Prada Group is funding ‘Proteggimi’, a research project on male susceptibility to the virus, reported by Fashionunited. 

As data suggests that the virus affects men more than women, the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan will investigate whether male sex hormones play a factor in this imbalance. The Italian luxury label suggested that this commitment “reflects Prada’s forward-looking, original research, which seeks to foster dialogue between neuroscience and culture.”

In Italy, men account for 66 percent of deaths from coronavirus  and are also more likely to get treatment in intensive care, as was seen by the 82 percent of male admissions in the Lombardy region. Sex hormones, especially testosterone, could explain this.

The project, coordinated by urologist and andrologist Professor Andrea Salonia, who is both the director of the San Raffaele Urological Research Institute and a lecturer at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. She said: “It is crucial to be able to examine separate data for men and women, if we are to understand whether testosterone levels are linked to the severity of the illness, and to assess any long-term impacts on the overall health of men who have recovered from the virus. We hope this research will produce its first results in the next few weeks.”