Samuel Gonçalves, researcher at the ICVS, is honored this Wednesday, October 9th, with the Maria de Sousa prize awarded by the BIAL Foundation. The award-winning project tries to understand how the metabolism of our cells can contribute to susceptibility to aspergilosis disease, allow us to find new therapeutic targets and develop new personalized medicine strategies.
The fungus Aspergillus fumigatus is an environmental fungus that is present everywhere, including inside our homes and, for this reason, we inhale hundreds of its spores every day. In most healthy individuals, this fungus does not cause disease, however, in some individuals, especially those with a compromised immune system (due to a hematopoietic progenitor transplant, a tumor, or COVID-19), this fungus can cause a fatal respiratory disease called Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis. Although some significant advances in combating this infection have been made in recent years, both diagnosis and treatment, this infection continues to be a serious clinical problem, resulting in high mortality rates.
It is known that immune system cells activate specific metabolic pathways in response to this infection. Recently, we discovered that one of the pathways that is activated is the cholesterol synthesis pathway. In this sense, this project focuses on the study of the molecular mechanisms through which cholesterol metabolism contributes to antifungal immune responses. A detailed understanding of how cellular metabolism can contribute to susceptibility to this disease will allow us to find new therapeutic targets and develop new personalized medicine strategies that allow us to reduce high mortality rates and improve the quality of life of individuals susceptible to this infection.
Regarding the impact of this distinction on the continued development of his project, Samuel Gonçalves says that this award will allow the proposed work to be developed “more quickly” and will allow “conclusively to elucidate the impact of cellular metabolism”, namely, the lipid, in susceptibility to opportunistic fungal diseases.
The ICVS researcher also adds that “this award has a very positive impact on the professional level. I finished my PhD just over a year ago and having the opportunity to start working on my own projects, such as my own funding, is crucial for me to build a successful scientific career. When it comes to personal impact, it’s always gratifying to see my work recognized on a national level. I would therefore like to thank the BIAL Foundation and the Medical Association for the distinction given to me”.
