“la Caixa” Foundation supports research in tuberculosis with half a million euros
The “la Caixa” Foundation has selected nine excellent Portuguese biomedical research projects with a high social impact as part of the CaixaResearch Call for Health Research 2024. One of these is led by researcher Tiago Beites. Focused on the treatment and eradication of tuberculosis, currently the most deadly infectious disease, the consortium led by Tiago Beites will receive almost €700,000, of which €543,000 will go to i3S.
Responsible for the deaths of more than one million people every year, tuberculosis requires long-term treatment with multiple daily drugs, which is associated with serious adverse effects, making it difficult for patients to adhere to treatment. Interrupting treatment greatly contributes to the disease's mortality and promotes the development of antibiotic resistance. The situation is even more serious in countries with weaker economies, where the necessary antibiotics are not always available. Given this reality, explains the i3S researcher, “the development of strategies that can shorten the duration of treatment is, therefore, of extreme importance in the efforts to eradicate tuberculosis”.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacterium that causes the disease, generates foci of infection characterised by the accumulation of lipids. This characteristic, adds Tiago Beites, “imposes a selective pressure for M. tuberculosis to use lipids as sources of carbon and energy. However, some lipids, such as free fatty acids, are also potent antimicrobial agents”.
Since researchers have previously discovered mechanisms used by M. tuberculosis to safely consume free fatty acids, the team of this consortium, which also includes researcher Robert Jansen from Radboud University (Netherlands), will “study the molecular mechanisms that mediate this fundamental adaptation to the host and identify promising therapeutic targets that can be used for the development of new drugs”.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis, explains Tiago Beites, “has co-evolved with humans for millennia. It is a very successful pathogen because it has evolved to fool our immune system in very creative ways”. In this project, he specifies, “we intend to apply the same strategy, but in reverse; we will fool M. tuberculosis so that the diet itself becomes toxic. It is a strategy that can validate new therapeutic targets and, in the near future, increase our treatment options in an effort to eradicate tuberculosis”.
The other winners
The call for entries for this seventh edition was directed to the following areas: infectious diseases, oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and neuroscience. In addition to the i3S, eight other researchers from the following research institutes secured funding: António Xavier Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (ITQB NOVA), Gulbenkian Institute of Molecular Medicine (GIMM), Institute of Biomedicine (iBiMED) of the University of Aveiro, Institute for Research in Life and Health Sciences (ICVS) of the University of Minho and Champalimaud Foundation. These nine selected projects will receive support of over 7.6 million euros.
Among the initiatives are projects that aim to modulate the action of T lymphocytes and prevent hyperactive immune responses; better understand the process of formation of breast tumor metastases in order to prevent them; develop early detection of neurodegenerative diseases; understand how the parasite that causes sleeping sickness manages to invade tissues; or develop a treatment for Machado-Joseph disease, a rare hereditary neurodegenerative disease.
The ceremony to award these funds took place this Tuesday in Madrid and was attended by representatives of the “la Caixa” Foundation, the president of the FCT Board of Directors, Madalena Alves, as well as the researchers responsible for the projects.
About Tiago Beites
Tiago Beites completed his bachelor’s degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto in 2007 and his PhD at the same university in 2013. In 2015, he began his postdoctoral work on the fundamental biology of the human pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the laboratory of Professor Sabine Ehrt at Weill Cornell Medicine (New York, USA).
From 2020 to 2023, he was an Instructor and then Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine (New York, USA). In July 2023, he started a new phase of his career as an Assistant Researcher at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health of the University of Porto (i3S). Currently, Tiago Beites coordinates a team whose research aims to understand the biology of therapeutic targets of pathogens, with a special focus on M. tuberculosis.
About the CaixaResearch Competition
Since its creation in 2018, the “la Caixa” Foundation has allocated 145.7 million euros to 200 innovative research projects with significant social impact. Of these, 63 were led by Portuguese research groups. This is currently the most important philanthropic competition for research in the areas of biomedicine and health in Portugal and Spain. A panel of international experts meticulously evaluates the proposals for each edition, conducting interviews with the pre-selected candidates and selecting the most promising projects.
For this edition of the competition, 580 proposals were submitted, and 29 projects from Portugal and Spain were selected, which will be funded with a total of 25.7 million euros. This funding will support scientific studies over the next three years.
The CaixaResearch Competition collaborates closely with the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), which in this edition is funding three of the nine Portuguese projects selected, contributing almost 2.5 million euros.
For the CEO of the “la Caixa” Foundation, Antonio Vila Bertrán, “the Iberian dimension of this call is one of its most unique features. We are very pleased to promote high-quality scientific interactions between the two countries”.
Researchers who wish to apply for funding under this 2025 call can submit their projects until November 20 of this year . As a new development in this current edition, initiatives focused on rare pediatric diseases and type 1 diabetes will have the opportunity to receive specific funding as part of collaborations with the Breakthrough T1D Foundation and the Sant Joan de Déu Research Foundation in Spain.