Prix Galien Italia 2024 Awarded to a Researcher from the University of Bologna

Milo Gatti, a researcher at the Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences at the University of Bologna, is one of the winners of the Prix Galien Italia 2024, thanks to his contribution to optimizing antimicrobial therapy in the management of critical patients. This prestigious award honours those who have made significant advancements in the pharmaceutical field, enhancing the understanding of disease mechanisms and developing new therapeutic strategies.

The Prix Galien Italia Committee, composed of a group of eminent pharmacologists and international experts, awarded the prize and a 3,000 euros grant to young researchers conducting their activities in Italy.

Maximizing clinical outcomes and minimizing the emergence of antimicrobial resistance are the goals of Gatti’s work, which won in the “clinical research” category. His research addresses the need to structure a programme based on the expert interpretation of plasma antimicrobial concentrations, performed in real-time by the clinical pharmacologist, in critical patients with sepsis.

The project began with an organizational phase necessary for implementing the programme, followed by an evaluative phase. During the second phase, a six-month analysis was conducted, based on four performance indicators, to assess the programme's impact: 640 clinical pharmacology consultations were conducted to optimize 261 antimicrobial treatments in 166 patients (belonging to the general intensive care and post-transplant units of the IRCCS Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Bologna - Policlinico di Sant'Orsola).

Dosage adjustments were recommended in 61.7% of cases during the first evaluation and in 45.0% of the total consultations provided. The median turnaround time between sample submission and consultation reporting was 7.7 hours, demonstrating the feasibility of performing this service in real-time.

Thus, the clinical pharmacologist becomes an integral part of the multidisciplinary team dedicated to managing the septic critical patient, in collaboration with the intensivist, the infectious disease specialist, and the microbiologist. The clinical implications and impacts are significant, as promptly achieving optimal pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic targets will minimize the increase in antibiotic resistance.