Research conducted at i3S wins one of the Nuno Grande PhD Scholarships
Daniela Santos, a rheumatologist at the Entre Douro e Vouga Local Health Unit (ULS), currently carrying out research at i3S as part of her PhD at FMUP, has been awarded one of the 2025 Nuno Grande PhD Scholarships (BDNG 2025), worth €25,000. Entitled “Gut–joint axis – Intestinal glycome and intestinal permeability as drivers of the gut–joint axis: impact on the interaction between inflammatory bowel disease and spondyloarthritis”, the project will be developed within the Immunology, Cancer & GlycoMedicine group, led by researcher Salomé Pinho.
Under the supervision of Salomé Pinho and co-supervision of Letícia Tavares-Gomes, a researcher in the same group, and José Miguel Bernardes, a rheumatologist at ULS São João and lecturer at FMUP, Daniela Santos is working from a hypothesis generated within this i3S group suggesting that alterations in the intestinal barrier and in the glycosylation patterns of the intestinal mucosa may contribute to joint inflammation and to differing therapeutic responses.
Spondyloarthritis (SpA), Daniela Santos explains, “comprises a heterogeneous group of chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases associated with extra-articular manifestations, namely inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). These conditions share genetic, immunological and environmental factors, supporting the concept of the gut–joint axis as a central pathophysiological mechanism.”
In an initial phase, Salomé Pinho adds, the project “aims to determine the prevalence of IBD in patients with spondyloarthritis and to assess the impact of this manifestation on disease activity and therapeutic response over time”. To this end, a multicentre observational study will be carried out using data from the National Rheumatic Diseases Registry (Reuma.pt). In a second phase, the objective is to “investigate the biological mechanisms involved in the gut–joint axis, focusing on intestinal glycosylation and intestinal permeability dysfunction as modulators of the microbiome and immune response”.
To support this work, biological samples (blood, faeces, synovial fluid and colon biopsies) will be collected from patients with SpA (with and without IBD) for the analysis of glycosylation patterns, intestinal permeability, endotoxaemia and antimicrobial antibodies, correlating these findings with clinical characteristics and therapeutic response. By integrating real-world clinical data with advanced laboratory analysis, Daniela Santos stresses that the project “aims to investigate biomarkers of disease severity and therapeutic response, as well as potential innovative therapeutic targets in SpA”.
Scholarships awarded for research into myocardial inflammation and Alzheimer’s disease
The other two 2025 Nuno Grande PhD Scholarships were awarded to Francisco Vasques-Nóvoa, an Internal Medicine specialist at ULS São João and lecturer and PhD student in the FMUP Doctoral Programme in Cardiovascular and Respiratory Sciences, for the project “Myocardial Inflammation: The Counterpoint of Intensity and Time”, and to Francisco Almeida, a physician at ULS Santo António and lecturer at ICBAS and the School of Medicine of the University of Minho, where he is also pursuing his PhD. Francisco Almeida’s research focuses on Alzheimer’s disease.
About the Nuno Grande PhD Scholarships
The chair of the jury and director of ICBAS, Henrique Cyrne Carvalho, highlighted that the awarded projects “clearly reflect the diversity and scientific relevance of the research currently being carried out in Portugal”. The Nuno Grande PhD Scholarships were established by the family of Professor Nuno Grande, the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) and the Bial Foundation, in honour of the distinguished physician, researcher and professor who founded ICBAS and was associated with the Bial Foundation for more than 20 years. Each edition awards three scholarships worth €25,000 each. The initiative aims to contribute to the training of a new generation of physician-scientists, strengthening the link between clinical practice, teaching and scientific research.
