The Milano Project

Fund the research that could end PFS & PSSD

  • The University of Milan is finding out what these drugs change in the body.
  • Seven studies. The most complete research programme yet.
  • Donations pay for it. Yours funds the next study.
PFS Foundation University of Milan SIDEfxHUB
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What the Milano Project is trying to do

Two conditions, one lab, and a question medicine cannot answer yet.

There is no test for either condition, so people are not believed. There is no treatment, because nobody has proved yet what to aim one at. The Milano Project works on both, about equally.

PFS

Post-Finasteride Syndrome

A hair-loss and prostate drug taken by millions. For some people the effects do not stop when they stop taking it.

What Milano asks

Can what the drug changed be put back?

The project is testing a substance the body already makes, to see if it repairs what the drug changed.

If it does, there is something to try on patients. That is a treatment, not only an explanation.

PSSD

Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction

One of the most prescribed antidepressants in the world. For some people the numbness does not stop when they stop taking it.

What Milano asks

Where does the numbness begin?

The project is looking in two places at once: the brain, and the nerves that carry feeling.

Find where it starts and you have somewhere to aim a treatment.

The Numbers

The Milano Project by the numbers

7 Studies planned The most complete programme these conditions have had
1 Published so far Results from the second are due
100 Donors worldwide Funded by the people who live it
2026 All seven studies complete The last paper is published in 2027

From the lab to a treatment

Your donation pays for the research that turns PFS and PSSD from a mystery into biology.

  • Real science, real progressLed by Prof. Roberto Melcangi, University of Milan
  • Shared causes, shared answersStudying PFS and PSSD together
  • Hope backed by dataAlready shaping diagnosis and treatment
  • Change led by patientsFunded by the people who live it

Every donation moves this forward.

Published Research

Milano Project studies

1 out of 7 studies published

Results From Study 1

Allopregnanolone Alleviates Some Symptoms of Finasteride-induced Inflammation in Both the Gut and Hypothalamus of Rats

This study was done in rats.

  • Stopping finasteride caused inflammation in the gut and in the hypothalamus (a part of the brain).
  • Allopregnanolone (ALLO) reversed several of those effects.
  • ALLO also restored PPAR-alpha, a possible PFS biomarker (a sign that can be measured).

So the gut and the brain are both affected in PFS. ALLO is now a treatment worth testing.

Results from the second study will be shared soon.

Roadmap

What your donation pays for

2024-2026

Finish 7 human studies on PFS and PSSD

The most complete study programme ever done on these conditions.

Ongoing

Find biomarkers that prove there is a biological cause

Hard evidence that doctors and regulators can act on.

Ongoing

Map what these drugs do to neurosteroids

How finasteride and SSRIs affect allopregnanolone and other neurosteroids (hormones the brain makes).

2026+

Prepare clinical trials in Italy

Moving from lab work to treatment trials in people.

Always

Share all data with qualified researchers worldwide

Open science, for every patient.

Documentary

Inside the Milano Project

Robb travels to Italy to meet Professor Melcangi and his team. He goes inside the lab and meets the PhD students who run the tests. You hear from the scientists doing the work.

“This is not theory. It is science that is happening now.”

- Robb, SIDEfxHUB

Committed to the people living with PFS & PSSD

The Milano team has worked on PFS and PSSD for over 10 years.

They did it quietly, for a community that had long been overlooked.

Prof. Melcangi's team at work in the Milano Project lab
“We are no longer in the dark. The evidence is strong. The next step is human clinical trials.”
- Prof. Roberto Melcangi
Partners

Other ongoing research

Two partners run their own PFS and PSSD research. You can support them directly.

PSSD Network

PSSD Network

Takes part in the Milano Project, led by Dr. Melcangi.

  • Nerve and hormone causes of PSSD
  • Brain function and gut health
  • Steroid imbalances and possible biomarkers
Learn more and donate
RxISK

RxISK

  • Nerve scans and biomarkers in PSSD
  • Tests light therapy
  • Looks at SSRIs and changes to the p63 protein

Offers the $100K RxISK Prize for a treatment breakthrough.

Learn more and donate

Thank you from team SIDEfxHUB

Every donation pays for work that would not otherwise happen. This community has had to fight to be believed. Now it is funding the evidence.

Gary Shields

Gary Shields

Legal & Compliance Director

Robb Dixon

Robb Dixon

Communications Director

Morten Skov

Morten Skov

Digital & Awareness Director

Ryan Clark

Ryan Clark

Community Director

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