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MIT Portugal student selected to attend the Novartis International Biotechnology Leadership Camp- BioCamp 2012

29 August 2012 MIT Portugal Program

Maria José application was one of the two Portuguese selected to attend this year’s BioCamp event. Maria José PhD Project focuses on the development of technologies to solve unmet medical needs such as localized protein delivery for cardiac therapy, tissue adhesives and minimally invasive surgery. Therefore this event offers a very exciting opportunity to contact directly with renowned Novartis Scientists:  "The possibility of networking with Novartis’ talented scientists and leading experts in both the scientific and commercialization aspects will give me great insight on how innovation is successfully performed on larger scales at pharmaceutical corporations and what drives their determination and persistence”. 

The technology transference component of the BioCamp is also emphasize by the young investigator that has so far participated in the submission of three patents: "The entrepreneurial component of this event is also of great interest to me, especially to understand how young start-ups translate their inventions in such a regulated field and how collaborations with big pharmaceutical companies can catalyze this process".

Maria José Pereira PhD is coordinated by a researcher in Portugal, Lino Ferreira, and by another at the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology, Jeffrey Karp, where she is at the moment finishing her PhD research Project. The PhD student is currently working on an in situ light-activable tissue adhesive for minimally invasive closure of cardiac septal defects, a pathology that affects 6 per 1000 births and consist in holes in the heart that require surgical closure. The new approach will have a strong potential to simplify surgical procedures and improve outcomes.