The Champalimaud Foundation, a private non-profit research institution located in Lisbon, Portugal, has achieved a significant milestone in cancer research and pre-clinical development by obtaining exclusive rights to deploy synthetic biology technologies initially licensed from Stanford University and further developed by Refuge Biotechnologies (Refuge), a pioneering synthetic biology company specialising in cancer immunotherapy.

A novel infrastructure for storing, consulting and analysing medical data will be presented at the Open Day of the Champalimaud Foundation (FC) Breast Unit, which is taking place today, October 16. It was created by the Unit's Digital Surgery Lab, a multidisciplinary team led by surgeon Pedro Gouveia, in partnership with the telecommunications company Altice and the Portuguese company BMD Software.

On October 1st, people in over 150 countries across the globe will celebrate the power of music to unite and contribute towards a more peaceful, joyful, and harmonious society during International Music Day. Here at the Champalimaud Foundation, we have several budding musicians, so we asked one of them to give us some insight into combining music with science.

A side-effect “is any effect of a drug, chemical, or other medicine that is in addition to its intended effect, especially an effect that is harmful or unpleasant”. 

In the midst of a territory that has long been a hotspot for armed confrontation and humanitarian instability, the St John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group (SJEHG) has managed to provide top quality eye care, as well as ophthalmic training to local medical professionals. 

“For its commitment to providing essential eye care in a region marked by conflict”, the Group has now been recognized with the one-million-euro 2023 António Champalimaud Vision Award, the Champalimaud Foundation announced in a statement.

Presided over by the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the event served as a testament to Dr. Botelho's commitment to advancing the Champalimaud Foundation's mission.

Why we have a brain

“The brain’s primary function is movement”, explains Claudia Feierstein, lead author of the study published today in Current Biology. “Plants don’t need a brain because they don’t move. Yet, even for something as seemingly simple as eye movements, the brain’s role remains largely enigmatic. Our goal is to illuminate this ‘black box’ of motion and to decode how neural activity controls eye and body movements, using zebrafish as our model organism”.

World Physiotherapy Day has been celebrated since 1996, but 8 September was chosen as the date because this was when World Physiotherapy (a global collective of Physiotherapists) was founded in 1951.

The day marks the unity and solidarity of the global physiotherapy community. It is also an opportunity to recognise the work that physiotherapists do for their patients and community. 

The St. John of Jerusalem Eye Hospital Group (SJEHG) has been developing its activity at the centre of three major world religions. The ongoing conflict in the region has had a severe impact on health care access and delivery.