[from left to right: Sílvia Conde, Adriana Capucho and Hugo Vicente Miranda]
Adriana Capucho, MSc. Student, and Silvia Conde, group leader, both from Neuronal Control of Metabolic disturbances: Therapeutic Strategies Lab and Hugo Vicente Miranda, principal investigator of DysBrainD: Dysmetabolism in Brain Diseases Lab, were awarded by Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia (SPD), last March.
While Silvia Conde and Adriana Capucho were distinguished by the work performed on how the carotid body – a chemoreceptor located near the carotid artery – can be use both as a potential diagnostic tool in prediabetes and regulate satiety in obesity and type 2 diabetes, respectively, Hugo Vicente Miranda was given a prize for his proposed project aimed at identifying a novel biomarker with diagnostic potential for Parkinson’s disease. represents that: “CEDOC and the NOVA Biomedical Research Master Program are really contributing to the scientific training of these young scientists”.
In Silvia Conde’s perspective, receiving this award, besides from being rewarding and gratifying, also represents: “the recognition of our work and our efforts to produce high quality and impactful science”. Additionally, the researcher refers the award given to the MSc. Student, Adriana Capucho, for the Best Communication in Fundamental Research that clearly represents that: “CEDOC and the NOVA Biomedical Research Master Program are really contributing to the scientific training of these young scientists”.
If on one hand, the funding attributed to Hugo Vicente Miranda will make possible to evaluate the biomarker potential of a central protein in Diabetes to diagnose Parkinson’s disease patients, it “celebrates a joint research project with the Portuguese diabetes patients’ association – APDP, in the frontier between metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, and consolidates a translational research approach in my research lab”.
The attribution of these awards means an opportunity to look optimistically to the future for both researchers as it will facilitate scientific progress in their respective fields. According to Sílvia Conde: “we proved in Humans what we previously show in animals and it (…) gives more visibility to the research that we perform in our group as well as in CEDOC, NOVA Medical School in terms of translational Research”. Hugo Vicente Miranda shares that: “this prize can lay ground for an extensive project to develop new diagnostic tools, which are lacking, much needed and urgent for Parkinson’s disease.”