 PhD Bio-Engineering student David Malta Second-year PhD Bio-Engineering student David Malta recently talked about how he came to be a graduate student in the MIT Portugal Program and what kind of research he is involved in during the current academic year, while at MIT. In the summer of 2008, Malta was one of four MIT Portugal PhD students in the Bio-Engineering Program to win the Biocant Ventures Prize. Their “Bio-Team” not only worked on a metabolic test for protein breakdown, but created a go-to-market strategy for the technology. MPP: Where did you grow up and where did you do your undergraduate studies? DM: I grew up in a suburb of Lisbon and went to IST (Instituto Superior Tecnico) in Lisbon as an undergraduate. It was the logical choice for me, once I decided I wanted to study engineering. MPP: How did you learn about MIT Portugal? DM: It was through Professor Joaquim Cabral, who teaches chemical and biological engineering at IST. I was at Imperial College in London working on my master’s, and Professor Cabral told the final-year students about the launching of MIT Portugal. MPP: Did you enter the program with the intention of earning the Advanced Studies certificate? DM: I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a PhD or not, but I knew I liked lab work and the challenge of combining entrepreneurship and good scientific research—so I started MIT Portugal by getting the one-year Advanced Studies degree in Bio-Engineering. I had two nine-week lab rotations: one in Cantanhede and another at IST. One involved biomaterials and the other, stem cell research. During the first year, I decided to continue for the PhD. MPP: How did you come to be spending your second year in the program here at MIT? DM: Those of us in the Advanced Studies program going on for the PhD were given a list of joint projects here and in Portugal, and we applied to the ones we were interested in. Our applications were ranked by the program. I was lucky to get my first choice, working in Professor [Sangeeta] Bhatial’s lab at MIT and the Stem Cell Bio-Engineering Lab at IST with Professor Claudia Lobato da Silva and Professor Cabral. MPP: What is it about that particular lab that interested you? DM: Professor Bhatia’s lab focuses on microscale technologies for tissue repair and regeneration. These involve interesting challenges with both cells and biomaterials. For example, one thing we’re trying to do is to better understand bone marrow function at the single-cell level so we can reproduce stem cells on a larger scale than can currently be done. Combining the micro-scale technologies with the large-scale ones developed at IST, we can aim for a “real-world” solution for cell therapy. Eventually, such techniques could help in the treatment of leukemias and immune deficiencies. MPP: What will your research consist of when you return to Portugal to complete the PhD? DM: I’ll return to the Stem Cell Bio-Engineering Lab at IST, where they’re working with the same kinds of cells on the same projects, as well as some projects that are different. In fact, part of my role while I’m here at MIT is to act as a bridge between the two labs—the one in Cambridge and the one in Lisbon. Important things learned in one place can be shared with the other, to better develop the collaboration in this area. MPP: Is there anything about being at MIT that has surprised you so far? DM: The most amazing thing is definitely the concentration. By this I mean the concentration of resources, in and around the lab, facilities to which I have access, and the concentration of work being developed in the immediate vicinity. When you need help with a particular problem you are facing, you are able to find help somewhere nearby. But there are other things, too—like the way that students are given access to interesting things off campus, like free tickets to the Boston symphony! | 
