creating a
healthier future

International Symposium António Amorim

21 March 2025 | i3S, Porto, Portugal
Hybrid Event

António Amorim, an internationally renowned researcher in the field of Population and Forensic Genetics, left us suddenly on April 11, 2024. Remembering him is a responsibility we are bond to uphold.

Always dedicated to Genetics, the recent history of this discipline cannot be written without mentioning António Amorim. He graduated and obtained his PhD in Biology from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Porto (FCUP), where he taught for nearly 50 years and since 1993 as a Full Professor. As a Researcher, António Amorim was the leader of the Population Genetics and Evolution Group at IPATIMUP/i3S, where over decades he integrated, motivated and accompanied dozens of students and researchers. António Amorim was also a member of IPATIMUP's board of directors from 1998 to 2010.

Averse to suffocating paternalism, António Amorim always cultivated the autonomy and critical thinking of those who passed through his group, challenging them with questions and uncertainties that spontaneously and lucidly occurred to him, in an incessant search of knowledge. His guiding voice was the foundation that maintained the complicity among the many who are proud today to have belonged to his group and walked alongside him. Forensic Genetics owes much of its current importance to António Amorim, who researched, theorized, published, trained and supervised students at all levels of learning. He was also the driving force behind the creation of the Master's Degree in Forensic Genetics at FCUP, launched in 2007, at a time when the subject was rarely covered in postgraduate courses, even on a global scale. It should also be noted that António Amorim was an excellent interdisciplinary bridge-builder. He never grew tired of seeking out interlocutors who could enrich the contextual horizons he explored. He collaborated with historians, linguists, sociologists, clinicians, mathematicians, jurists and other legal professionals, among many others, whenever it seemed justified. It was his commitment to contribute to the importance of combining the multidimensionality of knowledge that led him to conceive and organize a unique scientific meeting in 1998: Portugaliæ Genetica, which in 2024 reached its 20th edition. Starting with a small core group of participants, it quickly gained international recognition, standing out for both the excellence of its scientific program and the relaxed atmosphere for debating various controversies. António Amorim enthusiastically embraced these brief yet significant gatherings and discussions. With a broad cultural background spanning literature, history, sociology, and politics, talking to António Amorim was always stimulating, as his diverse interests and knowledge were unmistakable. Many of us had the privilege not only of having worked with him, but also of having shared social gatherings in which he often surprised people with his genuine non-conformity, irreverence and very distinctive sense of humour. Finally, it is important to note that António Amorim never gave up civic intervention in favour of social justice and integration.

António Amorim will live on not only in the cherished memories of those who had the privilege of knowing him but also through the invaluable legacy he left to the field of Genetics.

Poster >>

Organization

Population Genetics and Evolution Group

Program

09h00 – 09h20 Opening

09h20 – 10h50 | Session 1
09h20 – 09h30 Maria João Prata
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal
Population Genetics and Evolution Group, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal

09h30 – 09h50 Leonor Gusmão
DNA Diagnostic Laboratory (LDD), State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

09h50 – 10h10 Antti Sajantila
Department of Forensic Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Forensic Medicine Unit, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland

10h10 – 10h30 Lourdes Prieto
Forensic Sciences Institute Luis Concheiro. University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Comisaría General de Policía Científica, Madrid, Spain

10h30 – 10h50 Maria Victoria Lareu
Forensic Genetics Unit, Institute of Forensic Sciences, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

10h50 – 11h10 Francisco Corte Real
National Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Portugal
Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, Portugal

11h10 – 11h30 Coffee break

11h30 – 13h10 | Session 2
11h30 – 11h50 João Lavinha
Retired from Research & Development Unit, Human Genetics Department, National Institute of Health Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Lisboa, Portugal

11h50 – 12h10 Carla Sofia Cardoso
School of Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

12h10 – 12h30 Cândido da Agra
Lusíada University of Lisbon, Center for Legal, Economical and Environmental Studies, Portugal

12h30 – 12h50 Helena Machado
Institute for Social Sciences, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

12h50 – 13h10 Luiz Humberto Marcos
Ex-director do Museu Nacional da Imprensa, Portugal
Universidade da Maia, Portugal

13h10 – 13h30 Memories

13h30 – 14h30 Lunch break

14h30 – 17h10 | Session 3
14h30 – 14h50 Jorge Rocha

Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal
CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Portugal

14h50 – 15h10 Francesc Calafell
Departament de Medicina i Ciències de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

15h10 – 15h30 Elizeu Fagundes de Carvalho
DNA Diagnostic Laboratory, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ), Brazil 

15h30 – 15h50 Ángel Carracedo
Institute of Forensic Sciences, Forensic Genetics Unit, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Genomic Medicine Group -CIMUS, University of Santiago de Compostela, Galician Foundation of Genomic Medicine, IDIS, SERGAS, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain

15h50 – 16h10 Manuela Lima
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade dos Açores, Ponta Delgada, Portugal

16h10 – 16h30 Jorge Sequeiros
CGPP - Centre for Predictive and Preventive Genetics, IBMC - Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
ICBAS School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

16h30 – 16h50 To be confirmed

16h50 – 17h10 Fernando Tavares
Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, Portugal
CIBIO-InBIO, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO, Vairão, Portugal

17h10 – 17h30 Memories

17h30 Closing
GEPO

Registration

Registration is free, but mandatory until 27th of February.

Registration form >>

Sponsors

Institutional Sponsor


 


Commercial Sponsor

Information

More information:
Events Management Unit | Rua Alfredo Allen 208 | 4200-135 Porto, Portugal
Email: events@i3s.up.pt | Tel: +351 226 074 900