Doing science in Portugal continues to be an exercise in resistance and, at the same time, a demonstration of talent. For Ana Magalhães, winner of the Pfizer Clinical Research Awards 2024, the quality of the science produced in the national territory is at the level of the best done in the world. But resources are lacking.
“Portugal is competitive with the best European and North American centers, even with much less funding”, recognizes the researcher, just a few days before the winners of the 2025 edition of the Pifzer Awards are announced, with which Expresso is once again associated as media partner. “I’m lucky”, confesses the professor and doctorate in biomedicine, referring to the fact that she has managed to dedicate herself, over the last 20 years, to research. “I know that many colleagues go through these types of difficulties [ao nível do financiamento e estabilidade na carreira]”.
million was the amount invested by the Portuguese State, in 2023, in research and development activities. It represents 1.7% of GDP, still far from the 3% targeted for 2030
The solution, he says, is neither new nor out of the box, but a good first step is to ensure “stability in financing mechanisms” and more predictable careers. Otherwise, the country may continue to lose highly qualified talent abroad.
The assessment is shared by Paulo Teixeira, general director of Pfizer Portugal, who highlights the importance of the awards in a context of investment still below the European average. “The Pfizer Awards allow us to support excellent scientific research in a country that still invests less in research and development (R&D) than the European average”, he points out, remembering that, in 2023, Portugal dedicated only 1.7% of GDP to these activities, still far from the 3% target set for 2030. Furthermore, of this amount, the funding channeled to the health sector continues to represent a small share.
“We managed, from patients’ tissues, to make a mini-stomach, organoids, which allows us to test therapies in a model much closer to the real tumor”, shares researcher Ana Magalhães
It was, moreover, in this challenging scenario that the work of the team led by Ana Magalhães gained prominence in the 2024 edition. The project focused on stomach cancer, a disease often diagnosed too late and with high mortality. The group identified a molecule whose high presence is associated with more aggressive tumors and a greater likelihood of metastasis. “Individuals who have more expression of this proteoglycan have a worse prognosis”, explains the researcher.
The study also revealed that the molecule is sent by the primary tumor, in the stomach, to other organs through small vesicles, anticipating the places where the cancer tends to spread, such as the liver or lung. “If we can block this communication between the primary tumor and the metastases, we can prevent dissemination and this is decisive”, highlights Magalhães, pointing out the potential of the discovery as a new therapeutic target.
In the last two years, the team has advanced to models closer to clinical reality, including the creation of organoids – three-dimensional structures developed from patients’ own tissue. These “mini-stomachs” make it possible to test therapies and observe tumor behavior much more faithfully. Even so, Ana Magalhães is cautious about deadlines: transforming this line of research into a practical therapy will still require several years of work and clinical validation.
Last year, in addition to the Clinical Research Award won by Ana Magalhães’ group, there were two winners in Basic Research: Caren Norden, main researcher at the GIMM Foundation, and Filipe Pereira, researcher at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra.
The Pfizer Awards, created in 1956 in partnership with the Society of Medical Sciences of Lisbon, have distinguished precisely this type of research with a potential impact on public health. And, according to Paulo Teixeira, this year’s edition once again fulfills this aim. “We receive highly innovative projects, capable of transforming fundamental areas of healthcare”, he assures.
On Friday, the next names to join the list of hundreds of researchers awarded over the last seven decades will be announced. See details of the ceremony below, which will be broadcast on Expresso’s Facebook page.
Pfizer Awards 2025
In partnership with the Lisbon Society of Medical Sciences, Pfizer Portugal organizes the 69th edition of the Pfizer Awards, which will distinguish two national projects of scientific importance in the Basic Research and Clinical Research categories. At stake is not only public recognition, but also a reward accompanied by €30,000 for each winner.
Why is this event important?
These are the oldest awards in the country, which since 1956 have awarded more than 800 researchers and 253 research projects originating, partially or completely, in Portuguese institutions.
When, where and at what time?
The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, November 28th, at the Belém Cultural Center, in Lisbon, from 6pm.
- Paulo Teixeira, general director of Pfizer Portugal;
- Joaquim Ferreira, president of the Lisbon Society of Medical Sciences;
- Manuel Sobrinho Simões, professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto;
- Rui Santos Ivo, president of Infarmed.
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