Sara Silva Pereira distinguished with 2024 L'Oréal Portugal Medal of Honor for Women in Science

Thursday, June 6, 2024 - 09:35

The L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women Scientists aim to advance women in science by recognizing outstanding researchers who have contributed to scientific progress. Católica Biomedical Research Center (CBR) researcher Sara Silva Pereira is one of 4 recipients of this distinction in 2024.

The L'Oréal Portugal Medals of Honor are awarded by a jury of internationally renowned experts who, with this award, distinguish and encourage some of the youngest and most promising scientists at the beginning of their careers in Portugal. Among dozens of candidates, a jury chaired by Alexandre Quintanilha chose, in addition to Sara, 3 other young female scientists working in national institutions: Cláudia Deus, from the Multidisciplinary Institute of Aging at the University of Coimbra; Laetitia Gaspar, from the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra; and Mariana Osswald, from i3S of the University of Porto. Sara Silva Pereira is the Head of CBR´s Parasite vascular interactions Laboratory, which studies the Trypanosoma parasite and its interactions with the mammalian host´s blood vessels.

Sara Silva Pereira, 30 years old, young researcher at CBR, the Biomedical Research Center of the Portuguese Catholic University´s Medical School, has been awarded the L´Oréal Portugal Medal of Honor. The prize award ceremony took place at the Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisboa, on June 5th 2024.

Sara and her group at the CBR want to understand how parasites interact with tissues in different parts of the body, causing serious diseases in animals and humans. Sara proposes to develop three-dimensional models of various organs and tissues from different animal species - such as the brain, heart or adipose tissue - that imitate the microscopic environments of real tissues, in a controlled fashion, to be able to study in detail several parasitic diseases that affect humans and animals. “In our laboratory we already have an artificial vasculature model that we use to study the way in which some parasites attach themselves to our blood vessels. We plan to adapt it to make it more complex and versatile, applicable to new contexts.”

Research in Sara´s group focuses specifically on Trypanosoma congolense, a tropical parasite that infects cattle, and can generate a very serious acute brain disease, due to the interaction of the parasites with a specific type of immune system cells – CD4+ T cells. “We are going to develop a model or system that imitates the blood-brain barrier of cattle, so that we can investigate how disease develops and, with this information, we will try to discover ways to treat it or, at least, reduce its severity.”

But Sara and her team don’t plan to stop there. They intend to extend their observations to parasites from the same family – the Trypanosomatidae family, protozoa responsible for various diseases in animals and zoonoses, such as Leishmaniasis, Sleeping sickness and Chagas disease. The objective is to increase what is known about the behavior of parasites and the responses of hosts – human and non-human – in the context of numerous parasitic diseases, including those that reach humans through contact with infected animals (zoonoses). Zoonoses have an impact on human health that is particularly relevant in areas where there is a close connection between humans and animals, such as in agrarian economies or in places with a strong livestock industry. An interesting case is that of canine leishmaniasis, an incurable disease that constitutes a public health problem in Portugal. A 2021 study on Leishmania seroprevalence and risk factors, estimated that 12.5% of dogs in Portugal are infected with this parasite, almost double the 6.3% found in 2009. Although dogs do not directly infect humans, transmission can be done through from the bite of mosquitoes that previously bit infected dogs and carried the parasite with them.

About Sara Silva Pereira

Sara received her PhD in Veterinary Parasitology at the University of Liverpool, in the United Kingdom, at just 24 years old, and continued her post-doctorate in Portugal, at University of Lisbon´s Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM). Since September 2023, she has led the “Parasite vascular interactions” laboratory at CBR, which belongs to the Católica Medical School (FM-UCP). She is also a guest assistant professor at FM-UCP.

Combining leadership, research, teaching and family is not always easy. It requires continuous work and Sara has even had to bring her 3-year-old daughter to the laboratory “because cells don't know what time it is”. In addition to these difficulties, Sara identifies social barriers - “some also self-imposed” - and traditional education barriers that translate to “many women in science, but few in leadership positions”. “In general, women are less likely to ask for or propose themselves for promotions and are more modest in describing their achievements. On the other hand, your stance as a leader tends to be challenged more often if you are a woman”, she continues.

For these and many other reasons, this and other awards and institutions increasingly celebrate the excellence of women at the forefront of scientific research. The L'Oréal-UNESCO awards are the result of a partnership between the French cosmetics industry L'Oréal and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and distinguish young researchers in the field of Sciences, Engineering and Technologies for Health or the Environment on a global scale. Each of the 4 L´Oréal Medal of Honor Portugal awardees will receive 15 thousand euros.