast following three hours of darkness.

— Ted Boscia

Italian biotech delegation visits Sbarro Institute

A delegation of Italian biotech leaders, in Philadelphia to attend BIO 2005, toured the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine on June 17 to discuss the importance of collaboration in research and funding between Italy and America.  The visit was arranged by the Pennsylvania Center for Direct Investment in International Business Development.

Compared to other Western European countries, Italy is a relative newcomer to biotechnology industries, but the national government and local regions have invested heavily in biotech and are actively engaged in developing incentives to encourage leading European and American entrepreneurs to join in their efforts.  One result has been that Italy, with 100 biotech companies, currently boasts more ongoing medical trials than Germany, which has more than 350.

“With the recent Italian R & D boom, there is a great interest in both entrepreneurial investments and increased financial collaboration between the United States and Italy,” said Alessandra Ferri, a deputy trade commissioner of the Italian Trade Commission in Los Angeles, during the tour. “Collaboration will lead to greater innovation in everything from oncology to neuroscience.”

Researchers with the Sbarro Institute are currently in, or have collaborated on, cancer studies with scientists and doctors from universities and hospitals throughout Italy and Europe, including France, Germany and Netherlands.

“Expanding our research portfolio to include collaboration with Italy’s booming biotech industry is a next logical step,” said Antonio Giordano, director of the Sbarro Institute, who led the tour and met with the delegation.

— Special to the Temple Times