Mariana
Resende, student from the EEUM, together with Marta Estrela, Daniel Resende and
Mariana Vaz, from the University of Aveiro, integrated the winning team of the
eighth edition of the Angelini University Award (AUA), an initiative promoted
by Angelini Pharmaceutical, aimed at young university students attending higher
education in Portugal. The objective of the contest was to foster
multidisciplinary projects with practical applicability that allow generating
innovation and promoting young entrepreneurship.
The theme of
the competition for this edition was “Products and Services to combat
Resistance to Antibiotics”. The group developed and presented the “STAPHcombat:
a multiapproach therapy” project, which consists of an alternative therapy to
the use of antibiotics, through phage therapy combined with a metabolic alarm.
Phage therapy against bacterial infections, together with tannic acid as a
metabolic alarm, aims at activating latent bacteria, making them susceptible to
the action of antimicrobial agents. This project is aimed at patients suffering
from diabetic foot and aims at developing a prevention cream and a treatment
product for this type of skin infections.
“As a student
from the EEUM, this awards means a recognition of my commitment and dedication,
as well as an incentive to continuing working in order to achieve new
opportunities in Science. I am sure that the EEUM will provide me with the
necessary tools to continue pursuing my goals”, Mariana Resende reiterated.
The award
ceremony took place at the Museum of Oriente, in Lisbon, where the winning
project received a monetary prize of 8000 euros. This edition of the AUA counted
on 62 registrations of 204 candidates from 30 Portuguese universities and
polytechnic institutes.
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info: https://www.deb.uminho.pt/; http://aua.pt/pt/home-pt/
