Tuesday, March 19 2024

“I spent every summer of my life making resolutions for September. Not
anymore. Now I spend every summer remembering resolutions that I made and
have vanished, a little from laziness, a little from forgetfulness. What do
you have against nostalgia? It is the only distraction left for those who
are wary of the future.”


(From the movie La grande bellezza by Paolo Sorrentino)

I have a confession to make. It isn’t always easy for us journalists to get
a positive response to our interview requests—even when it is for a good
cause. Above all, it is not easy to find a person with willingness,
courtesy, a professional manner, and interest, not to mention the courage
to get into the game. I found each of these qualities however, while
interviewing Nathalie Dompé,

Director of Corporate Social Responsibility for Dompé

, an Italian pharmaceutical company that has always been committed to the
front line in the battle against terrible illnesses such as breast tumors,
as well in scientific research which would improve, for example, the
results of liver transplants.

Between her many commitments and meetings, she manages to find time for
Familyandmedia. I explain our project to her, along with how we began, and
what we want to do. She listens to me, gives her impressions, and tells me
about her work and social initiatives. It is immediately apparent that she
and the Familyandmedia team have something strongly in common: great faith,
and passion for what we do. Her drive for her work is spontaneous and
sincere. I hope to transmit this positivity in my summary of the interview.
Happy reading!


For your institution you work in the sector of Social Corporate
Responsibility, an ever more strategic asset for a modern business that
wants to be in harmony with the society it lives within. What is SCR
for Dompé? Can you tell us about a few initiatives?

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with a new public. I will
happily try to explain what it is that Dompé does for society. I would say
that social responsibility projects in Dompé go forward developing at the
same rate as the company’s commitment to scientific research, and in
particular, its focus on rare diseases. A business cannot remove itself
from its context. On the contrary, it should form an active part of it and
become a promoter of change. In complex years like we are living, this
approach is even more necessary—I would say urgent. From our point of view,
what we wanted to do was focus on the world of biotechnology not only as a
field of scientific research, but also—and above all—as a field with
possible solutions to health problems that are still unsolved, such as
ophthalmology or diabetes. All while trying to create opportunities for
visibility and support to the younger generations, who perhaps need greater
help than those in the past.

“Support Superheroes”

is certainly a symbol for this approach: it is a competition dedicated to
young screenwriters which has already been promoted with success in 2014.
Its goal is to have them describe the world of research through a new and
innovative lens.


It is very common in today’s business world to talk about “ethically
sustainable and socially responsible work.” These aren’t just
convenient labels for looking good in public opinion, but real
strategic choices upon which a business can build and redefine its
reputation. What is your idea of sustainability?

For a pharmaceutical company, sustainability is an essential concept, in as
much as any project that researches and develops new medicines requires
long term investment. Being sustainable therefore means being capable of
looking ahead and devising strategies that are able to make people
participate in projects that take years to complete. That is why
communication, involvement, and talent retention strategies are
particularly important to us. At the same time, sustainability means
maintaining an ethical relationship with our stakeholders and with public
opinion. We must know how to communicate in a knowledgeable and, precisely,
responsible way, the steps that carry us towards future therapeutic
solutions. In Dompé, social responsibility has the function of witnessing
to the business’ commitment to continuity and balance in order to maintain
a channel of communication with society that is always open.


How much and in what way can culture, social research, and the
diffusion of positive messages contribute to improving the quality of
peoples’ lives? For a business like Dompé how important is it to help
the surrounding society, and how do you seek to create benefits for the
social community?

The highest purpose of a pharmaceutical company is to answer healthcare
needs that remain unsatisfied. This is a mission that by definition has a
social end. In this perspective, for Dompé, Corporate Social Responsibility
has the job of accompanying this fundamental mission. Our goal is to create
an environment that is closer to the research world and the reality of the
patients. In my opinion, Italy in particular suffers from a lack of
scientific knowledge among the general public, which in some way our
actions hope to remedy. Towards this end, I am happy to cite the

GENIale project

—about to begin its second edition—in which we wanted to contribute to
spreading a scientific culture among the younger generations. We give them
useful instruments to know biotechnology, therefore allowing them the
possibility of choosing it as a future field of study. We believe that
Corporate Social Responsibility should no longer be an end in itself, nor
merely a helpful side agenda, but should help to form, above all in the new
generations, an awareness of how interconnected we are with the world.


When I say these three words: “culture of life,” what comes immediately
to mind?


I think of my work! Of the fact that I am fortunate to do excellent work in
the pharmaceutical sector, a sector that has the culture of life as the
basis for any choice it makes.


For some time, there has been talk of “internet-pathy,” that is, a
real, new pathology that consists in “dependence” on the internet and
new media (smartphone, social networks, videogames, and the like).
Could this be of interest to your research? What relationship do you
have with social media?

In this moment, Dompé’s presence on social media is focused on the
business’ official YouTube channel, as well as on LinkedIn. These two
social networks allow us to communicate the culture of our business in an
international and intercultural way. I think one of the ways to fight
internet dependence, whether by individuals or companies, is to understand
that it is not always necessary to maintain every type of media available,
but rather choose to have a presence on the media that will truly make it
possible to offer quality content. We should also adopt the same logic
towards private social networks: they are instruments to use with maturity
and a sense of respect towards ourselves and others.


In conclusion: We began this interview with a brief citation about good
resolutions, taken from an Italian movie called La grande bellezza, which won an Oscar in 2014. Recently, in
our own small way, we also placed online a joking article (though with
a serious meaning) about “good digital resolutions” for this year.
Between avalanches of daily emails, WhatsApp messages, and Facebook
notifications, perhaps it is worth stopping a moment to think about
what is truly necessary and what is not. What are your own good
resolutions?

Typically, my good resolutions already fail on January first every new
year! What I mean to say is that the idea of “wanting to do” something is
not enough to really do it. Commitment, planning, and team work are
necessary. From my point of view, my resolution is to continue to work on
myself, that I may never get used to the simplest solution. In this sense,
my family’s story and the example of researchers are valuable. It is a
perspective that helps challenge one’s own capacity to produce innovative
results, knowing how to rely on a culture of work open to exchange. This is
perhaps the basis for designing and creating what we define “good
resolutions.”

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