PhD Students Diogo Miguel Lourenço and Joana Mateus participated on the European Neuroscience Conference by Doctoral Students (ENCODS), in partnership with the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS), and received the award of "Best Oral Presentation", which was titled: "Unravelling the role of the non-psychotomimetic cannabinoid Cannabidivarin in the modulation of neurogenesis – Relevance for Rett Syndrome" and and "Best Poster", which was titled: "Calling on potential modulators of postnatal oligodendrogenesis".

Diogo and Joana are being supervised by Professor Sara Xapelli of Ana Sebastião Lab and are interested in the therapeutic value of adult neural stem cells (aNSC) as vessels for regeneration. Professor Sara Xapelli group​ is focused on four main regulators of adult neurogenesis, particularly mitochondria, the neurotrophin brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor (TrkB), the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and the adenosinergic system. The main goal of their work is to find modulators of aNSCs that can boost adult neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis to enhance brain functional repair. ​