News # 77 | mar. 2018 « News@fmul News@fmul

News # 77 | mar. 2018

Editorial Note

Challenges

Neuroscience is the theme of Issue 77 of the Newsletter. This is where, for many, the greatest challenges to human knowledge and science lie today. It has been, for a long time, a field of medical sciences cherished by the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon. Some of the most prominent names in this field, such as António Caetano de Abreu Freire de Egas Moniz (who graduated in Coimbra and then moved to Lisbon as Professor), Pedro Almeida Lima, João Alfredo Lobo Antunes and, later, Antonio Damásio or João Lobo Antunes, just to mention a few, attended this […]

FMUL News

Diogo Fonseca da Cruz takes up position as Deputy Director-General for Health

Diogo Cruz, a specialist in Internal Medicine at the Santa Maria Hospital and Visiting Assistant at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, was appointed by order of the Ministry of Health of 5 March 2018, as interim Deputy Director-General for Health. The order reinforces his “technical skills, aptitude, professional experience and training, appropriate to the exercise of his new functions”. Graduating in Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon in 2002, he is currently Supervisor of final papers of the integrated master’s degree in medicine, at the same Faculty. Member of the Centre […]

Professor José Melo Cristino, on resistant bacteria

News Farma posed the question: “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: A Neglected Problem?” José Melo Cristino, Full Professor of Microbiology at the FMUL, President of the Scientific Board of this faculty and Director of Service of the Pathology Clinic at CHLN, responds: Source and Image: News Farma

Job Talks – Mentoring Project

On the 19th and 20th of March, Job Talks took place, mainly for students who are about to begin their clinical years, but also, as expected, for students who simply want to learn more about the Medical Internship, or the influence that their academic career can have on it. Under the remit of the Mentoring Project, these Job Talks come to us through the voice of former FMUL students, now interns in the most varied specialities. They were asked to produce a short presentation, spoke about their experience as students, the course, the decision on the choice of their speciality, […]

Cultures strengthened in a visit to the Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon was visited by 35 Dutch students from the University of Maastricht who, in a spontaneous letter addressed to the Director, showed their interest in getting to know the Faculty behind the scenes. Curious to see if culture can influence teaching methods, they arrived without pre-defined questions, but thirsty for knowledge. In a coordination between teams and Laboratories, the students made circuits of visits, divided into groups, in order to explore as many realities as possible. After visiting the Anatomical Theatre, they were welcomed by Professor Susana Constantino, representing the Biochemistry department, […]

News Report / Profile

De profundis – A Story with Professor José Ferro

The view from the historic 6th floor Neurology office at the Egas Moniz Centre of Studies, is not perfect simply because it shows him the stadium of his football club’s rival, Sporting. I comment that he plays the role of a king, due to the sum of his career and the names that have been in that office, Professors Almeida Lima, Miller Guerra and, more recently, Professor João Lobo Antunes, but he refutes the idea of monarchy with his republicanism. Indeed, he has made it clear several times that he likes Portugal, the country that made him live through political […]

The Green Route for Strokes – An interview with Neuroradiologist Lia Neto

Did you know that strokes are the leading cause of death and disability in Portugal? Every hour, three Portuguese people suffer a stroke and it can be ischemic (blockage of arteries, that prevents oxygenation of the brain), or haemorrhagic (a vessel that breaks and causes a haemorrhage in the brain, or between the brain and the skull). Of these three patients, one ends up dying and those who manage to survive have sequelae. The 31st of March recalls this statistic as it is the day of the Stroke Patient, and conveys the crucial message that it is enough to have […]

Events

Portugal-Mozambique Conference – Joint R&D Projects.

Under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Mozambican National Research Fund (FNI) and the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), a Portugal-Mozambique Conference took place on the 27th and 28th of February 2018, in Maputo. The goal of the Conference was to exchange experiences between researchers from Portugal and Mozambique in several fields of knowledge (health, legal sciences, energy, sociology, mineral resources and economics). Two representatives from each of the countries were invited per field. The majority of the guests from Portugal had already developed or had ongoing projects with partners in Mozambique. The FCT invited, from the […]

Futurália

11th of March 09:30 The roundabouts that lead up to the entrance to the FIL were impassable. Dozens of buses waited in line, as curious heads raised to peer a little further forward. You could see the buzz and euphoria of whatever awaited them. The orange alert was well justified by the overflowing water that ran between the tires and the sound of water crashing against windscreens. There were no hats, no boots tailored to the windy event, which shoved everyone around as if they were sheets of paper. I don’t know if what excited them was the freedom to […]

The Faculty of Medicine pays tribute to Professor Carlota Saldanha

Taking place in a full amphitheatre, on the 19th of March, a tribute to Professor Carlota Saldanha, Retired Associate Professor of the FMUL was attended by many professors and collaborators from the Faculty. Professor Sayon Roy, Professor of Ophthalmology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Boston, was the guest speaker. Recognised as a specialist in retinal vascular biology, his work identified various genes in the retina that are abnormally expressed in diabetic retinopathy. He presented the topic “Mechanistic Insight into Vascular Changes in Pathogenesis of Diabetic Retinopathy”, speaking about diabetic retinopathy as the main cause of blindness […]

International Brain Week

This year, the International Brain Week was held between March 12 and 18 and brought together several researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (FMUL) who participated in the proposed activities, with lectures aimed at primary or secondary schools. The purpose of the initiative, organised by Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives is to inform the public of the progress and benefits of scientific research related to the brain, promoting and raising civil society’s awareness of the various aspects of the study of the brain. Scientific institutions, universities, hospitals, schools and professional associations from around the world […]

EIT Health 2018 MatchMaking Event in Naples

A MatchMaking event organized by EIT Health, a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) established by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) – created in 2008 to promote innovation and entrepreneurship across Europe – was held in Naples on 26 and 27 February, bringing together more than 300 participants, scientists, academics and business representatives with the aim of creating synergies, promoting contact between the various entities and encouraging the creation of partnerships and consortia to develop projects by increasing the number of high-quality applications submitted for financing. The event included small-sized B2B (business-to-business) meetings, round table sessions, brainstorming sessions […]

Meeting at the Faculty of Medicine brings together Cochrane Medical Executive Officers

Cochrane is an independent, non-profit, international organisation of researchers, health professionals, patients, caregivers and other people with an interest in the health field. The Portuguese network of this organization was created in 2014, being directed by António Vaz Carneiro. The aim of the Conference, organised by Cochrane Portugal and held last March 19, at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, on the theme “Evidence for the 21st Century”, was focused on promoting the use of relevant systematic reviews and other accessible, high-quality synthesis evidence within the scope of decision-making processes in the area of health. This subject […]

More and Better

Historical journey of the evolution of the ENT Clinic

The University Clinic of Otorhinolaryngology celebrated its 100th birthday last year. In the context of this centenary celebration, Óscar Dias, Full Professor at FMUL and Coordinator of the Chair of ENT, launched a pioneering challenge for his students to learn Otorhinolaryngology through the history of the speciality. Thus, each student was assigned a topic to research and develop with the purpose of jointly creating a book included in the Pedagogical Project History and Evolution of ENT. The Chair of ENT has a precious collection of documents, books, audiovisual material, and old instruments that have been gathered by the successive […]

Research and Advanced Education

Final Master’s Papers at the FMUL University Clinic for Infectious Diseases

Infectious diseases continue to have an enormous impact on global health. The famous quote from William H. Stewart, which is about 60 years old and has been repeated thousands of times (“It’s time to close the book on infectious diseases, declare the war against pestilence won, and shift national resources to such chronic problems as cancer and heart disease”), could hardly be more wrong. The worrying increase in the resistance to antibiotics, the persistence of “old” diseases like tuberculosis, the complexity of the HIV infection and of the other diseases related to immunosuppression and the emergence of new infectious diseases […]

Annual Meeting/Retreat for PhD Students in the PhD Integrative Neuroscience Programme of the University of Lisbon

The Annual Meeting/Retreat for PhD Students in the PhD Integrative Neuroscience Programme of the University of Lisbon (NeurULisboa) took place on the 1st and 2nd of March. During this meeting the students have the opportunity to orally present their research projects. Embedded within this event was a seminar led by Professor Michael Swash, which took place on the 1st of March at 14:15, titled Adventures in Neurology, with open and free entry. The goal of this meeting was to promote the scientific discussion of the students’ work, and also to promote the interaction between the various participants of NeurULisboa. Rita […]

Publicações Científicas (FMUL/HSM/IMM) fevereiro – março 2018

A Newsletter pretende, neste espaço, dar aos seus leitores uma perspetiva da produção científica realizada na Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, no Hospital de Santa Maria e no Instituto de Medicina Molecular. Para aceder ao texto integral dos artigos, deverá estar conectado à rede da FMUL. As bases de dados utilizadas foram a Pubmed e a Web of Science. Aceda ao documento em PDF. Núcleo de Biblioteca e Informação da FMUL andresilva@medicina.ulisboa.pt

Science Space

The conductor of children’s brains

Speaking about Neuroscience and not listening to a Neurosurgeon would be a big mistake. But working in an entity like the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, where there is a 3-way relationship between the Faculty, the Hospital and the Research Institute and where there was a name of excellence like João Lobo Antunes, and not listening to one of his clinical “heirs”, would be a basic research error. Cláudia Faria is the doctor of children’s brains, and studies it in the laboratory when it fails in life. She waits for me at the door of the Egas Moniz building, exceptionally […]

Cholesterol, Enemy of the Immune System Against Breast Cancer – Professor Sérgio Dias

The idea of studying the effects of bad cholesterol in oncological diseases has been explored for several decades, but it was Sérgio Dias and his team of the Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM) João Lobo Antunes that discovered that high levels of cholesterol decrease the immune system’s ability to fight breast cancer cells. Sérgio Dias: We have studied, for a number of years, the importance of lipids (fats) in cancers. My group has been interested in this for more than 6 years, and within systemic lipids, which can be measured in circulation, cholesterol has always been of great interest. Why? […]

The Bank that stores human samples

The iMM-Biobank is a safe for keeping biological samples, ranging from saliva to blood (serum and plasma, which is always the most commonly collected sample), tumours, bones or biological fluids (in particular those related to rheumatic diseases), collected with permission of patients, or relatives, with the purpose of supporting scientific studies developed by researchers and physicians. Kept in jars and cabinets, about 200,000 samples are estimated to have been stored. Of the 17,000 donors, 2,000 are healthy controls and most samples are from women. At the top of the three most sought-after Biobank samples are those from healthy donors, while […]

Maria José Diógenes – The prize for what her perseverance achieves

When you write a text or when you interview someone, you almost always start by introducing the main character in the story. But, for the first time, I need to start at the end and say that when we meet the people behind a project and know who they are and the circumstances that surround them, then we actually admire them and respect them a lot more. The hustle and bustle of the corridor at the Institute of Pharmacology and Neuroscience was palpable. Two or three people stood waiting for a short while and they all said they “only needed to […]

Protocols

Memorandum between the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon and the Wakayama Medical University

On the 22nd of March, a memorandum of understanding was concluded between the FMUL and the Wakayama Medical University in Japan, signed by the Director of the FMUL, Professor Fausto J Pinto, and the Chairman of the WMU, Professor Yoshitaka Okamura. This agreement is part of the FMUL internationalisation policy, pursued by the current Administration, expanding the range of opportunities for pre- and post-graduate collaboration in teaching and research.

Technology Roadmap – A partnership between IBM and FMUL

Rita Miguel is the Head of the Marketing, Communications and Citizenship Division at IBM Portugal and spoke with the Newsletter team to explain the brand’s connection to the ENT project, led by Professor Óscar Dias. I would like to ask you about the real link that IBM will have to the project. Rita Miguel: IBM’s approach to Corporate Citizenship is aligned with our values, empowering the impact that we can and want to have as a global company, reflecting our business strategy, our investment in innovative technologies, continuous transformation and sustainable change. In that context, IBM focuses its commitment on […]

Protocol between CHLN and APAV

On the 2nd of March an Institutional Collaboration Protocol was signed by the Lisboa Norte Hospital Centre and the Portuguese Association for Victim Support. The aim is to coordinate relations between both institutions in the context of signalling situations of violent crime. One more step on the long road to combating violence! Source: CHLN Image Credits: APAV and CHLN

Pedagogical News

Notícias do Pedagógico

Nº 110| MAR’18 O PROFISSIONALISMO MÉDICO NA EDUCAÇÃO MÉDICA Ensinar o profissionalismo médico é uma componente fundamental da educação médica. O objetivo é que seja claro para os estudantes a natureza do profissionalismo médico, as suas obrigações e os seus valores. Uma identidade profissional é fulcral para qualquer bom médico. Deste modo, educar neste sentido não é um fim em si, mas um meio para formar médicos capazes. A socialização – com as suas complexas interações com mentores, “role-models”, um tipo de conhecimento que além de teórico é também tácito – faz com que um estudante de medicina passe gradualmente a […]

From this Side

Um nariz comprido, ou a importância de sermos solidários

Retiring doesn’t mean stopping. So, says our colleague, Manuela Ajuda Nunes, who everyone, including teachers and generations of students, have become accustomed to affectionately calling ‘Mané’. Amongst so many other things, Mané, already a grandmother, has dedicated herself to writing many of her stories, she tells them like no one else and has a passion for books and literature which is demonstrated well by her esteemed – and shared – personal library. Friends and family knew that sooner or later the day would come when some of these stories would reach the pages of a beautiful book that would tell […]

Keep in Mind

Health + Solidarity Race

Race +² + Health + Solidarity On the 6th of May, the country’s largest university race, the “Health + Solidarity Race”, will take place once again, organised exclusively by our Faculty’s students. This will be the 5th edition of the Race that aims to promote not only physical well-being and health, but also the spirit of helping each other and above all, solidarity. The Health + Solidarity race, just as in the previous edition, will comprise 3 different events, the walk (4 km) and the races (7 km and 10 km). Each race will have a different route*, yet to […]

Shall we celebrate Solidarity Day together?

On the 6th of April solidarity will be the topic of the day! The Faculdade de Ajudar [Faculty of Aid] Project, a Social Responsibility project of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, will be responsible for organising this Solidarity Day. In this edition of the Solidarity Day, the theme will be “If time ages your body but doesn’t age your mind, you will always be happy.” Come and celebrate this day with us! Check out the Program here Sign up here