ICVS has been awarded funding exceeding €2.27 million under the “Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects in All Scientific Domains” call by FCT, with 11 projects led by researchers from the institute. These projects highlight the diversity and excellence of research at ICVS, with impact across key fields such as neuroscience, regenerative medicine, infectious diseases, parasitology, and medical technologies.
In regenerative medicine, funding was secured on research projects focused on novel approaches to spinal cord injury repair, which will be led by researchers from the ReNeu team, António Salgado (“NanoSEC – Spinal Cord Injury Repair Through Multifunctional Electroactive Hydrogels Loaded with Stem Cells Secretome”) and Nuno Silva (“REGEN4SCI – Unlocking the Therapeutic Potential of Macrophage Derived Secretome for Spinal Cord Injury Repair”).
In infectious diseases, four projects were funded and will headed by Isabel Veiga (“MALARITY – Unveiling the Hemozoin Pathway of the Malaria Parasite for Antimalarial Strategies”) from the PEvoGen research team, Agostinho Carvalho (“PhagoSARC – Phagosomal Regulation of Granuloma Biogenesis in Sarcoidosis”), Fernando Rodrigues (“Fast_SbI – Fungal sialidase 1: a novel therapeutic target for Sporothrix brasiliensis infections”), and Ricardo Silvestre (“IL7-Leish-Vac – A Novel Fourth-Generation Vaccine against Canine Leishmaniasis”) from the i3D research team.
In neuroscience, research projects will be coordinated by Bárbara Coimbra (“MINDCHOL – Mind under influence: Decoding cholinergic dynamics from the laterodorsal tegmentum in the nucleus accumbens”) and Carina Cunha (“DynamicDep – Dynamic shift in Behavioral Adaptation: contribution of genetically distinctive nucleus accumbens’ neuronal sub-types for depression”), both focused on neurological mechanisms and behavior and both from the C2B research team. Also in this field, Patrícia Maciel (TransNeu research team), in collaboration with the University of the Azores, will lead “InSCA3 – Exploring CAG repeat expansion somatic instability and mismatch repair proteins in SCA3”, focused on spinocerebellar ataxia type 3, and Sara Calafate (MemAD research team) will coordinate “SleepAD – Unveiling the impact of sleep-dependent processes on neuronal homeostasis and Alzheimer’s disease”.
In medical technologies, Sandro Queirós from the SSAT team will lead a research project entitled “ExpRT – Autonomous reporting tool for optimized laparoscopic exploration”, which focuses on AI-assisted minimally invasive surgery.
In addition to these 11 projects led directly by ICVS researchers, the institute is also involved in four collaborative projects with other institutions. Pedro Ferreira (ReNEU research team) participates in “MultAntiBiofilm – Development of groundbreaking multifunctional antibiotics directed for the treatment of bacterial biofilm infections”, in partnership with the University of Porto. Margarida Correia-Neves (PHAS research team) is part of “Science4TBControl – Improving the efficacy of animal tuberculosis eradication programs at the wildlife-livestock interface through a multidisciplinary science-based approach”, coordinated by Associação Biopolis. Patrício Costa (SSAT research team) collaborates on “ROOTS – The ecologies of impact and value of educational mobilities: young adults returning to low density regions after higher education”, with the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto and the University of Évora. Finally, Bruno Costa (BiTCancer research team) is a partner in “LOCALIZE – Glioblastoma multi-modal treatment for in loco tumor-targeted RNA delivery and self-boosted temozolomide chemotherapy”, coordinated by i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health at the University of Porto.
These funding awards reinforce ICVS’s position as a center of research excellence, with strong leadership and collaboration capabilities in high-impact scientific projects.
