2016 Health Marathon Awards support Portuguese research into neurodegenerative diseases

The 2016 Health Marathon Awards ceremony will be held tomorrow, March 16, at 11 a.m. in the Auditorium of the NOVA Medical School's Center for Chronic Disease Studies.

The 2016 edition of the Health Marathon received 57 applications, and the proposals were evaluated by an international panel made up of 31 scientists in the field of Neurodegenerative Diseases and the Health Marathon's scientific council. The two winning projects will receive a total of 50,000 euros, which comes from donations raised during the solidarity show broadcast by RTP in April 2016, the support of Biogen (a biotechnology company) and other funding obtained through the various civil society initiatives during the edition.

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

The second award-winning project is by Rodrigo Cunha, a researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra (CNC), and concerns 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 Maratona da Saúde award.

Previous editions of the MdS Biomedical Research Awards have rewarded projects in areas such as cancer and diabetes. In all, the Maratona da Saúde Awards have supported 9 scientists in developing 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 Health Marathon Association. The 2016 edition was supported by Biogen, which associated its name with one of the Awards.

The fourth edition will be dedicated to Cardiovascular Diseases.