The Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health (DISCCO - DIpartimento di Scienze Cliniche e di COmunità) was established in April 2012 with the aim to continue the spirit and the legacy, and innovate the health care and scientific activities, of some of the most renowned health institutions within the city of Milan, Italy.

One hundred two faculty members work in the Department including twenty-nine full and associate professors and thirty-eight researchers. The non-teaching staff includes fifty technicians, twenty-nine administrative personnel, nine health and social service professionals and five auxiliary services staff.

The DISCCO main research units are active in the field of internal medicine, cardiovascular sciences, maternal-infant care, surgical specialties, occupational and environmental medicine, medical statistics and epidemiology, and other specific medical sciences. DISCCO has been designed as an integrated multidisciplinary organization where cooperation among researchers with different background and expertise – from biological and biotechnological-translational science to clinical sciences to community medicine and public health – may enable to achieve remarkable goals in the field of applied research for the health of individual persons and of the population at large.

DISCCO major achievements include:

• The establishment of an area of research, diagnosis, treatment and care that includes the full spectrum of diseases in different stages of life, from neonatal and pediatric (including rare genetically determined syndromes), to the aging-related chronic diseases;
• The sharing of knowledge, experience and technology to understand pathophysiological mechanisms, define diagnostic and caretaking protocols of patients at all stages of life, from the premature infant to the great elder;
• The focusing of research on the environmental and lifestyles characteristics of individuals and communities in order to identify risk factors, prevent their effects, and promote health;
• The transmission of knowledge and experience to graduate and post-graduate students (medical school, health sciences schools, master’s and PhD programs).

 

The scientific production in the years 2009-2011 consists of 1,950 publications, amounting to about 6.3 papers per year per each teaching faculty member. A total of 90% of the publications are in international journals A total of 98% of journal articles are peer-reviewed. The average impact factor (IF) of the journals where the Department faculty has published is 4.76.