Recently I toured the Biomedicine Research Labs Island in the company of Prof. Giuseppe Russo (sl name Alfa Roux) , the owner of the sim and CEO of Digi S Lab, and Mr.Pierpaolo Basso, who is in charge of media communications for the Sbarro Health Organization (S.H.R.O.) where they both work in real life. The Biomedicine Research Labs Island, which opened in January, 2008, is in fact the digital headquarters of RL organization S.H.R.O. of Philadelphia, PA. According to their press release "S.H.R.O. is committed to excellence in basic genetic research to cure and diagnose cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and other chronic illnesses and to foster the training of young international doctors in a spirit of professionalism and humanism". The Sbarro Institute was founded in 1993 by Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, with a generous donation by Mario Sbarro of the Sbarro Restaurant chain. At that time Prof. Giordano was at Thomas Jefferson University, but in 2002 he moved to Temple University in Philadelphia. The name of the institute was changed to the Sbarro Health Research Organization and includes the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine at Temple and the SHRO-affiliated laboratory at the University of Siena in Siena, Italy. It is also linked to the Human Health Foundation (HHF), all part of Prof. Giordano's scientific/academic network. While this SL project is international, the Institute itself is American and a 503c nonprofit organization. Prof. Russo said that the decision to come to SL was taken "because we are creating an international network in our field and we want to use SL for virtual meetings and also to interact with special tools that we are developing. (Some) of us (are) in the US, others in Europe and SL is a good platform to have interactive meetings. Not only that, since this is a giant powerful virtual system we can create better tutorials (for) students".

Meetings have already taken place at the sim. One, in particular, involved the healthcare company Roche, a large international organizaton. This meeting went worldwide, and I have been told the conference was streamed with web radio, something that cannot be achieved in a normal conference.

The island itself is a very tranquil setting. There are buildings set around a bay or lagoon and outside the buildings are 3D models of proteins and a 3D cell. These are great tools for students because they can actually enter into the proteins or the cell and explore the physical structure. Many years ago I studied biology, and this would have been a very helpful way to look at structures of the cell, for instance. The protein structures were created by real scientists also working in SL and the 3D cell was created by a colleague of prof. Russo's and can be seen on the Biomedicine Research Labs Island and on Genome Island in SL.

After having a look at the outside areas Russo and Basso escorted me into the main building, which houses an auditorium, labs, offices and meeting rooms. I was first taken to see the auditorium, which can be used for conferences or classes for students. On the screen was a slide from one of the classes that had recently taken place. The ceiling of the auditorium can be retracted so that the auditorium is open to the outside. Russo said that this was done because there are some people who, even in SL, feel uncomfortable in enclosed spaces. Great care was taken in choosing the color scheme, too, so that it is welcoming and comfortable for those coming into the space. They even did some preliminary testing to ensure that the space met these needs.
Upon leaving the auditorium I was taken to one of the labs inside the main building. Here I was introduced to Dr. Letizia Cito, an RL researcher who is doing work related to gastric cancer. She works at the CROM Institute based in Italy, another Institute in Prof. Giordano's network. Dr. Cito had very kindly taken time to come in and demonstrate how experiments can be simulated in the lab. By wearing a HUD and clicking on a simulation ball, your avatar is given a series of instructions which cause you to walk around the lab and perform different actions. After watching Cito, I repeated what she had done; I took cells out of an incubator, looked at them under a microscope, then took them to a hood, and finally returned them to the incubator. This kind of simulation-experience, according to Russo, is unique in SL. It is also possible to click on the lab instruments to see what they look like inside. This is certainly a great way to introduce students to lab work and allow them to have a little experience and learn safety techniques before entering into the real lab. I used to work in a biology research lab, and being in the SL lab, doing the experiment there, really felt like old times for me.
We left the main building and then went to the nearby hospital, which is still under construction. Upon entering the building we came upon some bots still being programmed to answer questions visitors may have. Plans for the hospital include using the facility as a place where psychologists and oncologists can meet with patients to offer support and help in dealing with cancer treatment. Russo took me around to meeting rooms that will be used for this, and told me that they had RL oncologists and a psychologist, Dr. Debora Muresu, head of the psycho-oncology project inside Digi S Lab program, involved in creating this particular program.
In addition the hospital will be used to teach telemedicine. The cancer support program is based on the ground floor of the hospital, on the second floor there is a surgical suite overlooked by a viewing area which will be used when surgical techniques are being shown. While we were on the second floor we were joined by the head of Human Resources for Digi S Lab, Rhea Gontineac (SL name), who also made me feel very welcome to the Island.
A lot of thought and work went into the construction of this sim down to the smallest details, from the colors used in the different areas to the retractable roof on the auditorium, all of which support the programs that are taking place in the different areas of the sim. I was impressed with the training programs for teaching medical students and I was extremely touched when having a look at the project for helping cancer patients deal with their disease and treatment, knowing what help will come out of just that one program alone. I feel very fortunate to have been given a tour by the CEO of Digi S Lab, as well as being accompanied by the person in charge of press communications, an actual researcher and the head of Human Resources. Russo told me that Digi S Lab program is actively collaborating with different international universities such as Genoa (Prof. Francesco Masulli) and Palermo (Prof. Antonio Russo) universities.
Moreover, Russo told me also that they have a workstation in Philadelphia that is completely dedicated to the SL project and has recently been made more powerful in order to enhance their presence and proficiency in Second Life. He also said that Sbarro Health Research Organization was recently cited by Linden Lab in Linden Lab's Health and Wellness issue. It is truly exciting to see what wonderful things can happen by taking advantage of the unique circumstances provided by SL and how great the benefits can possibly be.

Dedicated web sites: http://www.biomedicine.ning.com/
http://www.shro.org/

1. Exterior of main building
2. Inside the auditorium, with a slide on the screen after a class was held there
3. Exterior showing the retractable roof open (Photo: copyright of S.H.R.O 2008)
4. Inside the lab where I use the microscope under the watchful eye of Alfa Roux
5. Hospital
6. Hospital examining area
7. View of the surgical suite to be used for teaching telemedicine from the observation area
8. Alfa Roux inside a cell model

Biomedicine Research Labs Island (53, 168, 21)