Portuguese scientist on MIT Technology Review's list of top innovators

Six out of every thousand babies are affected by cardiovascular defects. An adhesive made of a new biomaterial that facilitates the repair of these defects was the technology developed by Maria José Pereira that landed her on MIT Technology Review's annual list of innovators under the age of 35.

The treatment currently available involves open-chest surgery, which is invasive and not without risks. Sutures are used to close the "small holes" between the chambers of the heart, a procedure which can damage fragile tissues. Several surgeries may follow to monitor growth.

The adhesive developed by Maria José Pereira can be applied in a minimally invasive way and, unlike others, the material it is made of is strong and flexible: it adheres well to the tissue, resisting the constant pressure exerted on an organ like the heart, it doesn't cause damage to cardiac tissue and it doesn't need to be replaced as the child grows.

Maria José Pereira developed this new technology as a doctoral student in the MIT Portugal Program, funded by FCT. She is 28 years old and currently coordinates the Adhesion Technologies area at the start-up GeckoBiomedical, a company that will transfer this technology to the market in a foreseeable period of 2 to 3 years.

 The researcher considers it "an honor to be included in the list of Innovators under 35. This distinction recognizes the innovative nature of the technological platform we are developing and its potential to change the way minimally invasive surgery is performed". She also points out that "this work was possible thanks to the collaboration of a multidisciplinary team that looked at this problem from different angles".

The scientist is the first Portuguese woman to join a list of avant-garde technologists recognized in the last 10 years by the international magazine, which includes, among others, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Apple's chief designer Jonathan Ive and Tumblr creator David Karp.