Maratona da Saúde 2016 awards support Portuguese research in the area of neurodegenerative diseases

The 2016 Health Marathon Awards ceremony will take place tomorrow, March 16, at 11 a.m. at the NOVA Medical School's Center for Chronic Disease Studies' Auditorium |Faculty of Medical Sciences of NOVA University of Lisbon.

The 2016 edition of the Health Marathon received 57 applications, and the evaluation of the proposals was carried out by an international panel composed of 31 scientists in the area of Neurodegenerative Diseases and by the scientific board of the Health Marathon. The two distinguished projects will receive an overall amount of 50 thousand Euros, which comes from donations raised during the solidarity show broadcast by RTP in April 2016, from the support of Biogen (a biotechnology company) and from other funding obtained through the various initiatives of civil society during the edition.

Cláudia Almeida Gomes, researcher from the Center for Chronic Disease Studies at NOVA Medical School|Faculty of Medical Sciences, NOVA University of Lisbon (CEDOC-NMS|FCM), is one of the winners, with the paper "Study of the genetic impact in late onset Alzheimer's disease". The scientist will receive the Biogen Prize.

The second awarded project is authored by Rodrigo Cunha, researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra - CNC, and is the "Study of caffeine derivatives in the inhibition of Alzheimer's disease and as a basis for new drugs. The Coimbra researcher will receive the Health Marathon award.

Previous editions of the MdS Awards in Biomedical Research have awarded projects in areas such as cancer and diabetes. In all, the Maratona da Saúde Awards supported 9 scientists in the development of their research work in these areas in Portugal. 

The MdS Awards are a joint initiative of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Marathon Health Association. The 2016 edition was supported by Biogen, which associated its name to one of the Awards.

The fourth edition will be dedicated to Cardiovascular Diseases.