Prize for Portuguese Student's Thesis

Lung cancer is the most common and deadly type of cancer worldwide. Late diagnosis of local disease or metastasis is one of the causes that contributes to the failure of therapies applied to patients. According to recent data, only 14% of lung cancer cases survive five years.

Given these data, researcher Ana Sofia Silva proposes in her Doctoral Thesis a new therapeutic approach for lung cancer. The MIT Portugal program alumna developed a layer-by-layer nanosystem that proved effective in silencing target genes associated with the genetic pathway of this type of cancer. To evaluate the biodestruction of the particles, tests were carried out on healthy mice, through pulmonary administration by inhalation of the “powders” developed by the researcher. The experiment revealed promising results for future application in lung cancer gene therapy.

Ana Sofia Silva’s thesis thus emphasizes “ the extraordinary advantages of combining nanotechnology, molecular biology, polymer sciences, chemical engineering and supercritical fluid technology, to develop robust and reliable systems for the treatment [of the disease].”

The biennial award for Best Doctoral Thesis was presented by the International Society for the Advancement of Supercritical Fluids during the 16th European Meeting on Supercritical Fluids in Essen, Germany, on May 11, 2016.

The thesis entitled “ Multifunctional nano-in-micro formulations for lung cancer theragnosis ” by Ana Sofia Alves describes the project developed in the Polymer Synthesis and Processing laboratory of the LAQV – REQUIMTE Unit of FCT-NOVA, under the coordination of Ana Aguiar-Ricardo, Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry, and in collaboration with the Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering group at UBI.

The MIT-Portugal Program is one of FCT's international partnerships. It develops in the area of engineering systems with particular emphasis on complex processes associated with energy systems, bioengineering, transport and industrial production.