Advancing knowledge in parasitology, a field crucial to global health
Sara Silva Pereira, a researcher at the Católica Biomedical Research Centre (CBR) and a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine of the Portuguese Catholic University (FM-UCP), has been awarded the highest scientific prize for outstanding early-career researchers in the United Kingdom in the field of parasitology – the BSP President’s Medal.
“It´s an honour to receive this distinction, which reinforces the relevance of the work we are developing at CBR and motivates my team to continue exploring the survival mechanisms of trypanosomes,” says Sara Silva Pereira, adding: “understanding these processes is essential for developing more effective strategies to control neglected infectious diseases that continue to affect millions of animals and people.”
Since 2023, Sara Silva Pereira has led CBR´s Parasite Vascular Interactions Laboratory, where she investigates how African trypanosomes – the parasites responsible for sleeping sickness – interact with their mammalian hosts, both livestock and humans, with a particular focus on the endothelial cells that line blood vessels.
Her research seeks to understand how the “dialogue” between the parasite and the vasculature affects both trypanosome survival and the clinical presentation of the disease. When a human or animal is bitten by a tsetse fly infected with trypanosomes, a painful localized swelling or ulcer may form, followed by fever, wasting, lethargy, sleep disturbances, confusion, and lack of motor coordination. If untreated, the disease is invariably fatal. The parasites interact with the blood–brain barrier, causing inflammation and damage to the central nervous system, which can be fatal without pharmacological treatment. In livestock, the disease leads to sharp reductions in productivity – estimated at 1.5 billion dollars per year – and high mortality, estimated at 3 million head of cattle annually.
The researcher’s group integrates computational and infection-biology approaches with tissue-bioengineering systems, enabling the recreation of physiological environments that more closely resemble real disease scenarios. The ultimate goal of the research Sara leads is to understand how trypanosomes manage to survive within the host, paving the way for the development of new therapies.
Established in 2019, the BSP President’s Medal is an annual award recognizing “early-career scientists who have produced internationally outstanding research, generated tangible impact in the field of parasitology, and demonstrate potential to become global leaders in this scientific area.” The five previous recipients of the medal were Mattie Pawlovic, Emma Briggs, Joana Correia Faria, Habil Grzybek and Juan Quintana, increasingly prominent names in the parasitology community; Sara is only the second researcher from outside the United Kingdom to receive this distinction.
The BSP is a leading academic society in parasitology with international impact. The awarding of the BSP President’s Medal acknowledges the remarkable scientific contribution of Sara Silva Pereira and highlights the quality and global relevance of the research carried out at CBR in the field of parasitology and neglected diseases.