The EUTOPIA_HEALTH Seed Funding competition generated strong interest across the consortium, with 26 proposals submitted by the three Widening partners: the Nova University Lisbon, Babeș Bolyai University, and the University of Ljubljana. The applications covered a broad range of interdisciplinary themes, including artificial intelligence in health and biomedical research, climate risk management and music therapy, demonstrating the partners’ strong commitment to the goals of the EUTOPIA_HEALTH initiative.
Two projects from each Widening partner were selected for funding over a two‑year period. At NOVA, the chosen projects are DECODE, led by ITQB NOVA, and WE‑SWEAT, led by FCT NOVA. Both initiatives involve close collaboration with Vrije Universiteit Brussel and CY Cergy Paris Université, partners within the EUTOPIA_HEALTH consortium.
The project DECODE — Disrupting critical dependencies in the Aspergillus fumigatus – Endohyphal bacteria partnership through bacteriophage-driven elimination and metabolic crosstalk, coordinated by Professor Cristina Silva Pereira, aims to deepen the mechanistic understanding of fungal–bacterial symbioses and to develop concepts with potential relevance for antifungal strategies and microbial ecology.
According to the researcher, “recently, we revealed that A. fumigatus is not alone: its filaments can harbour tiny bacteria living inside the fungal cells. DECODE aims to better understand what these bacterial partners do and how these stable partnerships are formed.”
The second selected project – as we can see on the image above – is called WE‑SWEAT — Wearable platforms for autonomous sweat extraction and analysis of cystic fibrosis and glucose monitoring, led by Professor Elvira Fortunato, focuses on the development of a continuous, non-invasive monitoring platform based on sweat analysis, addressing key unmet needs in diabetes and cystic fibrosis.
As Professor Elvira Fortunato explains, “this project represents a significant scientific breakthrough in the non-invasive monitoring of biomarkers associated with diabetes and cystic fibrosis, through sustainable, low‑power wearable technologies. As part of the EUTOPIA_HEALTH initiative, it clearly illustrates how interdisciplinary and inter-university collaboration can accelerate the translation of advanced materials and flexible electronics into innovative clinical solutions with tangible impact on preventive and personalised healthcare.” Through these projects, NOVA researchers will collaborate across the alliance and contribute to advancing innovative health‑related research within EUTOPIA.