On 24 October, World Day to Combat Climate Change, 65 basic and secondary education students had the opportunity to meet researchers and visit the biophysics and biochemistry laboratories.

As part of the project “One size fits all“ unique drug to eradicate multiple viral species simultaneously from the central nervous system of co-infected individuals” – NOVIRUSES2BRAIN -, coordinated by Professor Miguel Castanho, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon and principal researcher at the João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM), an open day was devoted to the relationship between climate change and viral epidemiologies, some featuring risks to the Central Nervous System of the infected persons.

The visitors began by attending a seminar on viruses and their interaction with the human body given by Professor Miguel Castanho, followed by a visit to the laboratories. They interacted with researchers and participated in activities to understand how drugs are developed and tested to cross the blood-brain barrier and inactivate viruses in the brain. Contact with young researchers also facilitated informal talks with the students about their background and future career prospects. Students also showed a lot of interest in current topics, such as vaccination, antibiotic use, animal experimentation, and the processes that lead to drug discovery.

With the current climate change, populations of some mosquitoes that can carry viruses (e.g. Zika and Dengue) are migrating from the tropical and subtropical areas northwards towards southern Europe, threatening Portugal and other countries.

The objective of this project, which in addition to the iMM, Portugal, also involves the Universidad Pompeu Fabra, Spain, and the German company Synovo, is to produce drugs that can cross the blood-placental and blood-brain barriers, and neutralize various virus simultaneously.

Rita Aroeira
Manager of the NOVIRUSES2BRAIN Project