9 Prizes and Fellowships from SPD e Congresso Português de Diabetes to CEDOC-NMS

CEDOC and NOVA Medical School won 9 awards from the da Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia, including honorable mentions and prizes awarded within the scope of the 18º Congresso Português de Diabetes.

The awarding to researchers from NOVA Medical School took place during the 18º Congresso Português de Diabetes, at which awards and grants were awarded by Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia and also the Awards for Best Oral Communication and Best Poster of the same congress.

It is a huge honor” says researcher Rita Patarrão from the MEDIR laboratory, led by Maria Paula Macedo, winners of the Pedro Eurico Lisboa Prize for the best article published in 2021. “In this work we show that insulin clearance dysfunction due to a dysregulation of Insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE) directly impairs postprandial hepatic glucose metabolism and increases susceptibility to dysmetabolic conditions in the Western diet/lifestyle context.”

CEDOC-NMS researchers also won three research grants, one in the field of fundamental research, one in clinical and one in translational research.

Sandra Tenreiro, researcher at the Molecular Mechanisms of Disease laboratory, won the Charneco da Costa Scholarship for a fundamental Research project: “We have developed a new 3D cellular model of retinal organoids, where it is possible to reproduce the molecular and cellular characteristics of diabetic retinopathy”. The researcher also says that this grant will “allow the start of the project and may lead to the identification of new therapeutic approaches to be further explored in other more complex disease models”.

Silvia Conde, principal investigator at the Neuronal Control of Metabolic Disturbances laboratory, was the recipient of the Almeida-Ruas grant for clinical research, together with Dr. Rodrigo Oliveira, Surgeon at the Hospital da Cruz Vermelha, now financed as a doctoral student at NOVA Medical School. Sílvia says that this award is a great recognition of the work carried out in the group and “will help to clarify the mechanisms behind the beneficial effect of bariatric embolization on glycemic control in obese diabetic patients”. The grant for the SPD Fundamental and Translational Research Group was awarded to this same lab, in a project led by researcher Fátima Martins. “This project emerged from preliminary results that point to the important role of mitochondria in the liver in the relationship between obstructive sleep apnea, one of the most prevalent sleep disorders, and metabolic dysfunction” says Fátima, adding that, in addition to the recognition , will foster collaboration with Doctor Marco Alves from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS).

The Dysmetabolism in Brain Diseases laboratory (DysbrainD), of the principal investigator Hugo Vicente Miranda, was also awarded twice. The Nuno Castelo Branco Scholarship was awarded to PhD student Luís Sousa to develop an internship at the Faculty of Medicine of the Friedrich-Alexander-Universität in Germany. He says that “this internship will allow me to learn to manipulate stem cells from Parkinson's and type-2 diabetes patients” and then bring this knowledge to his own lab, continuing to say that “on a personal basis, it will be an experience new, challenging and certainly unforgettable, which I am looking forward to facing." From the same laboratory, PhD student Ana Chegão was the winner of the Best Oral Communication - Fundamental Research Award, with "The Glycation Increase In The Brain Alters Glutamatergic Signaling And Potential Phenotypes of Parkinson's Disease”, and she explains what this award means to her: “It is extremely gratifying for me as a researcher to receive yet another honorable distinction for the work I have been developing throughout my PhD, to which I have dedicated all my energy and enthusiasm”.

See below the list of all these, and others, awards given to researchers at NOVA Medical School, that thank Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia for this incredible recognition of their research.

SPD Awards

  • Prémio Pedro Eurico Lisboa (best publication from 2021)
    Rita Patarrão

    Loss of postprandial insulin clearance control by Insulin-degrading enzyme drives dysmetabolism traits

    Authors: Diego O. Borges*, Rita S. Patarrão*, Rogério T. Ribeiro, Rita Machado de Oliveira, Nádia Duarte, Getachew Debas Belew, Madalena Martins, Rita Andrade, João Costa, Isabel Correia, José Manuel Boavida, Rui Duarte, Luís Gardete-Correia, José Luís Medina, João F. Raposo, John G. Jones, Carlos Penha-Gonçalves e M. Paula Macedo.

  • Menção Honrosa Pedro Eurico Lisboa (best publication from 2021)
    Gabriela Tavares
    Dopamine D2 receptor agonist, bromocriptine, remodels adipose tissue dopaminergic signalling and upregulates catabolic pathways, improving metabolic profile in type 2 diabetes

    Authors: G. Tavares, D. Marques, C. Barra, D. Rosendo-Silva, A. Costa, T. Rodrigues, P. Gasparini, B.F. Melo, J.F. Sacramento, R. Seiça, S.V. Conde e P. Matafome.

  • Menção Honrosa Pedro Eurico Lisboa (best publication from 2021)
    Cláudia Marques 

    A Pilot Study on the Metabolic Impact of Mediterranean Diet in Type 2 Diabetes: Is Gut Microbiota the Key?

    Authors: Shámila Ismael, Marta P. Silvestre, Miguel Vasques, João R. Araújo, Juliana Morais, Maria Inês Duarte, Diogo Pestana, Ana Faria, José B. Pereira-Leal, Joana Vaz, Pedro Ribeiro, Diana Teixeira, Cláudia Marques e Conceição Calhau.

  • Bolsa Charneco da Costa (Fundamental Research Project)
    Sandra Tenreiro

    Exploring a human retinal organoid model of early Diabetic Retinopathy for drug discovery

  • Bolsa Dr. M Almeida Ruas (Clinical Research Project)
    Sílvia V. Conde e Rodrigo Oliveira

    Impacto da cirurgia metabólica e da embolização bariátrica no perfil hormonal intestinal e inflamatório no doente obeso diabético: estudo comparativo.

  • Bolsa Nuno Castelo Branco
    Luís Sousa (DysBrainD)

    Internship at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)

  • Bolsa Grupo de Investigação Fundamental e Translacional da SPD
    Fátima O Martins (Neurometab)

    Is there a role for mitochondrial dysfunction and ROS in the link OSA-dysmetabolism?

    Authors: Fátima O. Martins, Marco G. Alves, Sílvia V. Conde, Pedro Oliveira e Joana Fernandes.

Prémios 18º Congresso Português de Diabetes

  • Best Oral Communication - Fundamental Research
    Ana Chegão (Grupo Dysbraind)

    O AUMENTO DE GLICAÇÃO NO CÉREBRO ALTERA A SINALIZAÇÃO GLUTAMATÉRGICA E POTENCIA FENÓTIPOS DA DOENÇA DE PARKINSON

    Authors: Ana Chegão, Mariana Guarda, Bruno M. Alexandre, Liana Shvachiy, Mariana Temido-Ferreira, Inês Marques-Morgado, Bárbara Fernandes Gomes, Rune Matthiesen, Luísa V. Lopes, Pedro R. Florindo, Ricardo Anjos-Gomes, Patrícia Gomes-Alves, Joana E. Coelho, Tiago Fleming Outeiro e Hugo Vicente Miranda

  • Honorable Mention Best Oral Communication - Clinical Researh
    Rita Patarrão

    EFEITO PROTETOR DO CAFÉ NA PERMEABILIDADE INTESTINAL E NA ESTEATOSE/FIBROSE HEPÁTICA EM INDIVÍDUOS COM DIABETES TIPO 2

    Authors: Rita S. Patarrão, Inês Sousa-Lima, Maria João Meneses, Rogério Ribeiro, Rita Andrade, João Filipe Raposo, John Jones e Maria Paula Macedo
Rita Patarrão
Assistant Professor
Maria Paula Macedo
Principal Investigator (PI)
Sandra Tenreiro
Principal Investigator
Sílvia Vilares Conde
Principal Investigator
Fátima Patrícia Oliveira Martins
Junior Researcher FCT Scientific Employment Stimulus
Hugo Vicente Miranda
Principal Investigator
Luís Sousa
PhD Student
Ana Chegão
PhD candidate
Cláudia Marques