IBMC researcher awarded with $140k by Genzyme

Fátima Macedo, IBMC researcher, was granted 140 thousand dollars, by Genzyme, a Sanofi company, USA. The award will finance research on Gaucher disease, a rare pathology affecting 1 out of 100 000 people. This prize was handed out in the frame of the Gaucher Generation Awards 2014, an annual program created to distinguish research projects devoted to the Gaucher Disease.

Entitled “Characterization of glucosylceramide specific invariant Natural Killer T cells and B lymphocytes in Gaucher Disease: implications in disease pathology”, the winning project aims to understand the consequences behind the accumulation of glucosylceramide in the immune system of patients with Gaucher disease, particularly in lipid specific T cells and B cells. This research project is expected to contribute to a better understanding of the etiology of myeloma and B cell lymphoma in Gaucher disease.

“It was with great satisfaction that I received the news of being granted this international award by Genzyme”, said Fátima Macedo. She added, "I want to publicly thank every one involved in this project, whether they work in a lab setting or at one of the several participating hospitals (Hospital de São João; Hospital de Santo António, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, and Hospital de Santa Maria), including a special thank you to the IBMC team members of this project, Cátia Pereira and Clara Sá Miranda.”

Picture: Fatima Macedo and Cátia Pereira

The Gaucher Generation Awards program, sponsored by Genzyme, funds research projects all over the world to further nurture and support the growth of medical knowledge regarding this pathology.

“The Gaucher Generation Program represents Genzyme's commitment to enhance care and support offered to Gaucher disease patients worldwide. And it is with great satisfaction that, for the second year running, we see a research project developed in our country recognized internationally for its scientific value and therapeutic potential”, Genzyme's Portuguese General Manager Filipe Assoreira said.