As songstress Nadine Axisa gets ready to serenade audiences with Frank Sinatra classics in aid of the University of Malta’s Research, Innovation and Development Trust, Iggy Fenech has a chat with Wilfred Kenely, the CEO of the trust, about the concert and medical research.
Set up in 2011, the Research, Innovation and Development Trust (RIDT) has filled a void few ever realised existed. While many foreign universities have long had a culture of seeking out financial support for research from alumni, companies and the public, in Malta this is only just starting to pick up.
Wilfred Kenely, who has been at the helm of RIDT from the very beginning, had a mammoth task in front of him when he first started: firstly, because he had to go out and create the links needed from scratch; and, secondly, because he had to explain the concept of this type of funding, which was viewed as completely alien.
Six years and some €2.5 million later, it’s safe to say that his plan has been successful.
“Funding research at our very own University is – at least in my opinion – everyone’s duty,” he tells me. “Through it, Maltese academics, researchers and scholars get to understand our society better, make it healthier and advance it as a whole… This, I believe, is important for two main reasons, which are that it instils the value of shared responsibility towards our own advancement and also creates a sense of ownership of all the research happening at the University of Malta.”
With over 50 RIDT-funded projects – 10 of which have already been concluded – the list is an extensive one and includes the funding of PhDs in cancer research (including in differentiation therapy, which sees cancerous cells being reprogrammed into benign ones), the creation of Malta’s first nationwide oral and ocular surveys, and even the retrieving copies of rare pamphlets published and printed on the island during the time of the Knights of St John from Europe’s libraries.
All the proceeds will go towards more research in health-related projects
RIDT, however, is also aware that there are various ways of raising funds and one of their preferred pathways to take is that of combining art and culture with research. In fact, over these past years, they have teamed up with various artists including world-renowned violinist Carmine Lauri for a rendition of Verdi’s Four Seasons, an Eastertime concert featuring conductor Michael Laus at the Anglican Pro-Cathedral and an exhibition by local and international artists at Old University Campus, to mention but a few.
“It is said that innovation is born when art meets science,” Kennely continues. “In this case, however, the art is creating a channel through which we can support scientific innovation through research, and we believe in it so much that we are working on this fusion all the time. In fact, we also use art to communicate scientific research during the annual Science in the City events, which the RIDT forms part of.”
Now, RIDT is joining forces with Nadine Axisa, who will be performing some of Frank Sinatra’s most famous – as well as some lesser-known – songs at the Hotel Phoenicia in Valletta.
The ballroom of the hotel will be turned into an American-style, 1960s jazz club on February 23 and 24, with Axisa being joined on stage by Dominic Galea on the piano, Joe Micallef on the drums, Oliver Degabriele on the double bass and Walter Vella on the saxophone.
“All the proceeds from ticket sales will go towards more research in health-related projects,” Kenely says. “But I would also like to emphasise that the RIDT’s remit does not stop with financing medical research. We are also providing funding for research in other areas, like ICT, engineering, energy and the environment, among others. However, in this particular case, the funds will go towards supporting medical research, which is a top priority for researchers, patients and their loved ones.”
My Way – Nadine Axisa Plays Tribute to Frank Sinatra in Aid of RIDT will be held on February 23 and 24 at the Hotel Phoenicia in Floriana. For tickets, visit www.teatrumanoel.com.mt.