Student wins mobility grant to study gastric cancer

Young researcher Cátia Ramos, student of the PhD Program in Cellular and Molecular Biology at ICBAS, recently won a mobility grant from the Spanish Group for Research in Extracellular Vesicles (GEIVEX) – “GEIVEX mobility fellowships 2022”. This scholarship, worth 1,500 euros, will allow Cátia Ramos to do a three-month internship at the Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) in Biscay, Spain, and learn new techniques for her research on gastric cancer metabolism.

Supervised by Daniela Freitas, from the i3S group “Glycobiology in Cancer”, and co-supervised by Celso Reis, group leader and professor at ICBAS, Cátia Ramos is “studying the role of glycans (complex carbohydrates) in extracellular vesicles (a kind of natural nanoparticles) released by gastric cancer cells in the interaction with adipose tissue”.

The objective, adds Daniela Freitas, who is coordinating the project, is also to “explore the metabolism of gastric tumor cells after interaction with adipose tissue and how this can lead to the development of cachexia (loss of adipose tissue and bone muscle) by part of the patient”.

For Cátia Ramos, receiving this mobility grant represents a “great honor”. “It will allow me to have an international experience and grow, both personally and scientifically. My stay in the laboratory of researcher Falcón-Pérez will provide me with a unique experience to learn and work with one of the best specialists in the metabolomics area of extracellular vesicles”. In addition, she says that “I will learn new techniques, essential for the success of my project, and I will have the opportunity to work in a laboratory with cutting-edge technology in this area”.