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The Burlo Garofolo Institute was founded on November 18, 1856 on the occasion of the Austrian Empress’s visit to Trieste.

Named the “Children’s Hospital”, its declared purpose was to “provide free proper care to the children of poor parents”. This initiative symbolizes the wish of the rich, cosmopolitan local bourgeoisie of that time to prove its philanthropic commitment, particularly to the Imperial House of Habsburg.

By the 1950s, the initial 24 beds had become more than 500 and the hospital was transferred to its present location in via dell’Istria; this move was made possible thanks to the considerable endowments provided by a number of prominent local families, including the Burlo Garofolo and de Manussi families. It was in the past 50 years that the Burlo Garofolo Institute began to make a name for itself among the other scientific institutions in Trieste. In 1968, it became a Scientific Hospital Care Institute accessible to everybody and, in the 1980s, it broke new ground in health care practice by introducing de-hospitalisation procedures and a more human approach to patient care.
The only specialized hospital for mother and child care in the city and region, as well as a reference point for a large number of third-level services, the Institute combines biomedical research in paediatrics and obstetrics with the most advanced medical care practices. Thanks to this, it manages to satisfy medical needs by providing new research-based knowledge and it interacts permanently with the community by means of ongoing training in paediatrics sciences.
The hospital is the seat of six departments of the University of Trieste:

paediatrics,

infant medicine,

haemato-oncology,

medical genetics,

hygiene and

obstetrics and gynaecology.

It is also the venue of some courses of the Faculty of Medicine including:

the degree course in Medicine and Surgery,

Schools of Specialisation,

PhD courses and

University Diplomas courses.
Professional and scientific training is provided through grants supporting researchers from the Institute working in international research centres, as well as through researchers exchange programmes.
Experimental and clinical biomedical research is divided into six parts:

physiopathology of the female reproductive system;

pre- and post-birth infant medicine;

chronic and tumoral illnesses arising in paediatric age;

surgical and rehabilitative paediatric sciences;

rationalisation and humanisation of health care for women and children;

research projects in epidemiology, prevention and care quality assessment;

paediatric neurosciences.
Programmes and funds are provided mainly by the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Universities and Scientific Research, the European Union and by private associations and institutions. In 1992 the Unit for Research on Health Services and International Health based in the Institute was designated WHO Collaboration Centre for Mother and Child Health.
The Unit carries out research projects and staff training, and provides assistance to ministries and scientific institutions based in developing countries, as well as central and eastern European Nations.

An Epidemiology Unit of the Scientific Direction carries out research, consulting and training projects dealing with maternal and infant epidemiology and co-ordinates national and international multi-centre projects, some of which are financed and carried out with the collaboration of the European Union.