FCT and AICIB launch “Science 4 COVID-19” portal

On Friday, April 3, FCT and the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB) launched the Science 4 COVID-19portal, in partnership with the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, health authorities, and public and private scientific research institutions, with the aim of providing another tool to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic.

Science 4 COVID-19is a platform that brings together ideas, publications, and ongoing actions, identifies available installed capacity and research groups, and provides online collaborative working tools for these elements, as well as mechanisms for direct communication between users with the aim of promoting interaction and collaboration among all.

The ideas, actions, and publications submitted are first checked by a technical and scientific validation committee made up of Catarina Oliveira (Chair of the AICIB Board of Directors), Patrícia Calado (Member of the AICIB Board of Directors), Cristina Abreu Santos (Member of the Board of Directors of the Ricardo Jorge Institute) and Nuno Feixa Rodrigues (Member of the Board of Directors of FCT), resorting whenever necessary to entities of recognized scientific and professional merit to support the analysis and framing of the initiatives submitted in the various specific areas of application.

This digital platform compiles resources available for use in Research and Development (R&D) projects and activities aimed at combating the Covid-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, in line with the National Disease Preparedness and Response Plan of the Directorate-General for Health (DGS), as well as with the strategies of other European and international health authorities.

The portal brings together a wide range of initiatives from the Portuguese scientific community, ranging from social and solidarity actions, such as identifying and providing personal protective equipment to healthcare professionals; to engineering, such as the adaptation, development, and manufacture of various models of ventilators; to the clinical and biomedical area, such as new protocols for screening for coronavirus; to communication, such as the creation of informational and educational materials about the coronavirus for dissemination in Portuguese-speaking African countries.

The Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, signs the preface to the Science 4 COVID-19 portal, emphasizing that in response to the current epidemiological situation, "it is important to mobilize researchers and their institutions with the necessary capacity to effectively implement ongoing efforts, as well as mobilizing other national scientific and technological institutes, companies, and health technicians to ensure the effective implementation of the various actions."