Ana João Rodrigues and Agostinho Carvalho will lead projects on the role of zinc in neuronal communication and on a rare fungal infection
Ana João Rodrigues and Agostinho Carvalho, researchers at ICVS – Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, School of Medicine of the University of Minho (UMinho), have been awarded a “CaixaResearch Health Research 2026” grant from the “la Caixa” Foundation. The ceremony took place yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, and was attended by the Rector of UMinho, Pedro Arezes, and the Directress of ICVS, Patrícia Maciel.
ZINCoding: zinc in communication between neurons
Ana João Rodrigues’ project, “ZINCoding”, received €500,000 in funding for three years of research on the zinc released by certain neurons in brain communication and in the regulation of behaviour. Her team found that positive and negative experiences alter proteins that control zinc in a brain region linked to reward.
Using new fluorescent sensors, developed in collaboration with Huiwang Ai (University of Virginia, USA), the team aims to observe the release of this metal during behaviour for the first time. It will also study possible changes in these signals in an animal model of depression, in collaboration with Jacques Barik of the Université Côte d’Azur (France). The work may help explain the association between changes in zinc and depression.
ARMOR: metabolic therapies against mucormycosis
Agostinho Carvalho is part of the “ARMOR” consortium, funded with €1 million, of which €210,000 are allocated to ICVS. The goal is to design personalised metabolic therapies against mucormycosis, a rare and often fatal fungal infection.
The consortium is coordinated by Coral Barbas (Universidad San Pablo CEU, Spain) and also brings together scientists from the Universities of Crete (Greece), Murcia (Spain) and KU Leuven (Belgium). Recent studies have shown that albumin carries fatty acids that inhibit the growth of the fungus, but that this effect is reduced when levels of this protein are low, as occurs in patients with diabetes.
At ICVS, the first genetic atlas of albumin will be created. The results will support a phase II clinical trial that will assess, for the first time, supplementation with this protein in high-risk haematological patients, with the aim of strengthening defences against the infection and improving survival.
The call
The “CaixaResearch Health Research 2026” call selected 32 projects out of 800 applications and awarded a total of €25.7 million to initiatives that will take place at R&D centres, hospitals and universities, mainly in Spain and Portugal. Three of the seven Portuguese projects selected are co-funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).
