The kickoff meeting of the iNOVA4Health Research Unit (IBET, ITQB-UNL, CEDOC|NMS, IPOLFG) took place on May 23rd at the Portuguese Institute of Oncology in Lisbon (IPOLFG). This meeting aimed to acquaint the iNOVA4Health members on the areas of research and on the scientific, technological and clinical skills of the 18 groups that comprise the Unit towards establishing bridges for future collaborative projects.

The opening session remarks were delivered by the CEO of IPOLFG - Dr. Francisco Ventura Ramos - who stressed the importance of programs such as iNOVA4Health, and its translational vision to bring research closer to the clinic and to the patient, and by Professor Manuel Carrondo, coordinator of the Unit, who presented the concept behind the project, its structure and strategic plan. This was followed by a short presentation on the two thematic lines underlining the Unit and which are coordinated by Professor Paula Alves and Professor António Jacinto.

After the opening session, the coordinators of the 18 research groups made a brief presentation on the main lines of research and areas of competence of their teams. The meeting ended with a poster session where researchers were able to share ideas and discuss potential collaborative projects.

In the aftermath of the meeting several new partnerships were established. Currently, 13 collaborative projects are already under way.

We thank the Margarida Archer, Madalena Martins, Ana Luísa Silva and Bruno Cardoso for organizing the meeting!