UC presents new research centre to develop breakthrough treatments for severe and untreatable diseases
The official launch of 'GeneT - Center of Excellence in Gene Therapy in Portugal,' with €38 million in funding, will take place this Friday, 2 February, at 10 am.
The public presentation of '“GeneT – Gene Therapy Center of Excellence in Portugal”, the University of Coimbra's (UC) new research and innovation centre in gene therapy for the development and manufacture of treatments for severe and untreatable conditions, including rare diseases, is scheduled for Friday, the 2nd of February. The Centre will receive €38 million in European and national funding over the next six years.
The public presentation of GeneT will take place at Trindade College at 10:00 a.m. and will be addressed by the Rector of the University of Coimbra, Amílcar Falcão; the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato; the President of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology), Madalena Alves; and the coordinator of GeneT and UC professor, Luís Pereira de Almeida. The Secretary of State for Regional Development, Isabel Ferreira, will attend the session remotely.
The European Commission will be represented by Stefan Weiers from the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and Minna Wilkki from the European Research Executive Agency.
The event will also feature the participation of the heads of two pioneering research centres in the development of gene therapy: Seppo Ylä-Herttuala, Director of the Kuopio Biocenter and the Finnish National Virus Vector Laboratory (Finland), and Mimoun Azzouz, Director of the Gene Therapy Innovation and Manufacturing Centre at the University of Sheffield (UK).