With three decades of science and innovation, the NOVA Medical School laboratory combines cutting-edge technology and professional excellence to drive respiratory research in Portugal.
Did you know that more than 600 million people worldwide live with a chronic respiratory disease?
In Portugal, these diseases—such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)—have been on the rise. However, they often remain underdiagnosed and undertreated, which has a major impact on quality of life and mortality.
What we do
The Functional Exploration Laboratory | Physiopathology at NOVA Medical School offers the community an excellent respiratory functional assessment service, essential for:
- Early detection of respiratory diseases;
- Confirmation of diagnoses;
- Assessment of the respiratory effects of other diseases or environmental exposures;
- Monitoring of disease progression and response to therapy;
- Preoperative assessment.
Experience and Innovation
With three decades of experience, our laboratory has been a pioneer in Portugal in introducing innovative functional tests.
We were the first to bring bronchial provocation testing with drugs and the measurement of exhaled nitric oxide into clinical practice, both of which are fundamental in the diagnosis and monitoring of asthma.
Research focused on the future
Our team is also dedicated to research into environmental pollution and respiratory health, studying the impact of exposure to indoor and outdoor air. We participate in scientific projects that develop new methods for collecting and analyzing biomarkers of inflammation, contributing to a future with earlier diagnoses and more effective treatments.
We are currently conducting research in the field of chronic cough through the following studies:
- EPICOUGH.PT – Epidemiology and functional assessment of chronic cough in Portugal – a cross-sectional study conducted in primary health care: this is the first study to assess the prevalence of chronic cough in the country, with some results published in the European Respiratory Journal Open Research.
As part of this project, we have implemented the capsaicin cough provocation test and are currently the only center in Portugal to perform this procedure.
- Validation of the C-mo 1.0 System – Cough Monitoring: we coordinated the national multicenter clinical trial for the clinical validation of a small portable device developed to automatically monitor coughing over long periods of time, in order to provide better healthcare for patients with coughs.
This study is currently being expanded to several European centers.