Infectious Diseases and Immunology: From infection to the body’s defence mechanisms
Date: 08 May 2026
Location: Porto Innovation HUB
Infectious diseases remain a constant challenge to global health. At the same time, research in immunology has revealed, in ever greater detail, the mechanisms that enable the body to recognise, combat and remember pathogens.
In recent years, these advances have profoundly transformed medicine — from our understanding of immune response to infection to the development of new therapeutic strategies, including immunotherapies.
This session gathers researchers working across different areas of immunology and infectious diseases to debate recent scientific progress and the implications of these discoveries for health and society.
Throughout the afternoon, the programme will also include activities aimed at schools, with a scientific escape room that places participants in an emergency scenario: stopping the spread of a superbug. To accomplish this, they will need to solve puzzles and scientific challenges inspired by immunology and infectious diseases. There will also be an SPI exhibition on immunology, offering direct engagement with scientific research.
Language: Session in Portuguese
Registration: Free but mandatory
Venue
Porto Innovation Hub
Address: Largo do Dr Tito Fontes 15, 4000-538, Porto
Program
15h Escape room – Stop a Superbug
Developed by the ImmunoHUB team. Special session for schools in the early afternoon (registration required).
17h00 Welcome
Alexandre Quintanilha, Commissioner for the 10th i3S Anniversary
17h15 The recent history of immunology
Paulo Vieira, Institut Pasteur, France
17h45 Immunotherapy: new strategies for treating the disease
Bruno Silva-Santos, GIMM, Portugal
18h30 Coffee-break
18h45 Open discussion
From i3S to society
i3S researchers share their projects, challenges and perspectives on the role of immunology and infectious diseases in health and science.
Moderator
Alexandre Quintanilha, Commissioner for the 10th i3S Anniversary
Panelists
Pedro Moura Alves, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Margarida Saraiva, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Salomé Pinho, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Joana Tavares, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Nuno Alves, i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Speakers
Paulo Vieira
Institut Pasteur, France
Paulo Vieira is a Portuguese immunologist and Research Director at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, where he works in the Lymphocyte Development Unit. Born in Lisbon in 1959, he received his MD from the NOVA University Lisbon and later completed his habilitation at Paris Descartes University.
His scientific career has included postdoctoral research in leading international laboratories in Germany and the United States, followed by leadership roles at the Gulbenkian Institute for Science in Portugal. He joined Institut Pasteur in the early 2000s, progressing from associate researcher to Research Director in 2015. Vieira has been actively involved in the Portuguese Society for Immunology, serving as General Secretary and later as President. His work focuses on immunology and lymphocyte biology, contributing to the understanding of immune system development and function.
Bruno Silva-Santos
GIMM, Portugal
Bruno Silva-Santos is Professor and Director of Immuno-Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, and Group Leader and Vice-Director at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular. He obtained his PhD in Immunology from University College London in 2002, following research training at Cancer Research UK and postdoctoral work at King's College London. He established his own research group in Lisbon in 2006. His research focuses on gamma-delta T cells and their role in tumour recognition and immunotherapy. Supported by major funders including the European Research Council and the la Caixa Foundation, his work has resulted in over 100 publications in leading international journals. In 2019, he was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in recognition of his scientific achievements.
His translational research in cancer immunotherapy has received awards from industry partners and led to the creation of the biotech start-up Lymphact, whose technology has been acquired by Takeda Pharmaceutical and is currently under clinical testing.
Alexandre Quintanilha
Commissioner for the 10th i3S Anniversary
Alexandre Quintanilha is a biophysicist, academic and former politician. He is an emeritus professor at the University of Porto and a former director of the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology. His scientific work has focused on ageing, oxidative stress and molecular biology, and he has played an important role in promoting science policy and developing research in Portugal. In addition to his academic career, he served as a member of the Portuguese Parliament, where he distinguished himself on issues relating to science, education and public health. Alexandre Quintanilha has received several honours, including the Pessoa Prize (2004), the Grand Officer of the Order of Infante D. Henrique and the Grand Officer of the Order of Public Instruction, in recognition of his contributions to science, higher education and public life.
Pedro Moura Alves
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Pedro Moura-Alves is a biochemist and immunology researcher who completed his degree at the University of Beira Interior in 2004 and later joined the GABBA PhD programme at the University of Porto. His doctoral research included training in Boston at Harvard Medical School, followed by work at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon. He subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Germany.
In 2019, he started his independent research group at the University of Oxford in collaboration with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Since 2022, he has been an independent group leader and ERA Chair holder (ImmunoHub) at the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health at the University of Porto.
His research focuses on host–microbe interactions and immune responses to bacterial infections. He is known for discoveries on how the Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor (AHR) detects bacterial virulence factors and communication signals, helping regulate immune defence and drug metabolism in diseases such as tuberculosis.
Margarida Saraiva
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Margarida Saraiva obtained a degree in Biochemistry in 1997 from Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Portugal. In 2003, she obtained a PhD in Pathology awarded by the University of Cambridge, UK. After 4 years (1999-2002) of research on Poxvirus Immune Evasion, in Antonio Alcami's lab, at Cambridge University (UK), Margarida Saraiva moved to Anne O'Garra's lab, at the MRC-National Institute for Medical Research (London), where she investigated the molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of Interleukin-10 by immune cells. In 2007, Margarida Saraiva returned to Portugal and joined the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) at Universidade do Minho. Since June 2015, Margarida Saraiva has led the Immune Regulation group at i3S, aiming at investigating the mechanisms underlying the regulation of host-pathogen interactions. Margarida Saraiva served as President of the Portuguese Society for Immunology between 2018 and 2021.
Salomé Pinho
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Salomé Pinho received her D.V.M. from the University of Porto in 2004 and developed her PhD research at the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of Univ. Porto (Ipatimup) and at Boston Medical School, MA, USA, from 2006 to 2009. She performed her postdoctoral work at Ipatimup in the glycobiology and disease field. At present, she is a Researcher at i3S and an affiliated Professor at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto. Her research activity is focused on the understanding of the role of post-translational modifications by glycosylation in the regulation of key proteins’ functions involved in cancer and in chronic inflammatory conditions, envisioning potential clinical applications. She is the author of several publications in international peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Reviews Cancer, Oncogene and Human Molecular Genetics. She supervises a research team and is the Principal Investigator of several national/international funded projects in the field of cancer and inflammatory diseases. She received the Young Investigator Award from the European Association for Cancer Research and is the inventor of 2 patents.
Joana Tavares
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Joana Tavares is a researcher in host–parasite interactions and Professor at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) of the University of Porto. She obtained her degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences and a PhD in Biochemistry at the same university, after early research experience in drug discovery against Leishmania at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology and the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement in Montpellier.
She later carried out postdoctoral research at the Institut Pasteur, studying malaria infection using live imaging models. Since joining the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health, she has pioneered research on Plasmodium and expanded her expertise to other protozoan parasites, including Leishmania and Trypanosoma species.
Tavares currently coordinates the Host–Parasite Interactions group at i3S, leads research projects funded through competitive grants, and contributes to institutional scientific coordination and ethics bodies. She has co-authored dozens of publications, co-invented patents, and received the L’Oréal UNESCO Medal of Honour for Women in Science Portugal in 2014.
Nuno Alves
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde da Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Nuno L. Alves is an immunologist and Group Leader at the i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto. He graduated in Biology at the University of Porto and obtained his PhD in Immunology at the University of Amsterdam, followed by an European Molecular Biology Organisation postdoctoral fellowship at the Institut Pasteur.
Since establishing his research group in Porto, his work has focused on the thymus and the mechanisms that regulate T-cell development and immune tolerance, particularly the differentiation of thymic epithelial cells. He has coordinated several national and international research projects and contributes to scientific peer review and research evaluation.
Alongside his research, Alves has been active in teaching immunology and in scientific leadership, including roles as Treasurer and Vice-President of the Portuguese Society of Immunology and vice-scientific coordinator of the Infection, Immunity and Regeneration Research programme at i3S.
