EVCA · Centre for Excellence in Diagnostic and Advanced Therapeutics based on Extracellular Vesicles

In recent years, extracellular vesicles (EVs) have emerged within the scientific community for both biomarkers and therapeutic applications. However, the translation of the research findings represents a major challenge for biomedical research and healthcare. International cooperation is paramount to moving research findings to clinical applications and defining standard operating procedures. EVCA addresses this unmet need through a scientific strategy to reinforce research and innovation (R&I) excellence in the study of EV applications in diagnosis, therapeutics, and etiology of chronic diseases. The Chronic Diseases Research Center of the NOVA Medical School (UNL) aims to be at the forefront of international scientific excellence in applying EVs to diagnostic and therapeutic clinical priority challenges in chronic diseases.Towards this goal, UNL is twinning with the CIC bioGUNE (Spain) and Institut Curie (France), international references in EVs. EVCA will leverage on the partners’ outstanding multidisciplinary knowledge, experience, research and training best practices, as well as collaborative networks, to enhance the research capacity and innovation potential of UNL. EVCA is an integrated network of interactions (exchange and training of researchers, satellite meetings, Winter Retreats, virtual think tanks, links to industry, etc.), articulated with the individual and joint scientific agendas of the partners to power the research capacity of UNL and of its R&I ecosystems. EVCA expects to increase by 25% in multiple indicators by 2026, including the number of citations; h-index of UNL researchers; percentage of publications in top impact journals; number of international collaborations (including with industry). By stimulating novel and long-lasting interactions between the partners, EVCA will unlock the research potential within and outside UNL, with an overall increase in the Portuguese and European RD research competitiveness.