2 New Publications about Neural Tissue Engineering

Recently, we have published 2 new articles in the framework of our European Project 'NeurostimSpinal'.

The article 'Customizing 3D Structures of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes to Direct Neural Stem Cell Differentiation' has been published in June 2023 on Advanced Health Materials (IF = 10) and can be accessed on: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adhm.202300828.

Nascimento L, Fernandes C, Silva RM, Semitela A, de Sousa BM, Marques PAAP, Vieira SI, Silva RF, Barroca N, Gonçalves G. (2023) 'Customizing 3D Structures of Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanotubes to Direct Neural Stem Cell Differentiation. Adv. Healthcare Mater. 2300828. DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202300828

Another article, entitled 'Decellularized extracellular matrix-based 3D nanofibrous scaffolds functionalized with polydopamine-reduced graphene oxide for neural tissue engineering' has been published in September 2023 on the Chemical Engineering Journal (IF = 15.1) and can found at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1385894723037117.

Silva D, Barroca N, Pinto SC, Semitela A, de Sousa BM, Martins PAD, Nero L, Madarieta I, García-Urkia N, Fernández-San-Argimiro FJ, Garcia-Lizarribar A, Murua O, Olalde B, Bdikin I, Vieira SI & Marques PAAP. (2023) Decellularized extracellular matrix-based 3D nanofibrous scaffolds functionalized with polydopamine-reduced graphene oxide for neural tissue engineering. Chemical Engineering Journal. 472, 144980. DOI: 10.1016/j.cej.2023.144980

Two new PhD scholarships funded

Two members of the Spark Lab team – Bruna Cruz and José Gabriel Figueiredo - have been granted a scholarship from the ‘2023 Call for PhD Studentships’ funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT).

Bruna’s workplan focuses on the characterization of new candidate neuroregenerative targets for the treatment of spinal cord injuries (SCIs). Leveraging the promising results from our previous FCT-funded GoBack project, the goal is to identify early-regulated genes able to trigger robust neuroregenerative programs and assess their potential for clinical translation. Bruna’s PhD research work will be mainly conducted at the Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED) of the University of Aveiro, supervised by Dr. Sandra Vieira (Spark Lab’s PI) and co-supervised by Dr. Frank Bosse from Heinrich-Heine University (Dusseldorf, Germany) and Dr. Stephane Belin from the Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences (GIN, France). Ref: 2023.03623.BD

José Gabriel’s thesis will address the characterization of brain information transfer dynamics and neurorehabilitation effects of a brain-machine interface (BMI) intervention in SCI patients. It is intended to monitor the cortical activity of healthy and SCI participants subjected to a BMI protocol - consisting on the control of an avatar through motor imagery in an immersive virtual reality environment - and assess the eventual occurrence of neuroplasticity, relating these measurements with SCI-related markers and clinical evolution. This work will be jointly supervised by Dr. Miguel Santos Pais Vieira (iBiMED, University of Aveiro) and Dr. Sandra Vieira. Ref: 2023.02051.BD

Congratulations, Bruna and José Gabriel!

Workshops of the 3rd Meeting of SCI Portuguese Researchers

The second day of the 3rd Meeting of SCI Portuguese Researchers, organized by our research group, comprised 2 parallel workshops on Non-pharmacological therapies for Neurorehabilitation:

• Workshop 1, directed to PhD students, comprised dynamic talks by Dr. Mónica Perez on the ‘Trends in Electromagnetic stimulation for SCI neurorehabilitation’ and Dr. Ceren Yarar-Fisher on the ‘Trends in Microbiome and Nutrition for SCI care'.

• Workshop 2, targeting healthcare professionals, was sponsored by Mobilitec and iACESS and focused on the ‘Technological innovation in the prescription of support products: a way to improve the functionality of people with SCI'.

The full programme can be consulted here: https://sciptresearchers.wixsite.com/3rd-meeting/program

We want to thank to all the speakers, sponsors and attendees for the valuable contributions to these satellite events!