Stamina therapy was a controversial and unproven treatment marketed in Italy by convicted quack Davide Vannoni during 2007–2014. Mainly aimed at neurodegenerative diseases, the method relied on the conversion of mesenchymal stem cells into neurons. Its details were kept secret by its promoters and Vannoni has never published any details in a scientific journal. In the absence of scientific validation, claims of its therapeutic effectiveness are unproven.

Beatrice Lorenzin is an Italian politician belonging to the Democratic Party, former leader of Popular Alternative, and former Minister of Health from 28 April 2013 to 1 June 2018, in the governments of Enrico Letta, Matteo Renzi and Paolo Gentiloni. In 2018 she became one of the longest-serving health minister in the history of the Italian Republic.