Three members of the THOP research group attended the 19th International Symposium on Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections (ISSSI) between 18th and 21st of August 2024, which took place in Perth, Australia.
The ISSSI is a specialized congress that reunited worldwide researchers with expertise in staphylococci and staphylococcal infections. The 19th edition of ISSSI welcomed 179 attendees from over 30 countries from all continents. The congress included over 60 plenary, symposiums and oral presentations as well as 100 poster presentations which covered the most recent worldwide findings in this area.
The GHTM participation at this congress involved the THOP researchers Sofia Santos Costa and Marcelino Garrine and the THOP PhD student, Mariana Andrade. During the event, the GHTM members presented two oral and four poster presentations about latest work developed in GHTM/IHTM-NOVA. Sofia Santos Costa and Mariana Andrade had financial support provided by GHTM to attend ISSSI 2024.
Sofia Santos Costa presented an oral communication showcasing the data gathered so far on the DREBI Research project, funded by FCT (2022.07931.PTDC, http://doi.org/10.54499/2022.07931.PTDC), focusing on Drug Repurposing for inhibition of efflux and biofilms in staphylococci. She also presented two posters with latest findings of two THOP PhD students. The first poster by Catarina Morais, presented work done in her PhD and under the scope of the Bilateral PT Germany (FCT/DAAD) mobility project (2022.15300.CBM) entitled “Clarifying the role of efflux and mobilome on antimicrobial resistance and virulence in staphylococci”. This project is headed by Isabel Couto and Stefan Schwarz (Freie Universität Berlin, Germany). The second poster by Carolina Ferreira, summarizes part of her PhD work conducted in the last year.
Marcelino Garrine presented one poster communication showing the results of his recently finished PhD thesis on Biomedical Sciences at IHMT-NOVA, under the supervision of Isabel Couto and co-supervision of Inácio Mandomando and Sofia Santos Costa. The work is a collaboration between GHTM/IHMT-NOVA and Centro de Investigação para a Saúde de Manhiça (CISM, Mozambique). Marcelino Garrine was granted an ISSSI Travel Award to support conference attendance.
Mariana Andrade presented an oral communication showcasing the implementation of the Galleria mellonella in vivo infection model at GHTM/IHMT-NOVA and its use for testing new therapeutic options to counteract Staphylococcus infections in the scope of the FCT-funded project, DREBI. The presented work includes a collaboration between THOP and VBD researchers in the implementation of the G. mellonella colony at GHTM/IHMT-NOVA. She also presented one poster with additional data from her PhD work.
Mariana Andrade was awarded an ESCMID ESGS Young Investigator Travel Award, funded by the Study Group for Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Diseases (ESGS) of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID).
Encouraging other students to submit their work and attend international conferences, Mariana Andrade mentioned that “being present at ISSSI 2024 was a very positive and enriching experience”. “It was my first international conference at which I gave my first oral presentation”, said the GHTM PhD student, adding that “it was satisfying to share the work being conducted at GHTM/IHMT-NOVA, especially introducing the GHTM/IHMT-NOVA Galleria mellonella infection model, which received positive feedback”.
Furthermore, she had the “opportunity to meet experts in the field of Staphylococcus from all over the world which allowed me to learn a lot on a professional and personal level”, and concluded by saiyng “It was also very gratifying to receive an ESCMID ESGS Young Investigator Travel Award, funded by the Study Group for Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Diseases (ESGS) of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID)”.
The next edition, 20th ISSSI, will take place in Banff, Canada, between 20th and 24th of September 2026.