i3S inaugurates garden in memory of researcher Raquel Seruca
On the 9th of June, i3S inaugurated the Raquel Seruca Garden, a space dedicated to the memory of a researcher who left an indelible mark on the history and growth of the institute. The ceremony was part of the programme celebrating the 10th anniversary of i3S and took place in an informal, convivial atmosphere, bringing together members of the scientific community, family, friends, and guests, among them the architect responsible for the project, Paulo Farinha Marques.
The inauguration was marked at dusk with an open-air concert, a symbolic moment of tribute that coincided with the date on which Raquel Seruca would have celebrated her 64th birthday. The new garden seeks to perpetuate the memory of a scientist whose vision, dedication, and scientific excellence contributed decisively to shaping the Institute’s identity.
An i3S researcher and professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), Raquel Seruca died in 2022, at the age of 59, from cancer. Born in Porto on the 9th of June 1962, she graduated in Medicine from FMUP in 1986 and completed her doctorate at the same institution in 1995. During her academic career she held a research fellowship at the Department of Human Genetics of the University of Groningen, in the Netherlands.
On returning to Portugal, she began a postdoctoral fellowship in the molecular genetics of stomach cancer at what was then Ipatimup – the Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, now part of i3S, under the supervision of pathologist Manuel Sobrinho Simões. Over the course of a distinguished career, she gained international recognition for her contributions to the understanding of the genetics of gastric cancer and the mechanisms of cancer cell invasion, becoming acknowledged as one of the world’s leading experts in these fields.
The author of more than 260 scientific articles published in some of the most prestigious international journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Oncology, and Human Molecular Genetics, Raquel Seruca also left a profound mark on the training of new generations of researchers, contributing actively to a range of doctoral programmes.
Her career was widely honoured over the years. She received several awards from the Portuguese Society of Human Genetics, won the Benjamin Castleman Award from the USCAP in 2001 and 2012, the Labmed Prize in 2002 and 2003, and was awarded, in 2009, the insignia of Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry. In 2014, Porto City Council awarded her the Municipal Medal – Gold Grade.
In 2015, her team received an award from the North American association No Stomach For Cancer, a distinction renewed in 2019 and 2021 in recognition of the impact of the research carried out in the field of gastric cancer. She was honoured with the ACTIVA Inspiring Women in Science Award 2021 for her work coordinating the i3S application, within the Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (P.CCC) consortium, for Norte 2020 funding.
With the creation of the Raquel Seruca Garden, i3S pays tribute to an exceptional researcher whose scientific and human legacy continues to inspire the institute’s community and all those who worked alongside her.
