Sir

I was delighted to read, in the same issue, your News Feature on science in Italy (Nature 412, 264–265; 2001) and your Naturejobs article on careers in clinical immunology (Naturejobs 19 July, 5; 2001). However, contrary to the statement in Naturejobs, clinical immunology and allergy is a medical specialism in Italy. There are 24 Italian university postgraduate training centres, accepting about 50 medical doctors a year who specialize in allergy and clinical immunology after a four-year programme. In addition, there are about 40 PhD programmes in basic and clinical immunology.

Basic and clinical immunology is relatively strong in Italian academic institutions. A recent survey of the productivity of Italian biochemical research commissioned by the Research and Education Ministry showed that immunological disciplines fare much better than other biomedical sciences. And an analysis by the US Institute for Scientific Information showed that 20% of the 100 most productive Italian investigators are either basic or clinical immunologists (Immunology Letters 73, S51, 2000).

I agree with your News Feature that immunology suffers from many of the problems common to Italian biomedical research: insufficient funding and little collaboration with industry. It is to be hoped that the new Research and Education Minister, Letizia Moratti, will recognize the strategic importance of investment in science.