USR - Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele

A vibrant and acclaimed University in Milan, Italy. The campus, which converges with the San Raffaele Hospital site, is overseen by an 8-metre statue of San Raffaele that crowns the central dome of the University’s new and resplendent Headquarters.

Inspired by Jesus’ invitation in the Gospel to “go forth, teach and heal”, Don Luigi Verzé, the founder, foresaw a natural progression from his seedling hospital to a renowned health care provider and to an international biomedical research and teaching centre. His vision duly came to fruition with the respective inaugurations of DIBIT, a substantial complex of research laboratories, in 1992, and of the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele in 1996. The University opened with the Faculty of Psychology. Two years later, in 1998, the Faculty of Medicine was added, and the current triumvirate was completed with the creation, in 2002, of the Faculty of Philosophy. The San Raffaele project is constantly evolving. One of its most recent developments is DIBIT 2, which opened in 2008. This magnificent new building houses laboratories (research, clinical and University), lecture halls and a high-quality dining area. Future projects include residences for nurses, doctors and students, expansion of the University campus and additional parking facilities. This evolution regards not only Italy, but also numerous other countries around the world. One example is the São Rafael di Salvador Hospital in Bahia, Brazil. Another is AISPO, a non-profit association founded by the San Raffaele Hospital in 1984 that offers health facilities and training activities in numerous developing countries, such as India, Chile, Uganda, Mozambique and Algeria. AISPO achieved NGO status in 1985, and has since partnered the Italian Foreign Affairs Ministry, the European Union, the World Health Organization and UNICEF.