The Workshop at a Glance

Important Update - Shuttles:

Shuttle from the train station in Coimbra (Coimbra-B) to Luso on May 22, 2023, 15h00.
Shuttle from Luso to the train station in Coimbra (Coimbra-B) on May 26, 2023, 9h00.

Please confirm your shuttles here.

Redox reactions are central to life. Although the role of redox biology in health and disease has many times been reduced to understanding the homeostasis of reactive oxidants (canonically coined ROS), several biochemical pathways include redox reactions and cycling of redox couples which are key in regulation of cell metabolism, cell signaling, and ultimately, health and disease.

Beginning with the interest of free radicals and oxidizing species in Biochemistry, redox reactions and their products have been associated with cell damage and disease. However, oxidants are a chemically and biologically diverse group of molecules derived from molecular Oxygen, Nitrogen or Sulphur with critical signaling functions under physiological conditions, ensuring the so-called oxidative eustress. Superoxide radical and hydrogen peroxide are two important examples of how oxidizing species are produced by tightly controlled enzymatic reactions and nitric oxide exemplifies a free radical acting as a pleiotropic signaling molecule with physiological, clinical and pharmacological relevance. On the other hand, dysregulation of redox homeostasis results in the transition from oxidative eustress to oxidative distress, commonly observed in several pathophysiological conditions.

Accordingly, the signaling functions of redox compounds have been extensively exploited from fundamental to pre-clinical research, with their clinical relevance in areas such as cardiovascular pathophysiology (where nitric oxide is a paradigmatic example in the treatment of angina pectoris and pulmonary hypertension), oncology, neurology, metabolism and autoimmunity being continuously unveiled. In fact, Redox Biology is emerging as a paradigm for biomedicine across all disciplines, from microbiota, to metabolic and brain diseases as well as ageing. It is, as such, a central discipline in biochemistry.

The 1^st FEBS Workshop on Redox Medicine will cover the most recent data on the redox regulation of biological functions ranging from fundamental to clinical research as well as therapeutic applications also including lectures and sessions on the specific and sensitive tools and techniques to properly identify and quantify biological oxidants in complex biological settings.

The program has been tailored to promote an environment in which young researchers (PhD students and postdocs) can interact with prominent senior researchers in the field of redox biology, inlcuding  2 special lectures (IUBMB Lecture and Women in Science Lecture), morning sessions dedicated to lectures by invited speakers and short presentations by participants selected from submitted abstracts and afternoon sessions oriented towards interaction and discussion in a relaxed environment, with guided poster sessions, career development sessions and a debate on the challenges faced by researchers in the 21^st century. From the posters, 5 will be selected for Flash Presentations on the last morning.

Join us in May at the Grand Hotel do Luso, Portugal for a thrilling adventure into the going field of Redox Medicine.

Ana Ledo and Bárbara Rocha
Course organizers

Sponsors