The University of Turin was founded in 1404 and it is one of the most ancient and prestigious Italian Universities. It carries out scientific research and organizes courses in all disciplines. University of Turin is represented by the Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, the Department of Oncology and the Department of Psychology, and the University Psychosomatic and Psychoncology Service, at S. Luigi Hospital.

The Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences (ranked first in UNITO regarding fund raising and scientific productivity) is one of the 27 Departments at the University of Torino and is situated at the Polo Universitario San Luigi Gonzaga, located in the homonymous University Hospital and it coordinates 5 Bachelor’s and Master’s degree courses.

The Department is characterized by its multidisciplinary composition: to date it is composed of 77 teachers from 25 different areas, 18 Scientific Technicians, 21 fellows, 22 PhD students belonging to 5 different PhD Schools and many collaborators in addition to 38 residents.

One of the Department aims is to stimulate collaborations between internal researchers and external groups and to produce, and disseminate to the general public, major scientific advances.

The presence of researchers and professionals belonging to almost all scientific fields of biomedical research provides an environment characterized by an high interdisciplinarity. The interdisciplinary composition is reflected mainly in research that ranges from molecular and cell biology, bioinformatics, in pre-clinical and clinical studies to develop and test innovative diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

Integration with medical knowledge and with clinical care assistance provides a proper basis for clinical trials aimed to innovation in diagnostic, therapeutic and preventive practices, in order to translating from the laboratory to the patient and vice versa.

Different researchers of the Department are involved in national projects and international consortia funded by the European Community and other international institutions.

The Department of Oncology is a pre-clinical and clinical research facility at San Luigi Hospital, Orbassano (Torino), Italy. The Department of Oncology is one of the 27 Departments at the University of Torino and its primary mission is to develop a continuum of research from basic sciences to clinical investigations, from epidemiology to health care. The Department has the administrative offices at San Luigi Hospital with seven full time employees. More than 75 faculty members in different areas of research, including public health, strive to attain significant improvement in patients affected by cancer. One of the Department’s aims is to stimulate collaborations between internal researchers and external groups and to produce, and disseminate to the general public, major scientific advances. Several members of the Faculty, including those directly involved in the current proposal, have experience in performing multicenter studies. Library, and information technology facilities are totally in place and sufficient for the project.

In addition UNITO has a project management and research infrastructure and has also a dedicated Unit for contractual, legal and financial issues of European projects called Common Strategic Task Force (CSTF) located in Torino with sound administrative mechanisms in place for EU project management.

The Department of Psychology carries out research about experimental psychology, neuropsychology and clinical psychology. Its faculty members have been and currently are the study coordinators of several European projects.

The University Psychosomatic and Psychoncology Service is located at S. Luigi’s Teaching Hospital in Orbassano (Turin, Italy) and is connected with both Departments. It performs research in the assessment and psychological treatment of the Medically Ills, with particular reference to Quality ofLife and Comorbid Mood Disorders. It is a pilot center for Life Style Intervention and for the treatment of Comorbid Depression for the Piedmont Oncological Network. Experimental Care Pathways are under study, integrating brief individual interventions with mindfulness groups. The Service is coordinating a RCT on Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) in the treatment of Depression in Multiple Sclerosis, an RCT of MBI in Oncology,  and It’s the coordinating center of the EDEN project, a European Multicenter RCT on the psychotherapeutic treatment of Depression.