FCT Session - La Caixa Foundation

On June 17, at 15h00, the Thalia Theatre in Lisbon hosts a session that aims to strengthen cooperation between the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Foundation La Caixa (FLC) . The cooperation between the institutions aims to be permanent and multidisciplinary, oriented to support and stimulate new research and innovation activities and the positioning of Portugal in Iberia and Europe, based on three lines of funding and enhancement of research projects and innovation:

a)Iberian BiomedicalResearch and InnovationInitiative - i4b, started in 2018, with two editions already completed and 16 projects already underway with national R&D institutions, and the launch ofthe third edition of this initiative is underway;

b)Iberian Initiative for Research and SocialInnovation - i4s, with the launch of the first edition, already in the phase of admission of applications for 2020;

c) Promove Program, oriented towards the promotion of Portugal's inland regions through research and innovation, broadening the scope of previous editions , the launch of a new phase in the summer of 2020.

The three initiatives have in common a principle of "matching funds", through which FCT matches FLC's contribution toresearch and innovation projects to be carried out in Portugal, which will be selected ineach annual Call.

Since 2018, and under the i4b initiative, more than 6.4 million euros have already been contracted with national R&D institutions. In the next 5 years, between 2020 and 2025, the three initiatives should invest around 20 million euros more inresearch and innovation projects in Portugal.

In the case of the Promove Program, there will be a specific framework to enable projects to be integrated into the Portuguese Government's strategic objectives for the development and valorization of the interior.

The session will also present the two Portuguese projects recently awarded under the Caixa Impulse Program to support the global response to COVID-19, namely: i) the development of a translational vaccine to prevent COVID-19; and ii) the ATENA project on the development of an invasive ventilator.

The session will be webstreamed here

Event Program:

3:00 PM Opening:

• Helena Pereira, FCT
• Artur Santos Silva, FLC

15h15: Biomedical Research and Innovation Iberian Initiative - i4b (short presentations)

• Rui Cerqueira, University of Porto

"Sequential Cardiac Resynchronozitaion Therapy"

• Bruno Silva-Santos, Institute of Molecular Medicine - IMM

"Next generation CAR-DOT cells for allogeneic adoptive cancer immunotherapy"

• Miguel Soares, Gulbenkian Science Institute - IGC

"Metabolic Reprogramming in Sepsis"

• Leonor Saúde, Institute of Molecular Medicine - IMM

"A novel approach to promote spinal cord regeneration in mammals"

3:45pm: Box Impulse - supporting the global response to COVID-19 (short presentations)

• Helena Florindo, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon

"Development of a translational vaccine to prevent COVID-19"

"Sentizing pancreatic cancer to immunotherapy"

• Tiago Rebelo, CeiiA

"ATENA: Development of an invasive ventilator"

 16:05 Debate

• Isabel Ferreira, Secretary of State for the Valorization of the Interior, MCT
• João Ferrão, ICS and FLC
• Mireia Castillo-Martin, Champalimaud Foundation
• Eduardo Coelho, Stabvida

Moderators: José Amaral, FLC; José Paulo Esperança, FCT

4:30pm Closing

• Signing of FLC-FCT protocols

Final speech: Manuel Heitor, MCTES