Newsletter
The MCAA France Chapter joined the last edition of Movember movement. Raising funding and increasing awareness about mental health and treatments for cancer patients is important for the MCAA France Chapter. Growing as a community and acting together for a common cause is one way to have a positive impact on our society.
Bionote
Giulia Rizzo is specialized in energy solutions for medical implantable devices. Nowadays she is a postdoctoral researcher at INSERM, where she works on biomedical ultrasounds to wirelessly charge medical implants. Giulia was an MSCA PhD fellow in an ITN project. She developed her thesis in Paris, between the French company Valotec and at the laboratory C2N in Paris.
Alberto Gregori graduated in materials science and holds his PhD in Polymer Chemistry (ITN FP7 Establis). He worked as a postdoctoral researcher (ITN FP7 Osniro) further developing his skills in materials engineering, nanotechnologies, and R&D project management. Having contributed to the development and management of several industrial and EU projects on functional materials and coating, he works as R&D&I Manager leading and supporting researchers and companies in their R&D&I activities
Movember is an annual event involving the growing of moustaches during Novembermonth. The particular name derives from the contraction of “Mo” for Moustache and “Vember” for November.
The goal of Movember is to "change the face of men's health”, increasing early cancer detection, diagnosis and effective treatment, ultimately reducing the number of evitable deaths. Besides annual check-ups, the Movember Foundation encourages men to be aware of their family history of cancer and to adopt a healthier lifestyle.
The Movember was born in Australia in 2003, using the moustache as the driving symbol of the movement. It focuses on the three key areas of prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health and suicide prevention. In 2022 the Movember community fought for men's health in 20 countries around the world. Thanks to the 322,346 participants who grew moustaches, they raised €82.3 million in donations. These donations enable to raise awareness, fund vital men's health programs and organize Movember every year.
Increasing awareness and supporting organisations working on health issues and research is important for the MCAA France Chapter, which wanted to be part of this. So it created a team on the Movember fundraising platform and collected 115€ from all the participants.
Furthermore, the MCAA France Chapter launched an internal contest to grow as an active community and increase awareness of this topic among and beyond the group members. The contest had two main actions, the first one was to push people to run and collect as much as possible in run km. The second action was focused on asking participants to not shave their moustaches during November. At the end of the month, they could send their photo and explain their motivation for attending the contest. The prize was a voucher of 50€ for theatre performances.
Aristide, the moustache winner, said “Growing a moustache initially started as a joke with two other colleagues at work last year. Discussing the importance of breast cancer awareness month in October (October Rose) which is rightly publicized and generally well known, we felt there is generally less alertness around Movember – a movement to support men’s health, including mental health, suicide, prostate, and testicular cancer. Besides, growing this fine line of facial hair was also a way to tease our colleagues in the company who couldn’t stand the look of us with a moustache. Starting with laughter, with time this led to people engaging in meaningful conversations, from early detection of prostate cancer to the importance of mental health support. This extended not only to colleagues and clients visiting the company but also to family and friends outside work. Having lost a dear study colleague back in my student days from one day to another, due to suicide has marked me in a personal way. By taking the time to prioritize self-care and our health, we can be better friends, partners, and fathers”.
Alberto, the runner winner, said “As a scientist and human, I think awareness is the first step toward prevention. Supporting research and concrete actions is important to me. I came to know the Movember initiative through some friends and the idea of using moustache to deliver a powerful message was funny and appealing. Having friends who got touched by cancer, seeing how difficult it was to open up made me aware of the mental struggles faced by them and their relatives.”
The response to the activity was positive, but not so popular. The next year the MCAA France Chapter will support once again the Movember movement trying to involve more people, and, maybe, other Chapters.
Giulia Rizzo
Chair of the MCAA France Chapter
Alberto Gregori
Vice-chair of the MCAA France Chapter
france.chapter@mariecuriealumni.eu
