Dear Collegues,

Welcome to the 35th ICMART World Medical Acupuncture Congress in Bologna, home of the Alma Mater Studiorum founded in 1088 and considered to be the oldest university in in the Western world.

Its history is intertwined with that of the great names of science and literature, it is a keystone and a point of reference for European culture. Among the students and professors who over the centuries wrote the history of the University of Bologna are well-renowned anatomists of the XVI and XVII centuries, such as Andrea Vesalio, Antonio Maria Valsalva, Giovanni Battista Morgagni, Marcello Malpighi and illustrious people, such as Leon Battista Alberti, Thomas Becket, Nicolò Copernico, Dante Alighieri, Erasmo of Rotterdam, Albrecht Dürer and Paracelsus.

We are now living in a transition period from the COVID-19 pandemic back to the normal life we have ‘reconquered’. Not only have these years deeply affected our lives, but they have also represented a new challenge for modern biomedicine.

 

The congress theme “From Research to Clinical Practice: towards Integrative Medicine” aims to be a contribution towards a new approach to the patient: how we can translate research evidence on acupuncture and related techniques to daily clinical practice and integrate such growing evidence with Traditional Eastern Medicine:

In response to patient complexity, and specifically I am referring to chronic patients where the effectiveness of treatment is reduced by poor adherence and iatrogenic side effects/complications, acupuncture and related techniques have proved to be effective, may represent an alternative to conventional therapy or a way towards integrated treatment.

 

Being non-pharmacological and cost-effective treatment, acupuncture and related techniques are sustainable treatment options since they help reduce the use of drugs and consequently, the presence of pharmaceutical metabolites in the environment.

 

How to respect the environment is another topic covered by 2022 ICMART to ideally follow the line successfully traced by the ICMART Congress organized by SAMAG in Athens in 2021.

 

Bologna is ready to welcome you: it’s a town rich in tradition and culture where emotions can be experienced and shared with friends.

 

In a spirit of co-operation and friendship, I wish I could meet you to get new insights into latest scientific news, share knowledge, grow professionally and enjoy three days in Bologna: in other words, starting over!

 

​

Carlo Maria Giovanardi

Congress Chair