Two events to honor Maria de Sousa

In honor of the scientific legacy of researcher Maria de Sousa, on the 13th of April the i3S will hold a scientific symposium on “Brain in Development and Disease”, during which the Mina J. Bissel Prize will be awarded and, on the 14th of April, together with the GABBA alumni, a tribute called “A school without walls by Maria de Sousa” will bring together several researchers who worked with the scientist, friends, and former students of that doctoral program.

The first event, which takes place in the i3S auditorium, is a tribute to the scientific work of Maria de Sousa and her brilliant mind and brings together friends and close collaborators with an interest in immunology, cancer, and neurosciences.

The meeting will highlight the scientific contributions - which “drastically changed an area of knowledge” - of the researcher Rui Costa (also a former student of the GABBA doctoral program) who is this year’s winner of the Mina J. Bissell Award. This prize, which was won by Maria de Sousa in 2017, is awarded every three years to a scientist with a research trajectory that has contributed to the advancement of Science.

On April the 14th, in the auditorium of the Almeida Garrett Library, GABBA (ATG) alumni, in collaboration with i3S and Porto City Council, will present “A school without walls”. “We will hear personal testimonies from former students and friends, while we discover intercontinental stories that go beyond science”, explains Eurico Morais de Sá, on behalf of the event’s organization.

This tribute, which will also be attended by the president of the Porto municipality, will also reflect Maria de Sousa’s varied interests, and will include a musical performance and poetry recitation.

Registration for both events is free, but required, and must be done separately for each event: “Brain in Development and Disease” with the Mina J. Bissel Award and “A school without walls by Maria de Sousa”.