Transmitting knowledge, sharing expertise, and forging new collaborations is what allows us to push the boundaries of our understanding. This vision became reality again during a recent and exciting collaboration that brought together researchers from the University of Pisa and the SYRMEP beamline at Elettra. Through shared interests in the human skeletal response to environmental stressors, Beamline scientist Elena Longo and myself connected with a group of researchers working in paleopathology at Pisa. After some initial brainstorms, we realized their research questions fit well with virtual histological methods, and naturally, we were keen to explore how virtual bone histology could contribute to their archaeological material. Following some enthusiastic exchange and planning, we worked together on a beamtime proposal, which was successfully accepted. After several discussions on sample selection, preparation strategies, and scan parameters, the beamtime took place on the 17th and 18th of May 2025. The sessions went well—with the first virtual slices already revealing promising details. The local newspaper in Florence picked up on the story—have a look if you’re curious! A huge thank you to Dr Giuli Riccomi, Dr Bianca Casa, and our own brilliant SYRMEP scientist Dr Elena Longo for making this collaboration possible. This project is a wonderful example of how cross-institutional cooperation, curiosity, and a shared commitment to innovation can move science forward.
Stay tuned—there’s more to come from this partnership..!
From left to right: Lemmers (SYRMEP, Enigma PI), Riccomi (Pisa Uni), Longo (SYRMEP), and Casa (Pisa Uni)