01 · Explore
Understanding the extreme
We travel to the planet’s most demanding places, from frozen Arctic islands to deep caves, and turn each expedition into a living lab for human adaptation.
Our expeditions →
Explore. Adapt. Connect.
Empowering human adaptation to environmental stress
We study how the human body adapts to extreme cold, heat, microgravity and isolation, and turn what we learn into tools for human resilience on a changing planet.
Extreme environments show, in compressed time, what heat waves, cold and isolation do to all of us. We go there to find out how people adapt.
What we do
Measuring how people adapt to stress
Heat, cold, microgravity and isolation leave a molecular signature in the body. We read it from a few drops of blood and turn it into a Stress Adaptation Index: how strongly a person reacts and how well they recover. Then we put it in people's hands with StressFIT.
- Step 1 · Sample
In the field
Dried blood spots collected on expeditions, from Arctic camps to deep caves.
- Step 2 · Profile
Multi-omics
Metabolites, microRNAs and targeted DNA methylation show how cells respond.
- Step 3 · Score
Adaptation index
ADAPT-ID combines those layers into one Stress Adaptation Index.
- Step 4 · Deliver
Products
StressKIT for laboratories, StressFIT for people.
Our device
StressFIT
In developmentA wearable patch that spots environmental stress at the molecular level, before symptoms appear.
- 1WearA small patch on the arm samples continuously.
- 2MonitorIt reads a molecular stress signature next to heart rate and skin temperature, and warns you while vital signs still look normal.
- 3ModulateIt responds with natural adaptogens and the signature returns to baseline.
Pitch
Vert slide deck
The problem, our solution, the first field evidence, the market and what we are raising. Use the arrows or swipe.
02 · Adapt
Reading the stress signature
A few drops of blood on paper, collected in the field. In the lab we profile metabolites, microRNAs and DNA methylation, and combine them into a Stress Adaptation Index: how strongly a person reacts and how well they recover.
The science →
03 · Connect
Science through a lens
Every expedition produces film, photographs and sound. Our documentary Gene Hunters, the Chasing Adaptation exhibition and live performances bring the science to people who would never read a paper.
Explore
Many environments, one question
Caves, polar nights, climate chambers and the lab. We follow human stress wherever it is strongest.
Who we build for
Helping those who help others
FirefightersRescue teamsPersonnel in remote areasPolar and analog crewsAstronautsOutdoor workersAthletesPeople vulnerable to heat waves
Next up
Partners & collaborators
A Sapienza start-up, incubated with ESA
Vert Project SRL is a Sapienza University of Rome start-up, incubated at the ESA Business Incubation Centre Lazio. Our expeditions, exhibitions and events are made together with artists, studios and partners in Rome and beyond.
Institutions
Collaborators
Field sampling · Lofoten
What we do
From the field to a reading of human resilience
Extreme environments show, in compressed time, what heat waves, cold and isolation do to all of us. We study people where those stresses are strongest and translate what we learn into products.
- Step 1 · Sample
Expeditions
We collect dried blood spots in the field: a few drops on paper, easy to carry from a cave or an Arctic camp.
- Step 2 · Profile
Multi-omics
Metabolites, microRNAs and targeted DNA methylation describe how cells respond to stress.
- Step 3 · Score
Adaptation index
ADAPT-ID combines those layers into a Stress Adaptation Index: how strongly a person reacts and how well they recover.
- Step 4 · Deliver
Products
The signature becomes a lab kit and a wearable device that people can use.
Explore
Where we work
Cold
68°N
Lofoten Islands
A 30-day expedition in Arctic Norway studying molecular adaptation to cold.
Read it in Oceanographic →Darkness & isolation
Below ground
Albanian caves
Life underground, cut off from daylight, in one of our deep-cave expeditions.
Physical load
ÖWF
Vertical Treadmill
Pilot cohort data from the Austrian Space Forum’s Vertical Treadmill Facility.
Microgravity
~0 g
Simulated spaceflight
Cell models in simulated microgravity, with and without radiation, at Sapienza.
Adapt
Products
StressKIT
A qPCR-based kit that measures the molecular stress signature in research samples.
- Works from dried blood spots
- Runs on standard qPCR equipment
- Built for research groups and clinical studies
StressFIT
A point-of-care biodevice with a mobile app that tracks your stress signature and helps your body adapt.
- Wear, monitor, modulate
- Early warning before symptoms appear
- Response based on natural adaptogens
Connect
Science you can see and hear
Every expedition also produces film, images and sound. We use them to make complex biology understandable and to talk about why adaptation matters.
Gene Hunters
Our self-produced film on the search for the molecular traces of adaptation.
Our YouTube channel →Chasing Adaptation
A visual journey into human extremes. Photographs from the Lofoten expedition by Luca Gennari and Marco Ruperto, reworked by the Roman artist Ruxo with oversized marine creatures. Shown in Gothenburg and Rome.
See the posters →BioSonic
Il suono dello stress. Human cells under the microscope, projected live, while their response to stress is turned into sound in real time.
The team on expedition
Team
The people behind Vert
How do people adapt to the extremes, and how can we help them do it better? Our founders come from science, politics, culture and architecture.
Valerio Azzimato, PhD
Co-founder & CEOScience, business
Marco Ruperto
Co-founder & CEOBusiness development, expeditions
Karen Iacono
Co-founder & COOManagement, institutions
Francesco Spallotta, PhD
Co-founder & CTOScience
Rocco Caroselli
Co-founderSocial media, expeditions
Matteo Ruperto
Co-founder & Creative DirectorMedia, dissemination
Michael Manasseri
PROMedia production
Lofoten · golden hour
Events
Where to find us
Screenings, exhibitions, talks and live performances in Italy and abroad.
Chasing Adaptation · Rome
Chasing Adaptation
Vert + Federico Ruxo + Betterpress Roma. Photographs from our Lofoten expedition, reworked by Ruxo with giant marine creatures, plus original works on nautical charts.
- Dates
- 18.09.2026 – 09.10.2026
- Where
- Betterpress Studio, Via Portuense 189 D/E/F, Roma (sotto Stazione Trastevere)
- Special event
- BioSonic · Il suono dello stress, Sat 26 Sep, 19:00
- Finissage
- Fri 9 Oct, 18:00–22:00, with the Gene Hunters screening
Prints of the illustrated works and Ruxo’s originals are for sale. Ask us →
Upcoming & ongoing
Past
Lofoten · moonrise
Reach out
Got a project in mind?
A collaboration, a study, an expedition, a venue for our exhibition, or something else you want to tell us about. Write to us here.
Or write directly to
info@vertproject.org
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