Lectures and Conferences

These were an important aspect of Chain's work in Rome. They had a dual purpose: on the one hand to attract scientists of international reputation to visit the Istituto for 'in-house' lectures and thereby keep its members in touch with the latest research ideas; and on the other, by these personal contacts and by the organising (in collaboration with the Director, D. Marotta) of major international conferences and symposia, to make more widely know the resources available in Rome for fermentation studies, the successful research projects undertaken and the results obtained.

The inauguration of the fermentation pilot plant in 1951 was marked by a major symposium on fermentation biochemistry held under the auspices of the Istituto and the World Health Organisation (C.93), and throughout the 1950s there was a succession of such events in addition to invitation lectures on a smaller scale.

Some account of this effort to strengthen the international contacts of the Istituto is given in Chain's paper at C.23, 'Sequence of events which led to my scientific activities at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. Many of the letters of thanks, like the requests to visit or work at the Istituto at C.54-C.65 above, testify to its success.