A Research Day at FMUL was held for the first time, organized by GAPIC and the AEFML.

Given the growing interest of FMUL students in science-related activities and their already outstanding involvement in research projects, GAPIC and the AEFML decided to organize a joint initiative: “Research Day at FMUL”.

Young students have come to see scientific research as an asset to their personal and professional development and this is an important reason for choosing our Faculty of Medicine. We believe that the practice of scientific research should be stimulated from an early stage, particularly among the vast majority of students who predominantly want to have a clinical activity in future. In our view, scientific research is a privileged partner of clinical activity, as it fosters a questioning stance and critical thinking skills inherent to good medical practice.

Research Day was held on 12 December 2012 at the David-Ferreira Amphitheatre in the Egas Moniz Building. The opening session was attended by Professor Miguel Castanho, Deputy Director of FMUL, Professor João Ferreira, Coordinator of GAPIC, and student Miguel Almeida, President of the AEFML. The day started with the remembrance of the founder of GAPIC, Professor José David-Ferreira, by Professor Maria do Carmo-Fonseca, Executive Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine of Lisbon.

A session that aroused greater curiosity was the one titled “how to I question myself?”, which had, as speakers, Professor Maria Mota, Professor Isabel Pavão Martins and Professor Luís Costa, who, through their personal, concrete and exemplary experiences, intended to improve students’ understanding of the genesis of a scientific hypothesis. Another high moment was the talk “Body and Machine” given by Professor Porfírio Silva, a philosopher of the Higher Technical Institute.

The AEFML session on research opportunities was the most anticipated by students and had as guests Professor Joaquim Ferreira, Sónia Barroso (Advisor at GAPIC), students David Coelho (GAPIC scholar), Tiago Rodrigues (FAD scholar), Sandra Maurício (General Coordinator of AIMS Meeting), and Gonçalo Boleto (Ambassador in Portugal of IJMS).

The scientific component of the event was the presentation of 24 projects carried out by FMUL students at the poster session of the 15th Workshop “Education through Science”, of which 6 were selected for oral presentation. The following projects were awarded prizes: dos quais foram seleccionados 6 para apresentação em comunicação oral e tendo sido premiados os seguintes trabalhos:

– “Peptide-Mediated siRNA Delivery. Novel Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia Therapy Targeting the BCR-ABL Fusion Gene”, Inês Rego de Figueiredo

– “Modulation of long term depression (“Long-Term Depression” – LTD) by brain-derived neurotrophic factor (“Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor” – BDNF) and interaction with Adenosine Receptors””, Tiago Filipe Martins Rodrigues

– “Does IL-7 regulate autophagy of acute lymphoblastic leukemia T-cells?”, Marta Isabel Barros de Freitas Cancella de Abreu

– “Gene therapy of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: evaluating the effectiveness of small LNA oligonucleotides”, Ricardo Nunes Rita Simões

– “Identification of drugs and molecular mechanisms that mediate the inhibition of secretion of cytokines TNF and IL-1B”, Tiago Rodrigues Velho

The paper “Differences in osteoclast activity between rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis” written by Dr Raquel Marques, of the Rheumatology Research Unit (IMM) and the Rheumatology Department (HSM-CHLN), was presented in the session on the 7th AstraZeneca Foundation/FMUL Research Scholarship.

During the day students also had the opportunity to visit several research units:
Neurology University Clinic
Cardiology University Clinic
Laboratory of Clinical and Therapeutic Pharmacology
Embryonic Development in Vertebrates Rheumatology Research Unit
Malaria Unit
Molecular Microbiology and Infection Unit
Cell Biology Unit
Biomembranes Unit
Molecular Immunology Unit
Immunobiology Unit
Molecular Genetics of Parasites Unit
Cell Immunology Unit

This First Edition of Research Day was assessed very positively by participants, who were satisfied with the overall programme and with the organization.

The success of this initiative was largely due to the efforts of an entire team that worked together with GAPIC teams (João Ferreira, Ana Sousa, João Eurico, João Lacerda and Sónia Barroso / Advisors) and with AEFML (João David Gonçalves), namely:

Ana Raquel | GCI
Antónia Ferreira | IFA
Bruno Moura | GCI
Inês Crisóstomo | IMM
Nuno Rodrigues | CPA
Raquel Viegas | GAOG

Research Day was also supported by the following institutions:
Bayer
Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Fundação AstraZeneca
Fundação Merck Sharp & Dhome

According to Prof. Doutor João Ferreira, Coordinator of GAPIC:

“This initiative will surely be continued (…) The next edition will be further enriched by the participation of students with Gulbenkian Foundation scholarships, and will have a series of additional activities that are at planning stage. As with the 2012 edition, GAPIC is counting on the very competent and committed involvement of the AEFML and of the administrative infrastructures of FMUL to ensure the success of this event in 2013.”

Photographs of the event

Office for the Support of Scientific and Technological Research and Innovation (GAPIC)
gapicmail@fm.ul.pt