During the fall semester, 2010, we inaugurated the MIT Portugal Program Visiting Scholar Lecture Series. Featuring a number of Portuguese faculty who have been spending time as visitors at MIT, the lecture series has focused on a variety of MPP research areas, from malaria to transportation to neurodegenerative disease. The lecture series has offered us a chance to introduce MPP researchers to a broader section of the MIT community, and each lecture has attracted, in addition to our MPP community, a good-size audience of people around MIT interested in the subject matter. Receptions following the talks have allowed further time for interactions and discussions to take place.
Beginning with the second speaker (Jose Viegas), these lecture are being videotaped and are available in the MPP video library. Video
“Approaching Malaria from the Host Side”
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010
Speaker: Maria Mota
Bio Highlights: Maria M. Mota earned her PhD in Molecular Parasitology from University College London (UK). She has earned a number of awards including the EMBO Young Investigator Award in 2004 and the European Research Young Investigator Award in 2005. Since 2004 she has been the Malaria Unit group leader at Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon.
Lecture Summary: There is little doubt that malaria presents a serious health risk and limits the economic growth potential of many countries in tropical Africa and other affected areas around the world. There is also little doubt that other methods of intervention effective against the disease are urgently required. A potential approach to malaria control is to target mechanisms crucial for the development of Plasmodium and/or the pathology caused by its infection. This requires detailed knowledge of the complex host cell-Plasmodium interactions. While hepatocyte-Plasmodium interactions during liver stage constitute an ideal target for prophylactic intervention, the blood stage of infection constitutes the ultimate goal for therapeutic strategies against the disease. The major goal of our laboratory is to identify host factors that contribute to the establishment of a malaria infection (liver stage) and to malaria pathology (blood stage).
“Promoting Efficiency and Equity in Urban Mobility”
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Speaker: José Viegas
Bio Highlights: Prof. Viegas is Full Professor in Transportation at the Instituto Superior Técnico, where he has been since 1992. He is Founder and Chairman of the Board of TIS.pt, consultants in Transport, Innovation and Systems, and was Vice-President of the Scientific Committee of the World Conference on Transport Research Society (1998-2007). Prof. Viegas currently serves as the Portugal Director of the Transportation Systems area in the MIT Portugal Program.
Lecture Summary: In this session, several areas of research on efficiency in transportation systems are presented, starting with the concept of intermittent bus lanes, which are designed to provide maximum efficiency for all travelers. The next concept is that of modal alternation, a transit pricing scheme that seeks to encourage public transit use without a commitment to buy monthly passes. To make all locations accessible for all who don’t have a car, a potential solution is shared taxis. Taking advantage of telematics, taxis that are either empty or not fully occupied can be identified in real time and scheduled based on the embarking and disembarking points of the current and new passengers. Finally, the issue of urban road charging is treated, through the concept of mobility rations (or credits). This proposal is based on the application of a progressive rate to urban driving, such as many cities employ for water use billing.
"Blocking Neurodegeneration in Machado-Joseph Disease”
Monday, November 22nd, 2010
Speaker: Luís Pereira de Almeida
Bio Highlights: Dr. Pereira is a principal investigator in the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, and an assistant professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Coimbra.
Lecture Summary: Dr. Almeida’s group has been using viral vectors as a technological platform for the establishment of models of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Machado-Joseph disease, and for the development of new molecular therapeutic strategies involving gene transfer or silencing of mutant genes by expression of short hairpin RNAs. The research group recently established a new animal model of Machado Joseph disease (MJD), a neurodegenerative disorder associated with aggregation of a mutant form of the protein ataxin-3 in the brain. The disease is hereditary and there is currently no therapy to prevent the progression of the disease. Using this model they have shown that MJD also affects the striatum, a brain area associated with movement and balance control. These findings may help to clarify the cause of previously unexplained symptoms, such as muscle twisting and abrupt dance-like movements of the limbs. Moreover, they provide a new animal model to study the disease and potential treatments, such as gene silencing through RNA interference.
