In recent years, the pandemic emergency, the socio-political challenges of climate change and the biodiversity crisis have created the need for a new conception of the relationship between people and the planet. This concept was underlined and defined by the name by the United Nations in 2022 One health, that is, an integrated system for the analysis of all aspects that characterize human, physical, psychological and social health, embedded in an even more comprehensive whole that concerns the life of plants, animals and ecosystems, in short, the natural environment itself. In Italy, in 2023, the Chamber of Deputies also demonstrated the government’s sensitivity to One Health by setting up its own parliamentary intergroup.

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The Master of Wisdom

To respond to this new framework, the University of La Sapienza in Rome opened the first master’s degree this year A health analyst, i.e. experts on the subject of single health. This project depends on prestige School of Advanced Studies the university and supported by the newly founded research center National Center for Biodiversity Futuresfinanced with European funds from the PNRR to combine the tradition and knowledge of the Roman university with cutting-edge research and expertise in environmental and policy projects at the international level.

The degree course

The interdisciplinary vocation necessary to address the theme of “One Health” is represented by the contribution of renowned teachers, especially but not only from the Sapienza School of Advanced Studies and the National Biodiversity Future Center, through the presence of Experts in planetary biology and representatives of health, economics and applied policy.

Students, whether graduates or young professionals, follow a path divided into thematic modules, covering areas such as biology, medicine, environmental ethics, ecology, urban planning, psychology, communication and marketing, and politics. This path will be crucial for work in public institutions or companies that need to align with One Health guidelines, in local and national government commissions that look for experts to develop new guidelines on human and environmental health issues to define, or in contexts that wish to use know-how in communication and marketing to support innovative projects, not just “green ones”.

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Internships, workshops, simulations and games

In order to create new professional figures, the Master is based on a dynamic teaching model in which students can be active protagonists through internships, laboratories, simulations and role plays that prepare them for personal and conscious participation in future One Health guidelines. In combination with this, the Master can be pursued in blended mode, so that people who are already working or far from Rome are not excluded. On the other hand, a master’s degree program in the capital could only be created with the aim of integrating science and health into the context of political-institutional relationships and policies at the national and international levels.

How to log in

The teaching modules begin in February 2024; Registrations are possible until the end of January. The fee is 2,500 euros. For information on registration procedures and scholarships, write to [email protected] or visit the website

Isabella Saggio is a geneticist at the University of La Sapienza in Rome