17/04/2025

The LS4FUTURE Associate Laboratory is pleased to announce the four selected projects for the 2025 edition of the LS4FUTURE Seed Funding – Pathway to Larger Grants program. This highly competitive internal funding scheme supports short, high-impact collaborative projects aimed at securing international funding within the next 12 months.

Aligned with LS4FUTURE’s vision of fostering translational and interdisciplinary research across human and environmental health, this second edition of the Seed Funding initiative continues to catalyze innovation, build consortia, and create the groundwork for international grant applications.

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CREATE – Personalized CAR T-cell Manufacturing to Improve Efficacy and Safety in Lymphoid Malignancies

Lead Institution: iBET
Principal Investigator: Margarida Serra
Co-applicants: Joaquín Duarte & Maria Gomes da Silva (IPOLFG)
Target Grant: CaixaResearch Health Call (La Caixa Foundation)

This project aims to improve the safety, efficacy, and personalization of CAR T-cell therapies by optimizing leukapheresis timing and refining biomanufacturing parameters. Focusing on aggressive B-cell malignancies, the CREATE team will study patient-specific cellular characteristics to tailor production in small-scale bioreactors. The initiative supports LS4FUTURE’s TL2 and TL3 missions by developing advanced biotherapeutics through collaborative translational research.

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DOPAMINd – Sustainable Bio-based Dopamine Production Through Advanced Fermentation

Lead Institution: ITQB NOVA
Principal Investigator: Isabel Rocha
Co-applicant: António Roldão (iBET)
Target Grant: EIC Transition 2025

DOPAMINd pioneers an eco-friendly bioprocess to produce dopamine—a critical molecule in therapeutics and materials—by using engineered E. coli strains that bypass traditional L-DOPA pathways. Building on previous European-funded projects, the team will focus on fermentation scale-up, metabolic bottleneck resolution, and industrial process modeling. This project bridges synthetic biology and sustainable industrial biotechnology, supporting LS4FUTURE’s TL3 and TL4 missions.

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RiboBee – Decoding RNA-Mediated Communication in Honey Bees

Lead Institution: GIMM-Oeiras
Principal Investigator: Waldan Kwong
Co-applicant: Cecília Arraiano (ITQB NOVA)
Target Grant: Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP)

RiboBee investigateshow specific ribonucleases (RNases) influence honey bee gene expression and gut microbiome dynamics. By applying targeted gene knockdown methods, the project explores a previously uncharted mechanism in bee biology with potential applications for pollinator health and sustainability. The initiative combines RNA biology, entomology, and microbiome science, embodying LS4FUTURE’s commitment to One Health and interdisciplinary collaboration.

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AI-Spatial: Mapping Thymic Architecture in Myasthenia Gravis Using AI and Spatial Transcriptomics

Lead Institution: Nova Medical School
Principal Investigator: Helena Soares
Co-applicants: Ricardo Henriques (ITQB NOVA), António Jacinto (NIMSB), Íris Caramalho (GIMM-Oeiras)
Target Grants: Nancy Law Impact Award (MGFA) & CaixaResearch Health (La Caixa Foundation)

This cutting-edge project seeks to unravel the cellular microarchitecture of the thymus in patients with myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disorder with limited therapeutic options. By combining spatial transcriptomics with AI-powered image analysis tools (NanoPyx, DL4MicEverywhere), the team will identify abnormal immune-stromal interactions and potential circulating biomarkers. The awarded researchers emphasize that “by integrating AI and spatial transcriptomics, we aim to reveal the thymus’s cellular complexity in the context of myasthenia gravis disease. In the process we will potentially unlock key mechanisms underpinning organ transplantation, autoimmune diseases and immune aging”. The project aligns with LS4FUTURE’s TL1 and TL2 missions and leverages a unique clinical cohort to secure rare disease-focused international funding.

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Each of these projects exemplifies the spirit of the LS4FUTURE Seed Funding Program: bold ideas, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the ambition to secure international support for transformative research. We congratulate all the teams and look forward to seeing the impact of their work within and beyond LS4FUTURE.