i3S researcher wins Galenus Technology Award

Researcher Cláudia Martins recently won the Galenus Technology Prize, awarded by the Austrian based Galenus Foundation. It is the first time that this international innovation award has been awarded to a Portuguese researcher at such an early stage in their career.

Every two years, the Galenus Foundation internationally awards a researcher for their exceptionally innovative work supported by recent work and achievements in the field. In the case of researcher Cláudia Martins, the project presented promises to continue the work developed in recent years in the “Nanomedicines and Translational Drug Delivery” group, led by Bruno Sarmento. The scientist has focused her research on nanomedicine strategies aimed at treating glioblastoma, the most common primary brain tumor in adults and with an average life expectancy of just 15 months.

Cláudia Martins recently developed a prototype nano-drug carrier, with a special surface design that allows it to overcome the barrier that separates the blood from the brain and direct the drugs directly to the glioblastoma, thus increasing the effectiveness of the drugs and reducing side effects. Additionally, the i3S researcher validated a new 3D model of glioblastoma, artificially created in the laboratory, which allows testing the effectiveness of new drugs and reducing the number of animal studies.

This innovation award is the 20th distinction granted to Cláudia Martins’ research work since she began her PhD in 2018. The most recent distinction was won this summer: first prize in the international scientific competition at the Controlled Release Society's annual conference, which took place in Las Vegas, USA

About the Galenus Foundation

Founded in 2004 with the aim of supporting young researchers in the field of pharmaceutical technology, the Galenus Foundation is based in Vienna, Austria. The foundation believes that innovation is extremely important for scientific development, which is why, every two years, it internationally awards a researcher with the Galenus Technology Prize. This year, in addition to the first prize awarded to Cláudia Martins, the organization decided to award a second prize to scientist Sarah Neugebauer from the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering GmbH, in Austria.