Ana Paula Pêgo recognized by the Union of Biomaterials Societies

Ana Paula Pêgo was recently named Fellow of Biomaterials Science and Engineering (FBSE) by the International Union of Biomaterials Science and Engineering Societies (IUSBSE). This is the highest distinction granted to scientists in this area and represents recognition of the research work that has been carried out in recent decades. The Portuguese researcher thus joins the small group of the most respected biomaterials scientists in the world.

The researcher will take office as a Fellow at the opening ceremony of the World Biomaterials Congress (WBC2024), which will take place in Daegu, South Korea, from May 26 to 31, 2024, where the researcher will be one of the guest speakers. As a Fellow, Ana Paula Pêgo will also join the International College of Fellows.

For Ana Paula Pêgo, this appointment represents “recognition by the Biomaterials community of the work that my team and I have done, fundamentally contributing to the exploration of biomaterials in the area of neurosciences and, in particular, in the area of nanomedicine and regeneration of fabrics”. The researcher also adds that this distinction values all the work she developed for the biomaterials community, especially in the years when she belonged to the bodies of the European Biomaterials Society. “It is with great pride that I join a list of many colleagues who I admire and have served as a source of inspiration!”, she highlights.

The researcher has developed pioneering work in the area of nanoscale biomaterials associated with tissue regeneration and repair, with particular focus on the area of nerve regeneration. A work that earned her several national and international awards, namely the Santa Casa Neurosciences Prize / Melo e Castro Prize (2015) and the Albino Aroso Prize (2016).

Since 2015, she has been part of the Council of the European Biomaterials Society (ESB), and was President between 2021 and 2023. She is currently ex officio President of the ESB. She is a member of the Board of Reviewing Editors of the North American magazine Science, one of the most prestigious scientific publications in the world, as the magazine’s Ambassador in the area of biomaterials, tissue engineering, and drug delivery. She is also Associate Editor of Biomaterials magazine (one of the main journals in the field of Biomaterials). She is currently part of two Marie Curie European Innovative Training Networks (ITNs), funded by the European Union, leads a project funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (USA) and participates in a second project recently approved by the same entity.

With a degree in Food Engineering from the Higher School of Biotechnology of the Catholic University, Ana Paula Pêgo completed her PhD at the University of Twente, in the Netherlands. After completing her doctorate, she spent a short time at the Brain Institute, in Amsterdam, where she began her postdoc and began researching in the area of gene therapy for the treatment of neuronal injuries. The researcher joined INEB in 2003 and, in 2013, became leader of the group NanoBiomaterials for Targeted Therapies, which is now part of the i3S. She is also a member of the i3S board, responsible for the area of Strategy and Value Creation, as well as an Associate Professor at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Science (ICBAS).