The NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology (NIMSB) kick-off meeting took place on the 23rd of October at the NOVA University Lisbon (NOVA) Rectorate and brought together those responsible for the project developed in collaboration with the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin.

João Sàágua, Rector of NOVA, addressed the opening remarks on the proposed research project that “aims to contribute to the early diagnosis of diseases and to propose innovative treatment approaches. In other words, to focus on personalised treatment, instead of the usual generalised therapy”.

The event gathered more than 150 researchers from NOVA schools, but also from other scientific and educational institutes. The official launch of NIMSB seized the attention of various interested parties and partners, such as healthcare professionals, hospital administrators, biotechnology companies, startups and other organizations.

A close partnership

The project will benefit greatly from the experience of the MDC, which oversees Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (MDC-BIMSB). Described as an older brother of NIMSB, the experience of this Germany-based institute “will be indispensable for the success of our NIMSB”, the Rector of NOVA emphasised.

Holger Gerhardt, deputy director of the MDC, pointed up that both institutes “shared vision of what it takes to push the boundaries of precision medicine”, stating that “the key to success is collaboration”.

Isabel Rocha, who serves as the Vice-Rector of NOVA for Research, Innovation, and Value Creation, also emphasized that another step is being taken “to make the most of it with the talent that we already have”.

NOVA already boasts a robust ecosystem combining eight Research & Innovation units on health and life sciences. With more than 500 PhD researchers and more than 2500 peer-reviewed publications in the last four years, “we believe we have enough critical mass to take this giant step,” Professor Rocha stated.

Ana Pombo, Deputy Scientific Director of BIMSB-MDC, to whom NOVA Professor António Jacinto presented his idea of creating a joint centre of excellence in precision medicine, said that “MDC’s research is already world-class; with this partnership, we can go even further”.

António Jacinto, NIMSB coordinator, recognised the value of this partnership. “The research at NOVA is also of high quality, but it is scattered”, adding that with this project it will be possible to combine efforts. “Soon we will be working at full speed”, he concluded.

International and national funding

With a total funding of around 30 million euros (half coming from the Horizon Europe), Elvira Fortunato, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, highlighted during the event the importance of NIMSB’s mission in a context of an ageing population.

“With ageing and climate change, such a holistic view of health is needed, which proposes to study, discover and transfer this knowledge to society, offering an effective response to its problems”, Elvira Fortunato said.

NIMSB NOVA is set to join iNOVA4Health starting in January 2025.