Call 2023 awards 11 Portuguese projects

The 11 biomedical and health research projects led by Portuguese higher education institutions and research centers that won the 2023 edition of the Call for Health Research from the ”la Caixa” Foundation have been announced.

Selected from among 152 applications, they will collectively receive a total of €7.9 million to address health challenges such as infectious diseases, which is the focus of four of the selected projects. The Call awarded three Portuguese projects related to neuroscience, two related to cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, one project linked to oncology, and one project focused on the development of enabling technology in one of the fields described above.

This Iberian initiative is carried out in Portugal through the association of the FCT with Calls Health Research Calls , which, based on a matching funds approach, has enabled support for five additional projects led by Portuguese institutions, for a total of 11 Portuguese projects selected in this edition, with €3.7 million.

Learn about the projects that have been awarded and funded in partnership with FCT:

• Deciphering the effect of leukemia on the immune system beyond the disease – Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos, Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto. Total funding: €981,307.27.
• New strategies to combat antibiotic resistance in gram-positive bacteria – Didier Cabanes, Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto. Total funding: €499,950.
• Personalized medicine tools to improve early diagnosis of familial hypercholesterolemia – Mafalda Bourbon, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge and Institute of Biosystems and Integrative Sciences (BioISI). Total funding: €999,912.
• New strategy to clarify and control intercellular communication to promote brain regeneration after injury – Christa Rhiner, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown. Total funding: €899,298.20.
• Immune regulation of skeletal muscle to improve metabolic health and exercise response during aging – Pedro Sousa-Victor, Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon. Total funding: €499,835.60.

Call Call supports basic, clinical, and translational research projects of scientific excellence and social impact in the fields of cardiovascular and infectious diseases, oncology, and neuroscience, as well as projects that develop enabling technologies in these areas.