Researcher receives grant from the European Federation of Immunology

Researcher Pedro Almeida, from the Immunology, Cancer & GlycoMedicine group, was awarded a Immunology Letters Short-term Fellowship grant by the European Federation of Immunology Societies, which will allow him to intern for three months at the University Medical Center in Leiden, in the Netherlands, to study glycan changes in inflammatory bowel diseases.

This internship is part of the work being developed in the European project GlycanTrigger, coordinated by i3S researcher Salomé Pinho, which aims to characterize the changes in glycans present on the surface of the intestinal mucosa in the context of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Glycans, explains Pedro Almeida, “cover all the cells in our body, forming a dense layer on the surface (the glycocalyx), which can influence a variety of physiological functions, namely the immune response and the regulation of intestinal flora (microbiome)”. Specifically, the project underlying this grant aims to characterize the composition of the glycocalyx on the surface of the intestinal mucosa and its relationship with the immune response in the context of IBD.

With this objective, Pedro Almeida will use cutting-edge techniques, namely Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC), to “study, in samples from patients with IBD, the changes in glycans of the intestinal mucosa and the different immune populations present that may be contributing to the pathology of IBD”. Through the P.CCC Raquel Seruca, the i3S has access to the equipment (CyTOF/Hyperion™) that allows this analysis to be carried out, and the researcher intends to make the most of this equipment through the knowledge acquired in Leiden, in the laboratory led by researcher Noel de Miranda, who is an expert in this area.

During this three-month period, highlights Pedro Almeida, “I will familiarize myself with the different steps involved in the IMC technique, from the preparation of antibodies and samples, to data analysis and processing. The objective will be to take this knowledge back to Portugal, to i3S, and apply it to the work of the GlycanTrigger project and other projects in our group”.

For the researcher, this is “a unique opportunity to learn a cutting-edge technique, which allows us to gain a new perspective not only on IBD, but also on a range of other diseases, and gives us the possibility of trying to answer to a huge variety of scientific questions that could have a direct and real impact on patients' lives. Furthermore, it is a tool that will have great importance in the future of biological and life sciences”. From a personal point of view, he adds, “it is also an opportunity to grow as a young adult and as a young researcher and to experience a new culture and country, to meet people and expand my network of contacts”.