The Torch of the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games has arrived in Asti

Asti, November 19, 2024 – The tour of the Torch for the Torino 2025 FISU World University Games continues, arriving this morning in Asti, a city known for its vineyards and as a jewel of Piedmont’s culinary tradition, featuring its famous *bagna cauda*. Asti will host this leg of the tour at the “Rita Levi-Montalcini” University Campus of Asti, part of the University of Torino.

The arrival of the Guarini was welcomed by over 500 students from primary, secondary schools and universities at the arrival point in P.zza De Andrè in front of the Polo Universitario.

Among the torchbearers and institutions that participated in the event were, among others, Deputy Mayor of Asti Stefania Morra, Regional Councillor Debora Biglia, Honourable Vice-President of the University Giorgio Galvagno, and, representing the Organising Committee of the Games, Riccardo D’Elicio, President of CUS Torino.

“There is now a great deal of excitement, and I feel it personally, as we look forward to the arrival of this major university sports event,” commented D’Elicio. “The journey of the Torch of Knowledge is enriching our region with values that strongly reflect its university vocation, in a territory rich in food and wine excellence as well as cultural heritage. Therefore, CUS Torino and the Committee are making a dream come true, one that will conclude with the end of the 32nd Winter Universiade on January 23, 2025.”

After Asti, the Torch will continue its tour in Mondovì, the Italian capital of hot-air ballooning, where the Torch will be welcomed at the headquarters of the Politecnico di Torino (on 26 November); in Cuneo, the city of agrifood and mechatronics, at the Mater Amabilis seat of the University of Torino (on 28 November); finally, on 29 November, the ‘Guarini’ will arrive in Pollenzo, seat of the University of Gastronomic Sciences.

The organisation of the stages is always supported by the universities and municipal administrations. The Regional School Office and the provincial offices will take young students to witness the passing of the Flame of Knowledge. The torchbearers will include athletes and former athletes selected by the FederCUSI, CONI Piemonte and CIP Piemonte sports associations. 

After visiting the main regional university centres, the Torch will arrive in December in the host municipalities of the Games, passing through the competition venues:

10 December: Pinerolo 

12 December: Torre Pellice 

17 December: Pragelato  

20 December: Sestriere 

29 December: Bardonecchia

The Torch will return to Torino on 13 January 2025 on the occasion of the Inauguration Ceremony that will kick off the XXXII FISU World University Games. The path of the torch will start from the historical seat of the CUS Torino in Via Braccini 1 and will wind along a city route that will touch the main parks of the City, the competition venues (Pala Tazzoli and Palavela) on a mixed route skirting the cycle paths in the area. The opening of the media accreditation procedure has also been announced on the FISU website: Torino 2025 FISU World University Games – Home

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Il mondo contemporaneo è caratterizzato da una pletora di stimoli al consumo e da una diversità e ricchezza di alimenti senza precedenti.   

Tuttavia, di fronte a un numero inedito di etichette informative, i consumatori spesso preferiscono utilizzare scorciatoie euristiche. Sebbene il cibo sia la base della nutrizione, il contesto del consumo e l’ambiente in cui viene fruito giocano un ruolo fondamentale nella sua apprezzabilità. Le tendenze alimentari, con la loro periodica e ciclica condanna di specifici alimenti o nutrienti, seguita dalla loro inevitabile riabilitazione, generano un’incertezza e una mancanza di orientamento pervasiva. La neofobia alimentare dei minori, unita a un’educazione alimentare inadeguata e alla monotonia dei pasti domestici, comporta problemi significativi di soddisfazione e una riduzione degli sprechi nelle mense scolastiche. Questi fattori sono esaminati in profondità per sottolineare l’importanza cruciale dell’educazione alimentare, necessaria per prevenire complicazioni di salute a lungo termine, in particolare tra i consumatori più giovani. 

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Università, Sport, Salute, Ambiente: Come Vivere in Modo Interconnesso e Sostenibile

La sostenibilità è una priorità globale, e ognuno di noi può fare la propria parte per creare un futuro più verde e più sano. Esploriamo come possiamo integrare la sostenibilità in alcuni aspetti chiave della nostra vita:

  • Gli Studenti, i Professori e i Ricercatori Universitari come Agenti di Cambiamento. Gli studenti, i professori e i ricercatori universitari sono agenti di cambiamento. Possiamo ridurre l’impronta ecologica delle università promuovendo corsi di studio sostenibili, affrontando la ricerca e lo sviluppo con un approccio circolare e transdisciplinare, e partecipando a iniziative che sensibilizzano la comunità universitaria sui temi della sostenibilità.
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  • One Planet, One Health è uno degli approcci integrati di UPO che riconosce la stretta relazione tra esseri umani, piante e animali, e la necessità di implementare azioni coordinate in diversi settori per proteggere la nostra salute e quella degli ecosistemi. Siamo particolarmente orgogliosi dei nostri Progetti sull’Invecchiamento e di NODES Spoke 5 (Industria della Salute e Silver Economy, l’Ecosistema Digitale e Sostenibile del Nord-Ovest), guidato da UPO e finanziato dal programma NextGenerationEU.

 

Insieme Possiamo Fare la Differenza!

  • LUCA RAGAZZONI, MD, professore di Global Health e Medicina dei Disastri, coordinatore di CRIMEDIM e delegato del Rettore per le relazioni internazionali 
  • MARCO INVERNIZZI, MD, professore di Medicina Fisica e Riabilitativa, Project Manager di NODES Spoke 5 (Industria della Salute e Silver Economy) 
  • CARMEN AINA, economista, professoressa di Politiche Economiche e Strategie per la Sostenibilità, presidente della Delegazione Regionale del Network Universitario Italiano per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (RUS) 
  • STEFANIA CERUTTI, geografa, professoressa di Politiche Ambientali Territoriali, presidente di UPOnTOURISM, Centro per la Visione, la Strategia, e la Ricerca per un Turismo Innovativo e Sostenibile 
  • ANNALISA D’ORSI, antropologa, ricercatrice e docente di Disturbi Alimentari dal punto di vista clinico e sociologico 
Cervello ed Esercizio
Esistono evidenze che dimostrano come l’esercizio fisico possa modificare sia strutturalmente che funzionalmente le reti neurali del cervello. Curiosamente, qualsiasi tipo di esercizio (cardiovascolare, di forza o misto) può indurre tali cambiamenti. Questo ciclo di presentazioni ha l’obiettivo di illustrare, a tre diversi livelli, le attività di ricerca presso l’Università di Torino in questo ambito. Verranno forniti numerosi esempi su come e in che misura l’esercizio modifichi il nostro funzionamento cognitivo. A un secondo livello, ci concentreremo sulla performance neuromuscolare, che dipende dalla capacità del sistema nervoso di coordinare e controllare efficacemente le azioni muscolari. Ciò coinvolge sia la capacità di forza (la massima forza che può essere esercitata) che il controllo motorio (la precisione e il tempismo dell’attivazione muscolare). Infine, ci sposteremo sullo stato di benessere percepito, descrivendo il monitoraggio dell’allenamento in diverse discipline sportive (considerando anche i diversi tipi, gli obiettivi delle sessioni di allenamento, il livello di competizione degli atleti e il confronto tra atleti e allenatori) per monitorare regolarmente la percezione dell’atleta, al fine di prevenire la sindrome da sovrallenamento e migliorare la pianificazione dell’allenamento.
  • L’esercizio fisico come fattore nella neuroplasticità (Prof. Alberto Rainoldi, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche)
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Game Changers: Innovation in Sports from Politecnico di Torino Student Teams
A session dedicated to exploring innovation in sports, where student teams from Politecnico di Torino will present their project activities across various sports disciplines and scientific sectors. Each team will outline key themes, objectives, and achieved results, with a focus on the innovative aspects of their initiatives. This session offers a practical insight into how advancements in technological research and applied studies are transforming sports through cutting-edge ideas.
Francesco Della Villa
Scientific Director of Isokinetic Medical Group
Dr. Della Villa is a Sports Medicine physician who graduated from the university of Bologna, Italy. He is currently the Director of the Education and Research Department at the Isokinetic Medical Group, which is a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. He oversees research and development as well as education and updating of the whole clinical group. He is a member of various international societies, including ESSKA, ISAKOS and ICRS and serves as a member of the FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence advisory group. His main clinical interests are Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries and other severe lower extremity injuries, from injury mechanism and prevention to return-to-play protocols.
Elizabeth Kon
IRCCS Humanitas Research Center, Rozzano, Milan, Italy
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy

Full Professor of Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Humanitas University, Milan (Italy) Chief of Translational Orthopedics Unit, Center for functional and biological reconstruction of the Knee, Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan (Italy)  

Director of Residency program in Orthopedic and Trauma Surgery, Humanitas University, Milan  

Director of Bone and Joint course, Medical School, Humanitas University, Milan  

Director of Musculoskeletal pathology course, Physiotherapy School, Humanitas University, Milan  

Director of master’s degree “Regenerative Medicine in Orthopedics” Humanitas University, Milan  

Past President of International Cartilage Repair and Joint Preservation Society (ICRS)  

President of Società Italiana di Artroscopia, Ginocchio, Arto Superiore, Sport, Cartilagine e Tecnologie Ortopediche (SIAGASCOT) 

Robert Prill
Center of Orthopedics and Traumatology, University Hospital Brandenburg/Havel, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane, Germany

Robert is a physiotherapist from Germany. He finished his master’s degree in physiotherapy in sports at German Sports University Cologne and PhD at Brandenburg University of Technology. Both theses were related to knee injuries and long-term deficits after Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction.

He is currently the Head of Research at Center of Orthopedics and Traumatology at the Brandenburg University Hospital and Chair of the ESSKA Rehabilitation Committee. He also runs the outpatient clinic for physiotherapy P3 together with is wife. His main interest in research and clinical work is related to athletes with knee injuries.

Thomas Patt
Bergmanclinics Rotterdam, The Netherlands

Since his first steps in his career into orthopedics in the mountains of St. Moritz, Switzerland, Tom is fascinated by this small, but cruciate ligament, which has a size of just a bit more than 1 inch (about 2,5 – 3cm) – the acl. 
 
Tom Patt was trained in Switzerland and The Netherlands, with Dr AU Urfer (St Moritz, CH), Dr P Burkart (Luzern, CH), Professor W Mueller, Prof N. Friederich (Basel, CH), Prof. RK Marti (Amsterdam, NL) & dr. Marcel Driessen (Delft, NL). 
 
After heading a private clinic in Delft / The Netherlands for 9 years, he is now working as a consultant at bergmanclinics, Rotterdam / The Netherlands.  Tom’s professional interests are sports knee surgery, and he has specialized in mainly arthroscopic knee interventions. 
 
Since 2010, his other real orthopedic passion has been prevention of knee lesions in children and adolescents. In this context he is  president of ESMA/ESSKA (2024-26) and co- leads the workgroup for prevention, the GUARDIANS of the ACL (a subgroup of the ACL study group), as well as being member of other European organizations such as the German Knee Society, GOTS, AGA, etc. 
The ESMA/ESSKA risk reducing program “prevention for all” was developed by him in collaboration with Dr. Henrique Jones / Portugal. 
 
Tom is often invited to speak at national and international meetings, in 2024 i.e.: Litouwen, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Czech Republic, The Netherlands & France. 
An acl rupture is a life changing event, especially in the young ones & we should do everything to prevent this from happening at all. 

Gian Luigi Canata
Director of Centre of Sports Traumatology and Arthroscopic Surgery - Koelliker Hospital, Turin (Italy)

Dr. Gian Luigi Canata is Director of the Centre of Sports Traumatology and Arthroscopic Surgery at Koelliker Hospital in Turin since 1995. He has been a member of the Medical Commission of the Italian Track and Field Federation (FIDAL) from 1980 to 2016 and has served as Director of CUS Torino (University Sports Center) Medical Services for over 40 years, and as Board Member of the Institute of Sports Medicine of Turin since 1990. 

From 2001 to 2012, he was engaged as Professor of Sports Medicine at the Turin University, and from 1989 to 2001 as Professor of Kinesiology at the Superior Institute of Physical Education in Turin. 

In addition, Gian Luigi Canata has been Director of the Local Medical Commission for the 2007 Turin Winter Universiade. 

At an international level, he is an active member of several orthopedic societies, among which ESSKA since 1984, the ESSKA – ESMA section since its early foundation in 2016, within which he served as Chair from 2020 to 2022, and ISAKOS since 1995. He is currently ISAKOS Board Member at Large, past Chair of the Leg, Ankle and Foot Committee, and SIAGASCOT delegate for International Societies.  

Gian Luigi Canata has been an invited speaker at medical congresses and courses worldwide, releasing almost 300 lectures. He is actively involved in Orthopaedic Research and Education as an author of more than 100 scientific works (including peer-reviewed articles) and editor of several books including ”Muscle and Tendon Injuries: Evaluation and Management” (2017), “Sports Injuries of the Foot and Ankle” (2019), “Management of Track and Field Injuries” (2022),”Epidemiology of Injuries in Sports”(2022) and “The Running Athlete” (2022). Further, he is also Associate Editor of the ISAKOS Journal since 2021. 

Maria Carboni
Full Professor, Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Università di Bologna
Good fats, bad fats, just fats. Challenges and innovation related to the production of food for sport
Lipids are macronutrients, which, in addition to calorie intake, also provide essential molecules, including vitamins, hormone precursors and other bioactive molecules.
 
This makes the topic of ‘dietary fats’ particularly interesting, especially in relation to food formulation and shelf life, as well as the intake requirements for a correct and healthy diet, also also with regard to sports activity.
 
The aim of this presentation is to provide a clarification between physiological needs and dietary quality, without forgetting the technological aspects of food.

Maria Fiorenza Caboni has been a full professor in the field of Food Science and Technology at the University of Bologna since 2008; her research activity focuses on food quality and safety, with a special focus on lipids. She has been involved in and coordinated several scientific research projects. She is the author of more than 200 publications, most of which are in international scientific journals. 

Anna Bjerkefors
Associate Professor, RPT
"The Swedish Parasport Academy", a synergy project on physical activity, sports, research and education for people with impairment
This lecture will provide insights into the “Swedish Parasport Academy,” a collaborative project involving companies, sports movements, the rehabilitation sector, and national and international universities. The aim is to promote physical activity and sports participation for individuals with impairments to improve health, independence, and quality of life.
 
The project generates new knowledge and innovative solutions on the relationship between functional capacity, interface, and performance, as well as how to optimise equipment to maximise performance and minimise injuries. These advancements can be translated into benefits for individuals, various professional groups, and society, particularly in health, sports performance, and technology.

Anna Bjerkefors is an Associate Professor at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH) and affiliated with the Karolinska Institute. She has a profound interest in research areas such as adapted physical activity, motor control, neuroscience, applied sports science, trunk control, and parasport. Anna’s primary research focus is on understanding the impact of neuromusculoskeletal impairments on daily living activities, leisure time physical activity, and sports, and to optimize the interface with equipment (aids) to maximise performance and minimise injuries. Passionate about translating research into practice, Anna actively implements her findings in the rehabilitation sector and the field of parasport. Since 2022, she has co-led the Swedish Parasport Academy, a synergy project dedicated to creating an innovative environment for physical activity and sports. 

Daniel Svensson
Associate Professor of Sport Science, Malmö University
Risks and potentials of sport in relation to sustainable development
Sport is impacting the environment in many ways, and environmental problems and risks (climate change, extreme weather, pollution, etc.) poses risks for athletes and sport practitioners.
 
Are the ambitions of long-term sustainability and performance possible to unite? If so, what are the main challenges that the sporting world needs to address? The history of sports shows a track record of aiming to improve, and to deliver positive outcomes regarding issues such as gender equality, integration, public health. Can sport also play a part in making the world more environmentally sustainable?

Prof. Svensson conducts research on knowledge issues in sport. He has investigated the historical process of scientization of training methods in endurance sports, and meetings between scientific and experiential knowledge in sports such as football and cross-country skiing. Svensson has a broad interest in issues relating to knowledge, technology and performance in sport, and their implications for athletes and coaches. He has been a Guest Professor at the University of Turin and is also a Research Fellow at the Swedish Olympic Committee. His publications include many books and articles about change and risks in sport and outdoor recreation, including the anthology Sport, Performance and Sustainability (Svensson et al., Routledge, 2023). Svensson is also an engaged and experienced teacher and has worked with a number of courses at Malmö University, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology, University of Gothenburg and the University of Turin. He has been awarded several prizes for his research and his non-academic writing. 

Yannis Pitsiladis
MMedSci., PhD, FACSM International Olympic Committee (IOC) Medical and Scientific Committee Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health, Hong Kong Baptist University
Wearable and telemedicine innovations for Olympic events and elite sport in the age of big data and AI
A growing number of companies are developing or using wearable sensor technologies that can monitor, analyse, and transmit data from humans in real time that can be used by the sporting, biomedical, and media industries. To explore this phenomenon, I will describe and review numerous high profile sporting events where innovations in wearable technologies were trialled: the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020, Japan), 2022/23 adidas Road to Records (Germany) and Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. These major sporting events represent the first time academic and industry partners have come together to implement real-time wearable solutions during major competition, to protect the health of athletes competing in hot and humid environments, as well as to better understand how these metrics can be used moving forwards.
Despite the undoubted benefits of such wearables, there are well-founded concerns regarding their use including:
1) limited evidence quantifying the potential beneficial effects of analysing specific parameters;
2) the quality of hardware and provided data;
3) information overload;
4) data security and
5) exaggerated marketing claims.
Employment and sporting rules and regulations also need to evolve to facilitate the use of wearable devices. There is also the potential to obtain real-time data that will oblige medical personnel to make crucial decisions around whether their athletes should continue competing or withdraw for health reasons. In order to protect athletes, the urgent need is to overcome these ethical/data protection concerns and develop wearable technologies that are backed by quality science.
The fields of sport and exercise science and medicine provides an excellent platform to understand the impact of wearable sensors on performance, wellness, health, and disease

Professor Yannis Pitsiladis has an established history of  research into the importance of lifestyle and genetics for human health and performance.

Current research priority is the application of “omics” (i.e. genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics and proteomics) to the detection of drugs in sport with particular reference to recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEpo), blood doping and testosterone.

His most recent research is funded by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he is a member of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission, a member of the Executive Committee and Chair of the Scientific Commission of the International Sports Medicine Federation (FIMS), a member of the Scientific and Education Commission of the European Federation of Sports Medicine Associations (EFSMA), a member of WADA’s Health Medical Research Committee (HMRC), past member a WADA’s List Expert Group and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

He has published over 250 scientific papers, written and edited a number of books and has featured in numerous documentaries (e.g. “Kipchoge: The Last Milestone is a 2021 documentary film directed by Jake Scott and executive produced by Ridley Scott; “Enhanced” – Documentary Film, 2018. Produced by award winning director Alex Gibney) and popular books (e.g. The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance; Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice).