The project «Disc degeneration, neuro and immuno-modulation», led by researcher Raquel Gonçalves from the «Microenvironments for Newtherapies» group, was recently recognized by Eurospine and received funding worth 50 thousand euros to develop a new therapeutic strategy for Lumbar pain, «or more properly the discogenic pain resulting from the degeneration of the intervertebral disc». A clinical problem, explained the researcher, that «is a leader in terms of years of disability and is likely to increase with an aging population».
The funding awarded to the project, which has the participation of i3S researchers Meriem Lamghari, Mário Barbosa, Susana Santos, and Paulo Pereira, representing the Neurosurgery Service of the Centro Hospitalar S. João, will allow the establishment of more complex in vitro models of intervertebral disc degeneration, the inflammatory response, and associated innervation, in order to better understand the mechanisms behind this disease. At the same time, explains Raquel Gonçalves, it will also «explore the therapeutic potential of the secretome of mesenchymal stem cells, which has shown promising results in other clinical contexts».
It is the second time this researcher has had a project awarded by EuroSpine, which Raquel Gonçalves says, «represents recognition of the European spinal experts, which brings together the leading experts in the area, including clinical, the importance of basic research in this area».
«Although we are one of the few groups in Portugal, and even in Europe to work in this area, we are able to attract funding from this society. That makes me proud», acknowledges the i3S researcher.
In the same week, Raquel Gonçalves also learnt that her application for an Alexander Humboldt fellowship for Experienced Researchers had been approved. «It was the icing on the cake», she acknowledges.
The Alexander Humboldt Foundation, explains Raquel Gonçalves, «finances research grants to develop projects in Germany by researchers of merit, forming a network of contacts, which they call the ‘Humboltian family’». This grant, she adds, «will allow me to fund my stay for six months in Germany to develop a project at the Institute of Orthopedics and Biomechanics in Ulm, an institute with recognized expertise in the field of intervertebral disc biology and biomechanical models and with whom we already have an established collaboration». In this case, concludes the researcher, «I intend to go deeper into a specific structure of the intervertebral disc to better understand the phenomenon of hernia formation».