Rúben Pereira wins 1,5 million euro ERC grant
The i3S scientist Rúben Pereira was one of six Portuguese researchers recognised this year by the European Research Council (ERC) with an ERC Starting Grant worth 1.5 million euros. Over the next five years, the researcher will “design and develop new tools – biomaterials and bioengineering platforms – with the goal of reversing skin fibrosis,” where scarring from burns or surgeries can be highly debilitating, painful, and disfiguring.
The award of a grant from the European Research Council to the FibroRevert project “is, at once, a source of enormous pride and a recognition of our work, but also a great responsibility,” says the researcher and professor at the Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS).
“This funding will give us more time and resources to develop a patient-centred research strategy, to ensure that the new tools faithfully reproduce human fibrosis”, Rúben Pereira underlines.
New therapies to limit and reverse scarring
Fibrosis is a condition where healthy tissue is gradually replaced by pathological extracellular matrix, which is characterised by changes in its properties and functions. In the skin, it can arise as a consequence of different aggressions, such as burns or surgical incisions, which normally have a major impact on patients’ quality of life. Despite this, current treatments are not very effective.
It is in this context that the “FibroRevert” project emerges. It's a great challenge, Rúben Pereira emphasises, “to identify whether it is possible to reverse pathological fibrosis without causing collateral changes in other tissues.” To do so, the researcher will invest in an innovative approach that “combines biomaterials with properties programmable in time and space, cells, and 3D bioprinting, to recreate fibrosis models in the laboratory.”
He explains that these bioengineering platforms “will not only mimic human tissue but also manipulate its properties in real time,” which, according to Rúben Pereira, “will allow us to study the mechanisms through which cells and the extracellular matrix communicate with each other to promote or reverse fibrosis.”
To achieve this goal, the team will analyse human tissue samples to identify the cellular and molecular changes responsible for fibrosis. This knowledge, the researcher states, “will allow us to develop a unique library of biomaterials capable of reproducing, with high precision, the properties of the extracellular matrix and, consequently, regulating cell behaviour in healthy and pathological contexts.”
With a highly innovative and multidisciplinary scientific programme, the “FibroRevert” project, Rúben Pereira summarises, “aims to uncover new therapies to limit the development of pathological scars in humans.”
About Rúben Pereira
With a Bachelor’s degree in Biomechanics and a Master’s degree in Product Design and Development Engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria, Rúben Pereira obtained his PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Porto. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS) and a researcher in the “Biofabrication” group at i3S.
During his doctorate, Rúben Pereira focused on the synthesis of photocrosslinkable biomaterials for 3D bioprinting. Currently, his research focuses on the development of dynamic and programmable biomaterials to study the mechanisms that regulate the interactions between cells and their microenvironment, which are implicated in the progression of fibro-inflammatory diseases.
Throughout his career, Rúben Pereira has been distinguished with several prestigious awards, most notably the Professor Francisco Pulido Valente Award (2018). More recently, he was selected to join the Academy of Future Leaders of the European Society of Dermatology (2024).
The other winners
In Portugal, the other scientists distinguished with the ERC Starting Grants 2025 are: Joaquim Alves da Silva (Champalimaud Foundation), Vanessa Coelho Santos (University of Coimbra), Paula Nabais (Nova University of Lisbon), Joana Pestana Lages (CVTT-ISCTE), and João Ribeiro (Instituto de Telecomunicações). The following Portuguese researchers, whose work will be developed at institutes outside of Portugal, were also awarded: João Monteiro (University of Warwick, United Kingdom), André Rendeiro (Research Centre for Molecular Medicine, Austria), and Álvaro Seiça (University of Oslo, Norway).
The European Research Council (ERC) selected a total of 478 researchers across Europe to receive this year’s Starting Grants. With a total funding of 761 million euros, these grants support excellent research in various areas, including physical sciences and engineering, life sciences, social sciences, and humanities. The support will allow early-career researchers to launch their own projects, form research teams, and develop their most promising ideas.
137 grants were awarded to projects in the field of Life Sciences, 197 in Physical Sciences and Engineering (the domain that includes Rúben Pereira’s project), and 144 in the area of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation, highlighted that “among the winners of this new round of EU funding are researchers of 51 nationalities. They will advance knowledge in various scientific areas, including cancer, mental health, and quantum science. We see top scientists coming to Europe with these new grants, and many choosing to stay here thanks to this support. This demonstrates Europe's potential to attract and retain excellent scientific talent.”
Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, added: “All these brilliant minds and the variety of extraordinary ideas they will explore truly inspire me, as does their scientific creativity. It’s encouraging to see that Europe is empowering and supporting them.”
