Best Young Scientist Oral Presentation
Oeiras, 26.10.2016
Daniel Simão, postdoc researcher in the Animal Cell Technology Unit (ITQB NOVA/iBET), was awarded with the Best Young Scientist Oral Presentation at the 19th Congress of the European Society of Toxicology in vitro held this October in Juan-les-Pins, France.
The winner was selected based on scientific excellence, innovation, and clarity of the presentation. The award includes a one year subscription to "Toxicology in Vitro" and 500€, sponsored by Elsevier and European Society of Toxicology in vitro.
The awarded work describes the development of a novel human 3D neural model, based on the differentiation of human neural stem cells as cell aggregates in agitation-based culture systems. This strategy generated structures that are similar to real tissue with funcional neurons: dopaminergic neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes. This model was used for efficacy and safety assessment of helper-dependent canine adenovirus type 2 vectors (hd-CAV2) as candidates for gene therapy applications. Under optimized conditions, hd-CAV2 transduction led to stable long-term transgene expression with minimal toxicity.
This work was developed within the scope of the European Union project BrainCAV (FP7-222992), in collaboration with the Institut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, Università di Roma La Sapienza and Cancer Research UK.
The European Society for Toxicology In Vitro is the leading organization in Europe that promotes and strengthens the scientific network in the field of in vitro toxicology and of alternatives to animal experimentation. This conference focused on the novel developments and technologies that can strengthen the interpretation and application of in vitro methods in risk assessment.
“Towards improving predictability in pre-clinical research: human 3D neural in vitro model for assessment of gene therapy vectors”
Daniel Simão, Catarina Pinto, Paulo Fernandes, Isabella Saggio, Lucy Collinson, Giampietro Schiavo, Eric Kremer, Paula Alves and Catarina Brito
with iBET
