Some members of the Sons of Italy visited the Canada Italy Tissue Engineering Laboratory (CITEL) and toured labs in the I.H. Asper Clinical Research Institute this afternoon. The visit was hosted by CITEL Director Dr. Sanjiv Dhingra.
CITEL is a partnership between St. Boniface Hospital and the University of Roma Tor Vergata in Rome, Italy, which promotes the exchange of information and collaboration between researchers from the two institutes. Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. CITEL aims to change that by applying regenerative cardiology technology developed in Rome, to heart failure models currently being examined at St. Boniface Hospital. A $100,000 donation from the Sons of Italy in 2013 helped establish the laboratory at St. Boniface for the two cardiac research teams.
The Order Sons of Italy of Canada is an organization of men and women who are devoted to the celebration of Italian heritage, community service and charitable good works. In Manitoba, the Garibaldi Lodge is the first lodge of the Order Sons of Italy of Canada to be founded in Manitoba.