On September 7-11, 2024, 36th European Congress of Pathology was organized in Florence, Italy. The winners of the Giordano Fellowships competition were announced. Out of 22 winners from European and Asian countries, two—Manana Jikurashvili and Shota Kepuladze are young doctors and invited lecturers from the Department of Anatomic Pathology of Tbilisi State Medical University. 

Giordano Fellowships was established in 2015. The Fellowships support young pathologists and residents in their last year to get insight and hands-on training into a specialized field (such as nephropathology) at internationally recognized training centers. This opportunity is a great way to improve a student’s diagnostic and scientific skills and strengthen partnerships between institutions.

Through the Giordano Fellowship program, Manana Jikurashvili will travel to Portugal in the fall of 2025 to gain experience in the field of digital pathology, spending two months at the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology at the University of Porto (IPATIMUP). The knowledge and experience gained at the University of Porto will significantly contribute to the success of the grant project "Establishing a Digital Slide Database for advancing Pathology Education through Innovative Modules and AI-Integrated Doctoral Program” which won the Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) grant at the Department of Anatomic Pathology of Tbilisi State Medical University.

Shota Kepuladze, through the Giordano Fellowships, will undergo professional training in dermatopathology in 2025 at the Maastricht University Medical Center (Maastricht UMC) in the Netherlands. In addition to practical clinical work, which will include histological, immunohistochemically, and molecular diagnostics of skin tumors, he will also participate in research projects conducted by the Department of Pathology at Maastricht University.