HIGHLIGHTS on the 1st MOBILIsE Symposium in Molecular Bioengineering
Immunoengineering: from molecules to biomaterials and cell therapies
16-18 June 2025 | i3S, Porto, Portugal
The inaugural MOBILIsE Symposium in Molecular Bioengineering, held from the 16th to 18th of June 2025 at i3S, brought together a vibrant community of researchers and professionals to explore the latest advancements in Immunoengineering.
The symposium, featured outstanding keynote speakers – Jeffrey Hubbell – NYU, USA; Roy van der Meel – Eindhoven University of Technology, NL; Jennifer Elisseeff – Johns Hopkins University, USA; Juliane Walz – University Hospital of Tübingen, DE; and Filipe Pereira-University of Lund, SE – as well as a rich program of invited and selected oral and poster presentations that showcased cutting-edge research across the field. A warm welcome cocktail with a taste of Porto’s finest wine, partially sponsored by Fonseca Porto House, coffee breaks, and a networking dinner provided a relaxed setting for deeper connections and potential collaborations.
To recognise excellence, prizes were awarded for the Best Poster and Oral Presentations, celebrating the outstanding contributions of early-career researchers. The prizes were generously sponsored by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journals – Biomaterials Science, Molecular Systems Design & Engineering, and RSC Pharmaceutics. The awardees received a 200£ voucher to acquire select titles from the range of RSC books.
The symposium concluded with a dynamic round table discussion on the past, present and future contributions of Molecular Bioengineering for the development of Immunotherapies, counting with panellists from different sectors: Dario Venetz – ROCHE, CH, Rita Acúrcio – iMEDULisboa, Sérgio Chacim – Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto (IPO-Porto), Pedro Castanheira – IMMUNETHEP. The session, moderated by Susana Monteiro – ICVS, University of Minho, PT , brought together a diverse mix of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives, highlighting the strength of interdisciplinary collaboration.
We thank all participants, speakers, and organisers for making this event a resounding success and our sponsors for supporting us.
The symposium programme and other details can be found at bit.ly/4fYZVH9
The prize winners (from left to right): Jari Scheerstra (Eindhoven University of Technology, NL) and Mariana Magalhães (i3S, PT) were awarded the Best Oral Presentations with “Polymersomes with splenic avidity target red pulp myeloid cells for cancer immunotherapy” and “Mimicking the Spleen: Developing a Vascularized 3D Microenvironment for In Vitro Research”, respectively. Georgia Athanasopoulou (i3S, PT) was awarded the Best Poster Presentation with “Tissue Engineered Models to Explore Astrocyte Response in Health and Disease”.
Round table discussion participants (from left to right): Sérgio Chacim; Pedro Castanheira; Susana Monteiro; Dario Venetz; and Rita Acúrcio.
