3rd Meeting of SCI Portuguese Researchers

On June 22nd and 23rd, the 3rd International Meeting of Portuguese Researchers on Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) took place at the Centro de Reabilitação do Norte (CRN, CHVNG/E). Organized annually by the growing community of national SCI researchers, this event intends to highlight the cutting-edge work in the field, gathering the Portuguese SCI experts and inviting internationally renowned speakers.

This year's meeting was a collaborative effort between the Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED) and the SCI Rehabilitation Unit of CRN. The Organizing Committee was led by our Principal Investigator, Sandra Vieira, and PhD student Maria Ribeiro da Cunha, a physiatrist and coordinator of the CRN SCI Rehabilitation Unit. Supporting the organization were PhD students from our lab — Bárbara Sousa, Bruna Cruz, and José Gabriel Figueiredo — along with CRN physiatrists Dr. Fátima Gandarez and Dr. Margarida Rodrigues.

The event featured a variety of activities, including oral presentations by international keynote speakers and iBiMED researchers, flash talks by PhD students, poster sessions, a guided tour through the CRN facilities, and two specialized workshops.

Keynote speaker Dr. Ceren Yarar-Fisher, Vice Chair of Research at Ohio State University and Director of Clinical Research at the Belford Center for SCI, delivered a talk titled 'A Rebel’s Approach to Change Spinal Cord Injury Care', highlighting her team's research on the impact of nutrition and the microbiome on SCI recovery.

Dr. Monica A. Perez from the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab at Northwestern University, Chicago, discussed innovative rehabilitation strategies, such as electrical stimulation, in her talk 'Neural Control of Movement after Spinal Cord Injury'.

Internal speakers included Sandra Vieira and Miguel Pais-Vieira, who presented their work on SCI rehabilitation through their talks 'Neural Activity during a 14-Month Brain-Computer Interface Protocol for SCI Rehabilitation' and 'Cell Therapies for Spinal Cord Injury: A Review of Clinical Trials and Therapeutic Potential', respectively.

To conclude the event, enologist and person with SCI lived experience, Bento Amaral shared his 'HumanWinety Project', followed by a Portuguese wine tasting and a jazz performance by a band from the University of Aveiro’s Department of Communication and Art.

Here are some of the best moments from our meeting:

It was a true pleasure to organize such an important event for the advancement of national SCI research, and we are deeply grateful to all the attendees for their participation and contributions, which helped make this gathering a success!

You can find furhter information about the 3rd Meeting of SCI Portuguese Researchers in the oficial site: https://sciptresearchers.wixsite.com/3rd-meeting

Workshop on Histology applied to Biomedicine

On 30th May to 2nd of June our research group was involved in the organization of the first edition of the Workshop on Histology applied to Biomedicine, a joint iniciative between our Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED), the Aveiro Institute of Materials (CICECO) and the Association for Professional Training and Research (UNAVE) of the University of Aveiro.

This workshop aimed to provide theoretical and practical basis for the preparation and histological analysis of various tissues (histochemistry), with insights into their application, both in diagnosis and biomedical research. The event took place at the Department of Medical Sciences of the University of Aveiro and counted with the presence of 10 participants.

Our PI, Dr. Sandra Vieira, was one of the scientific-pedagogical coordinators of the workshop, together with Dr. Luísa Helguero (iBiMED) and Dr. Maria de Lourdes (CICECO). Besides, our PhD students, Bárbara Sousa and Patrícia Correia, gave their contribution to the event as trainers.

For further details on the Workshop on Histology applied to Biomedicine you can consult the official webpage: https://www.unave.pt/?formacao=workshop-de-histologia-aplicada-a-biomedicina

VI iBiMED Symposium 2023

The VI iBiMED Symposium, organized by the PhD students of the Institute of Biomedicine of the University of Aveiro, took place on the 25th and 26th May.

Not only we collaborated in the organization of this event, with our PhD student, Bárbara Sousa, as a member of the Organizing Committee and our PI, Dr. Sandra Vieira, as part of the Scientific Committee, but several members of our team had the opportunity to present their work.

Patricia Correia gave a flash talk overviewing the main findings of her PhD project on the identification of new genetic targets for neuroregeneration. Besides, Bárbara and our two research fellows, Bruna Cruz and José Gabriel, presented poster communications.