The distinguished recipients from Portugal are Giulia Ghedini and Ilana Gabanyi from the Gulbenkian Science Institute (IGC) and Carlos Minutti of the Champalimaud Foundation. The principal investigators will be granted between €1.5-1.9M each to develop their research proposals over the next five years.

But this doesn’t mean these two areas are totally distinct. In fact, epidemiology also deals with the causes of disease. But while epidemiology involves the study of determinants and distribution of disease, aetiology attempts to confirm the causes.

Interview with António Parreira, Clinical Director of the Champalimaud Clinical Centre

Has there been an increase in the number of cancer cases? What is the reason for this?

We know that there has indeed been an increase. The question is to try to understand how we can, not only understand this phenomenon, but also, somehow, minimise its effects.

This phenomenon has to do with ageing. The development of cancers is one of the very direct consequences of ageing.

That said, this definition has been widening throughout the years to include potential chemopreventive substances that are not necessarily drugs. So-called “nutraceuticals”, such as dietary fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, polyunsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants (such as vitamins) and different types of herbal or natural foods (dietary supplements) are also being studied for cancer chemoprevention. However, to date, the efficacy of these substances has not been confirmed.

Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud), a private, non-profit research institution in Lisbon, Portugal, is looking for a Junior Digital Pathology Scientist to join our Histopathology Platform team, at the Champalimaud Research Programme. 

The selected candidate will

Work closely with senior experimental pathologists and laboratory staff to support a variety of research projects, in the field of digital pathology. Responsibilities will include:

Since 2012, August 1 has been designated as World Lung Cancer Day. The international lung health community uses the day to raise awareness and spread information about the disease’s risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Susana Simões, of the Champalimaud Foundation’s Lung Unit, joined us for a conversation about this disease, which is responsible for more cancer deaths than any other.

In CheckUp #14, we talked about the different types of cancer treatments with ionizing radiation: internal and external radiotherapies. We promised we would return to this subject to talk in more detail about a special type of internal radiotherapy: molecular radiotherapy. This activity is integrated in Nuclear Medicine, a medical specialty that, in Oncology, uses radiopharmaceuticals to diagnose, treat, and evaluate the response of cancers to existing or new drugs.

Interview with Nikos Papanikolaou, principal investigator of the Computational Clinical Imaging Group.