ITQB NOVA wins 3 InnOValley PoC Projects
Oeiras, 20 May 2022
ITQB NOVA researchers Rita Abranches, Elin Moe and Ana Petronilho have won three of the four InnOValley Proof of Concept projects awarded in its first edition. The fourth winning project was led by IGC researcher Simão Coelho, and developed in partnership with ITQB NOVA’s Pedro Matos Pereira, who is a team member. The four projects, selected within 14 proposals, will receive 50 000 euros to further develop their proposals with a tech transfer view over 12 months.
The selected projects explore new ways to biologically produce carotenes using plant cells; characterize collagen peptides from tuna fish for several industrial uses; develop a nickel-based new antifungal compound to fight candidiasis; and create a 3D printable super-resolution microscope.
The possibility of bringing these projects closer to market is a novelty in Portugal, where the InnOValley PoC is the first of its kind. The InnOValley Proof of Concept Fund is an initiative of the InnOValley Innovation Unit, shared between the ITQB NOVA and IGC in partnership with the Municipality of Oeiras, which embraced this project under one of the three pillars of the Oeiras Strategy for Science and Technology. Projects were awarded today, 20 May, in a ceremony in Oeiras, with the presence of the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Elvira Fortunato, The President of the Oeiras Municipality, Isaltino Morais, the Rector of NOVA University Lisbon, João Sàágua, and the Administrator of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, António Feijó.
Winning projects:
Biofactories for high value natural pigments: the production of carotenoids in plant cell cultures
Rita Abranches, Rita Ventura, Bárbara Rebelo and Peter Kis, ITQB NOVA
From trash to treasure – developing proprietary collagenases for transformation of fish waste into high value products
Elin Moe, ITQB NOVA
Development of highly selective nickel complexes for the treatment of Candida spp. Infections
Ana Petronilho and Catarina Pimentel, ITQB NOVA
High-resolution single-molecule imaging via 3D printing
Simão Pedro Pereira Coelho, IGC, Pedro Pereira, ITQB NOVA, Mario Del Rosario, Jorge Carvalho and Ricardo Henriques, IGC
