The ITQB – NOVA was founded in 1989 and is today a leading scientific institution in the Municipality of Oeiras and in Portugal. In this interview with Oeiras Valley, the director, Claudio M. Soares, presents the Institute’s areas of operation, as well as some of its projects.
The António Xavier Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology at the Nova University of Lisbon is dedicated to research in the area of biomolecular biosciences, with the aim of creating an impact on society, in the area of health and in the area of sustainability. In addition to excellent research, the institution stands out for its specialisation in postgraduate education.
In an interview with Oeiras Valley, the director of the ITQB – NOVA, Cláudio M. Soares, explains the focus of the Institute’s work, addressing some of the research carried out in the various fields of operation over the last year, as well as some of the projects to be worked on, such as the A5 incubator, an initiative supported by the Municipal Council of Oeiras, which will create an invaluable platform for companies to settle in Oeiras and start doing business, and start-ups, in the area of life sciences.
The ITQB NOVA is a Multidisciplinary Institute that works in various areas of research and development, alongside the area of academic training. Can you explain what fields of operation you focus on?
The ITQB NOVA is an Organisational Unit of the NOVA University of Lisbon, so it’s called an Institute, but it’s like a college. We focus on research and teaching. An important feature of the teaching here is that it takes place entirely at postgraduate level. We only have formal postgraduate, masters and doctoral education. In this respect, we distinguish ourselves from other schools that work more at the undergraduate level, bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
Research at ITQB NOVA is organised into five scientific divisions: Research in Chemistry; Biological Chemistry; Biology; Technology; Plant Science. It is a multidisciplinary field, in fact, that brings together 52 research groups working in different areas. The aim of our research is to impact the molecular basis of health and disease, sustainability and sustainable development.
Biotechnology can also be central to this energy transition.
With regard to the research you mention, can you highlight some of the biggest challenges to be worked on at the ITQB NOVA, in the area of sustainability?
We have a plant science division, which studies various topics related to climate change and the adaptation of plants to that stress. Ecosystems are changing and our plant division is studying the effects of that environmental stress on plants to try to make agriculture more sustainable and biotechnology more sustainable. We have to think about a circular economy in which things are reused and made in the most efficient way, both from an energy standpoint and from the standpoint of impact on the ecosystem.
In terms of energy, we have to think about renewables and hydrogen. Biotechnology can also be central to this energy transition, and in the biological chemistry division, we have groups that work on the question. Biotechnology in general, whether in its industrial or pharmaceutical components, is increasingly one of the engines of the economy, and at the ITQB NOVA, we are developing it in a sustainable way.
We are developing new tests that are faster, much cheaper and that are more quickly applicable to large populations.
And in the area of COVID-19 research?
With COVID-19, there were laboratories at the ITQB NOVA, including mine, that were dedicated to studying the virus and the disease from the very beginning, and we established a research task-force. There was also a Task-Force to support the community and the SNS (National Health Service) and with that we have been doing several things: we have a team that carries out daily tests for frontline workers in the Municipality of Oeiras. We do all the laboratory part of the PCR tests here. We have already carried out thousands of tests under this partnership with the Municipal Council of Oeiras – which we are very proud of – as well as other types of support we have provided to the community and the health system.
From the research standpoint, we have been trying to find solutions for this pandemic, for this disease, but also for future ones. The world was surprised by the pandemic, but the truth is that there were already many people doing research that led to the solutions we have today. We managed to make vaccines in record time, but that was because there was prior research, which leads me to the question that we need to invest in fundamental research. Research that cannot yet be applied, but that prepares us for the unexpected events of the future. We have vaccines, but there are other therapeutic routes that have to be developed.
Looking at research and development from an international perspective is very important.
The research we do here is not necessarily conducive to vaccines. It is conducive to other therapeutic interventions. So we tried to develop small molecules to control the virus. At the same time, we are trying to develop antibodies and other biopharmaceuticals that could stop the infection. We are developing new tests that are faster, much cheaper and that are more quickly applicable to large populations.
Then there are the variants, which is another part of the research we do. There are several so-called variants of concern. It is extraordinarily important to study the variants, how they change the infection and how they can be controlled. It may be with new vaccines, but also with therapeutic interventions, other than vaccines, to control the disease.
I was talking a little while ago about the projects you work on, with dozens of entities. Do you think that other areas of society and public life can learn from the network of scientific institutions? Is this how common goals can be achieved faster?
Yes. The truth is science is international. To be competitive, it has to be international. We are not dealing with a “domestic science market”. We deal with a global market. Of course, for example, we would like to have a factory next door producing vaccines and creating value and employment for the local and national economy, but looking at research and development from an international perspective is very important, and science is one of the most international human activities.
When we are studying a problem, from a fundamental research standpoint, we tend to publish everything or almost everything we produce. I think society should learn from this, because we actually all live on the same planet and the barriers between countries are often artificial or linguistic.
There are things that are not for making money. There are things that are actually to solve pressing problems.
From an operations standpoint, cooperation turns out to be very generous, not least because no institution has everything it needs. From that perspective, we have more specialised areas here, which are even aligned with the needs of this pandemic, but there are other things that we don’t have and we need to use. So we cooperate, we have colleagues, we cooperate with them and we do what is necessary. And it can be here, or abroad. I think that’s it: having an internationalist vision of operations and acting with generosity. Because there are things that are not for making money. There are things that are actually to solve pressing problems.
The Municipality of Oeiras created the strategy and brand Oeiras Valley to consolidate the municipality in the area of Science, Technology and Innovation. The ITQB NOVA has been in Oeiras for many years, but do you feel that the Oeiras Valley brand – which will soon be two years old – has brought new competitive advantages to Science in Oeiras?
Yes, but not only now. I returned to Portugal in 1994 and I knew I wanted to come here. Precisely to this institute, which I now lead, but also because the area of Oeiras had major research institutions… we have the highest density of scientists per square metre here in the municipality of Oeiras. Scientists working in fundamental research, at research institutes, universities, other areas, but also at more applied, interface-oriented institutions, and companies.
From the standpoint of Science, although underfunded, Portugal has managed to reach a highly significant and very competitive level. But it is involved in little transfer of technology, it doesn’t place a high value on the Science it performs. The transfer of technology has multiple aspects, we can talk about patents or we can talk about start-ups, companies, cooperation with companies, training people with the capacity to do business.
There are various initiatives falling under the Oeiras Valley brand, and brands are important. It must be promoted nationally and internationally and the Municipal Council is doing that.
Supported by the Municipal Council of Oeiras, we have an initiative called Start-up Research Programme, with NOVA – SBE, in Carcavelos, and we try to take scientists and turn them into entrepreneurs. It is a postgraduate course taken when doing research at Doctoral or Post-Doctoral level.
The transfer of technology is very important and is what we want and what we need to improve Portuguese science in general and, in particular, Science in Oeiras. There are various initiatives falling under the Oeiras Valley brand, and brands are important. It must be promoted nationally and internationally and the Municipal Council is doing that.
Oeiras Valley, as a brand, is a reality and a development strategy for what we are lacking, for what we need to improve to make science and technology more meaningful to society.
We are currently creating an incubator called A5, like the highway (laughs), which is a Life Science incubator, created with the NOVA University of Lisbon, with the Agricultural and Veterinary Research Institute, the Gulbenkian Science Institute and with the Institute of Experimental and Technological Biology, which will form an invaluable platform for companies to settle and start doing business and start-ups. This is very important and the Municipal Council will be supporting us very generously, as will the CCDR of Lisbon and Vale do Tejo.
Oeiras Valley, as a brand, is a reality and a development strategy for what we are lacking, for what we need to improve to make science and technology more meaningful to society.
Many of the institutions you mentioned are based in Oeiras. Do you feel that location represents a very important quality of life factor for people, along with quality of work?
No doubt. I did my degree in Lisbon, in the 1980’s, then I went to Sweden to do my doctorate. When I came back, I was used to country life… a quiet city (laughs). When I returned, in addition to the unique research conditions that Oeiras had and represented and the ITQB NOVA in particular, we had an organisation that was very interesting and that continues to be so for younger people. Being here makes it possible to be in a metropolis, but in a very quiet area. We have a certain population density, but quality of life… I walk to work every day, which is something that not many people in big cities can say. At the same time, I’m fifteen minutes from Lisbon and I have the best of both worlds, if that is what you want.
As for the other institutions, it’s great. We have excellent relationships with many science and technology institutions here. We are very good friends with each other and I like being here because we are complementary. We have complementary areas that form an investigation megastructure.
Open days at the ITQB are memorable dates. We have already had more than 1,000 visitors.
I know you are going to open up a new Masters in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics…
The Masters in Computational Biology starts in September. It’s something that makes us very proud. It is an area that is constantly growing, which allows us to study biological phenomena using computational methods, allowing us to better understand them and contribute to the development of the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industries. We collaborate with experimental scientists, but our domains are computers and algorithms that allow us to see further and work with large amounts of data to try to discover new things and contribute towards scientific and technological development. There is a lack of human resources in the area and this is one of the things that the Master’s programme tries to address.
We live due to the generosity of society, which, with its taxes, invests in Science. We want to give back, and that is a very important thing.
On 30 May, you will have the ITQB NOVA Open Day. Can you explain what you have prepared for this event?
The Open Day will be online, unfortunately. Open days at the ITQB are memorable dates. We have already reached the milestone of having more than 1,000 visitors when we have held it, normally between winter and spring. The big theme of the Open Day is one that we launched when we closed in March of last year, which is: Science will move us forward. It’s written all over the walls of the ITQB. That’s the motto. We are going to get out of the pandemic crisis, other crises, unexpected ones, with science. Science moves us to the future. This is the vision of hope for the future that science can bring us. People will be able to make virtual visits to laboratories and infrastructures, talk to researchers and get to know what research is done at the ITQB NOVA, as well as the teaching. We will have lots of activities that will take place at that time, and at others, that can be enjoyed by the public. It will be on 30 May, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Has the pandemic reignited people’s interest in Science, which has once again demonstrated its extreme importance in our lives?
Science has acquired a very important status and we hope that it is seen, by society and political power, as something really important: it is not a luxury, these are not strange activities that some strange people do, but important activities for the development of society. We live due to the generosity of society, which, with its taxes, invests in Science. We want to give back, and that is a very important thing.
We want to have greater impact in areas more linked to Health, Sustainability, in a new biotechnology industry that is more efficient and capable of high quality production.
Finally, would you like to reflect a little on the future of the ITQB NOVA, as an institution and at the project level?
The ITQB NOVA operates on this scale, but it will still have the capacity to expand into new areas, some of which I’ve mentioned, and others I haven’t. In fact, I would like to see this institution grow even more, despite already being large… grow itself and grow in its partnerships. We want to have greater impact in areas more linked to Health, Sustainability, in a new biotechnology industry that is more efficient and capable of high quality production.
The ITQB NOVA is an institute of chemical and biological sciences, but we can think of many other interactions we can have with other areas of knowledge. We can all gain a lot from this. I would like there to be still more interfaces within this institution, because I think that is where the added value lies, and there is a lot to discover and do.
