17th YES Meeting

The 17th YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 15th to the 18th of September 2022 and gathered more than 500 biomedical students from over 20 different countries in Porto to learn directly from world renowned scientists and update themselves on the latest scientific discoveries.

The Meeting took off with the Spinoza Prize Session, where Professor Maria Yazdanbakhsh, Head of the Department of Parasitology of the Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases, and recipient of the prestigious NWO Spinoza Prize in 2021, gave a lecture on how her study of parasites contributed to the field of Immunology and to the treatment and understanding of many aspects of inflammatory diseases.

After that, the Molecular Biology Session took place. In it, Doctor Leo Otsuki, from the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, in Vienna, presented the work he has been developing on combining genetic technologies and microscopic imaging to understand how the cells of the axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) are able to regenerate an entire limb or spinal cord after injury or amputation. Following this lecture, Professor João Pedro de Magalhães, Researcher at the University of Birmingham, explained how his lab studies the aging process and how we can manipulate it to fend off age-related diseases and improve human health.

The Neurosciences Session marked the beginning of the second day of the YES Meeting. It counted with the participation of Professor Emily S. Cross, Researcher at the Macquarie University, in Sydney, and at the University of Glasgow, whose areas of interest are social robotics and human neuroscience. She presented her extensive research, in which she uses a variety of methods (including brain imaging techniques, action training paradigms, and human-robot interaction) to explore how experience-dependent plasticity and expertise is manifested across brain and behavior. This session also held Professor Shelly Levy Tzedek’s lecture. She is the Director of the Cognition, Aging & Rehabilitation Laboratory at the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben Gurion University, in Beersheba, and in her speech she gave an introduction on the field of social robotics, the potential for the use of these robots in rehabilitation, the dearth of in-the-wild data in this field, and the progress her lab team has made in collecting such data in a long-term in-the-wild experiment with stroke patients.

The Oncology Session followed. It counted with the presence of Doctor Chiara Herzog, Researcher at the European Translational Oncology Prevention and Screening Institute (EUTOPS), in Innsbruck, who spoke about epigenetics as a tool for disease detection and prediction, namely in the detection of breast and ovarian cancer using only samples from the vaginal cervix, and Doctor Pedro Vaz, Researcher at the Champalimaud Foundation, in Lisbon, who presented a new and innovative Early Detection and Diagnosis Tool for lung cancer, based on the analysis of volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath air. Doctor Nuno Gil, Researcher at the Champalimaud Foundation as well, also participated in this Session, helping complement the clinical aspects of Doctor Vaz’s lecture.

This was followed by the Career Session, featuring Professor Alexandre Quintanilha, Emeritus Professor of the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences, who gave a lecture on his life and learnings from a unique career and a lifetime of dedication to biomedical sciences and research.

The Molecular Biology Session included Dr. Sai Chavala who gave a lecture about the importance of bypassing the need for pluripotent stem cells (for the generation of photoreceptor-like cells) on treatment of patients with macular degeneration and Professor Kiwon Ban (City University of Hong Kong) who unraveled how he could regenerate myocardial tissue and its vasculature following Myocardial Infarction using stem cells through a “cardiac patch with bioink”.

To open the last day of the conference, the innovative Ethnicity in Medicine Session counted with the presence of Dr. Claire Fuller, Dermatologist and Chair of the International Foundation for Dermatology, in London, who addressed the importance of global health dermatology for international health and how dermatologists can make a big impact on the overall health of whole communities by raising awareness and addressing neglected tropical diseases with skin signs, as well as Chidiebere Ibe, Professional Illustrator and member of the Global Neurosurgery Committee - World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS), who explained how black illustrations are underrepresented in medical textbooks and how ethnically diverse representation would improve healthcare outcomes.

Afterwards, the Pathway of Scientific Discoveries Session, our participants had the honor of listening to Professor Steve Pascolo, co-founder of CureVac and Immunologist at University Hospital of Zurich, as well as Professor Drew Weissman, Professor of Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine, at the University of Pennsylvania, and creator of the nucleoside-modified mRNA-lipid nanoparticle vaccine platform, used in the first 2 approved COVID-19 vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Together, they entangled a small portion of what was the complex history of mRNA vaccines, giving an overview of what has been the pathway of this scientific breakthrough, which opened the door to a new era in the field of vaccinology.

To conclude the Scientific Programme, the highly awaited Nobel Prize Session, featured Professor William Kaelin, from the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, who was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of his discoveries on how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability. In his lecture he explained how he discovered a process involving the pVHL tumor suppressor gene that contributes to the survival of cells in a hypoxic environment, by interacting with the Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF).”



16th YES Meeting

The 16th YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 16th to the 19th of September of 2021. In this edition, we decided to adopt a hybrid modality. Therefore, some participants gathered in Porto for the conference while, at the same time, students from all over the globe connected to our online platform to update themselves on the latest scientific discoveries.

The Molecular Biology Session included Professor Triantafyllos Chavakis (Institute for Clinical Chemistry & Laboratory Medicine of the University Clinic Dresden, Germany), who introduced the concept of trained immunity, discussing its role in cancer control and how myelocyte progenitors in bone marrow contribute to this type of immunity. Additionally, Dr. Daniel de Carvalho (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre & Department of Medical Biophysics at University of Toronto, Canada) presented his research on the translational aspects of cancer epigenetics, diving into the question of whether it is possible to modulate anti-tumor immune response using epigenetic therapy.

Following that, the Neurosciences Session took place, in which we had the opportunity to have Professor Steven Laureys (University of Liège, Liège, Belgium & University Laval, Quebec City, Canada) presenting his work on meditation, exposing the positive psychic and organic effects that meditation and mindfulness have on our body and mind. Through his research on the brain of monk Matthieu Ricard, he illustrated how meditation structurally modifies brain connectivity and stimulates neural function. Moreover, Professor David Nutt (Imperial College London, United Kingdom) illustrated how resurrecting banned psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA could dramatically improve human mental and physical health and explored how these drugs have helped to further deepen our knowledge of consciousness and how they are leading to the creation of a new theory of consciousness: the Entropic Brain Theory.

The Scientific Programme also included a Sexuality Session. Professor Andrea Ganna (Finnish Institute of Molecular Medicine, Finland) presented the latest results in the genetics of same-sex behaviour, focusing on what we have learned so far and how we should go forward. He also described important limitations of the Genome-wide association study (GWAS) he conducted on the genetic markers of same-sex behaviour, and explained the effort it takes to communicate these results to the general public.

The Neonatology Session counted with the presence of Professor Dorothee Viemann (Translational Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Würzburg & Center for Infection Research, University Würzburg, Germany), who gave a lecture on perinatal innate immune programming by S100-alarmins, and Professor Kaija-Leena Kolho (University of Helsinki & Helsinki University Hospital, Finland), who presented an overview of the development of postnatal microbiota and current views on the impact of delivery method and antibiotics on infant microbiota and child health.

This year’s Biotechnology Session was lectured by Dr. Xing Chen (Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Amsterdam, The Netherlands), who developed an unprecedented high-channel-count, high-resolution neuroprosthesis for chronic recording and electrical stimulation of the primate visual cortex, establishing proof-of-concept for the feasibility of artificial vision in the blind. Furthermore, Dr. Gilad Litvin (Corneat Vision, Tel Aviv, Israel), the inventor of an implantable device for the treatment of glaucoma and the sole inventor of the CorNeat KPro and the CorNeat EverPatch, portrayed inventions as drivers of paradigm shifts.

This was followed by the Surgery Session, in which Professor José Luís Cabral (Coimbra University Hospital Center, Plastic Surgery and Burns Department, Portugal) explored the topic of infection, sepsis and skin coverage in burn patients, and Dr. Edmar Maciel (Federal University of Ceará & Instituto Dr. José Frota, Brazil) presented the application of Tilapia skin xenografts as a novel biologic dressing for wound management.

The COVID-19 Session counted with the presence of Professor Hanneke Schuitemaker (Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, Leiden, The Netherlands), who gave a lecture on the Janssen journey in the development of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

This year’s Career Session was held by Professor Fátima Carneiro (University Hospital Center of São João, Portugal) and Professor José Eduardo Guimarães (University Hospital Center of São João, Portugal), focusing on their life and their learnings from a lifetime of dedication to biomedical science and clinical practice.

Finally, one of the most awaited sessions took place, the Nobel Session. Professor Harvey Alter (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States of America) and Professor Michael Houghton (University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada), who were laurelled with the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, in recognition of the discovery of the hepatitis C virus, described their work during the 1970’s and 80’s, which eventually led to their remarkable discovery, and explained how the knowledge they acquired could be used to tackle other viral diseases, including the current COVID-19 pandemic.



15th YES Meeting

The 15th YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 16th to the 20th of September of 2020. Contrary to what happened in previous editions, participants didn’t gather in Porto for this year’s conference. However, students from all over the world were connected to our online platform to update themselves in the latest scientific developments.

The COVID-19 Session counted with the presence of Professor Miguel Castanho from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, presenting his work in developing an antiviral drug that crosses the brain-blood barrier and Professor Ruben Fernandes from PORTIC, describing the biologic models for the study of COVID-19.

After that, the Neurosciences Session in which we had the opportunity to have Professor Edward Bullmore (University of Cambridge - UK) about connectomics, explaining some of its methodological issues and highlighting results showing how connectomics phenotypes of the human brain disorders can be related to anatomical patterns of human brain gene expression that are enriched for genes conferring risk for disorders.

This edition’s YES Meeting also included the Updates in Neurosurgery Session in which all 5 speakers from the neurosurgical field tried to elucidate the participant about updated information about this specialty.

The Endocrinology Session counted with the presence of Professor Emmanuel Tzanakakis (Tufts University - USA) who explained how how he and his group have created artificial and genetically modified pancreatic beta cells using “optogenetics” technology and Professor Ekaterine Berishvili elucidating how she managed to generate and transplant a bioartificial pancreas made of islet and amniotic epithelial cells with excellent end results in vivo.

That was followed by the Biotechnology Session which was lectured by Dr. Kalaskar Deepak (University College of London - UK) who provided an overview of 3D printing in Healthcare applications, mainly focusing on opportunities and challenges offered by this new technology.

The Molecular Biology Session included Dr. Sai Chavala who gave a lecture about the importance of bypassing the need for pluripotent stem cells (for the generation of photoreceptor-like cells) on treatment of patients with macular degeneration and Professor Kiwon Ban (City University of Hong Kong) who unraveled how he could regenerate myocardial tissue and its vasculature following Myocardial Infarction using stem cells through a “cardiac patch with bioink”.

This year’s Surgery Session counted with the presence of Dr. Juan Carlos Casado (Hospital Quirónsalud Marbella/Hospital Quirónsalud Campo de Gibraltar) who gave a lecture focused on procedures that enable these patients to complete the voice feminization process and Dr. Luis Capitán (FACIAL TEAM) who introduced the Facial Gender Confirmation Surgery, always having the principles of safety and naturalness acting as guidelines.

One of the most awaited sessions was the Nobel Session, given by Professor Gregory Winter, the 2018 Chemistry Nobel Laureate, on the future perspectives of the use of antibodies.

The Scientific Programme also included a session on Sex Differences. David Greenberg addressed the audience by discussing the Empathizing-Systemizing Theory, Lise Eliot presented us with her work on the differences between male and female brains and Giordana Grossi explained to us why women and men don’t have different abilities for science.

This year we also included a new session, the “Career Session” presented by Professor Bruce Alberts, focused on his life and the learnings he took from his experience of a lifetime in science.



14th YES Meeting

The 14th YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 12th to the 15th of September of 2019, and gathered more than 500 biomedical students from over 20 different countries in Porto.

The Meeting took off with a lecture from Professor John van der Oost (Wageningen University & Research), recipient of the NWO Spinoza Prize in 2018 and one of the founders of the pioneering CRISPR-Cas technique.

After that, the congress held a lecture on Molecular Biology where, on the one hand, Professor Victoria Sanz-Moreno (Queen Mary University of London) explained the importance of the tumor microenvironment for metastasis; and on the other hand, Professor Veronica van Heyningen (University College London) presented her extensive work studying the genes most responsible for eye development and the consequences of their deregulation.

The Mental Health Session counted with the presence of Dr. Clare Gerada (NHS Practitioner Health Programme) and Professor Reidar Tyssen (University of Oslo), and focused on the discussion of mental health issues, such as psychotropic substance abuse and suicide, in the medical community.

This year’s Surgery Session was lectured by Dr. Peter Macneal (St Thomas’ Hospital London), who introduced Proximie, an ingenious platform of augmented reality which allows doctors to virtually transport themselves into any operating room; and, via videoconference, Dr. Ugo Boggi (University of Pisa), who explained the process by which the surgical robot Da Vinci was developed.

The Lasker Award Session counted with the presence of Professor Franz-Ulrich Hartl (Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry), awarded the prestigious Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award in 2011 for his discoveries concerning the cell’s protein-folding machinery.

In this edition’s Biotechnology Session, the audience learned about two extraordinary new technologies from Professor Marcus Davey (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia), whose presentation focused on a medical device similar to an artificial uterus and its therapeutic implications in enhancing the survival of premature mammals; and from Professor Niels Birbaumer (Wyss Center of Bio and Neuroengineering), who talked about brain computer interfaces that may allow communication in individuals with chronic neurological diseases.

Then followed the Neurosciences Session with Professor John Cryan (University College Cork), who explained the interaction between the brain and the microbiome, and Professor Patrick Haggard (University College London), who demonstrated how his group has been studying the brain mechanisms behind the human capacity for voluntary action.

Lastly, the 14th YES Meeting Scientific Programme came to an end with Professor Ellen Roche (MIT), who guided us through her work with bioinspired soft active material technology, which enabled the fabrication of a robotic direct cardiac compression device - the HeartSleeve.

14th YES Meeting Abstracts - Porto Biomed. J. (2019) 4:6



13th YES Meeting

The 13th YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 13th to the 16th of September of 2018. More than 500 biomedical students from all over the world gathered in Porto for this year’s conference.

The Intensive Care Session began with our first speaker: Professor Jorge Pimentel, founder of Critical Care Medicine in Portugal. Then, the congress held a lecture on Molecular Biology, in the field of Stem Cells and Tissue Regeneration, given by Professor Graziella Pellegrini (University of Modena Reggio and Emilia), who was responsible for Holoclar®, the first commercial stem cell therapy in the world. She also presented her impressive work on the treatment of Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa.

One of the most awaited sessions was the Clinical Forensics Session, given by Professor Klaus Beier, (Sexology Institute of Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin), world leader in the field of paedophilia prevention, and Professor Derek Perkins (West London Mental Health NHS Trust), who conducted an overview of sexual abuse in today’s society.

One of the most innovative lectures of the congress, presented by Professor Chandan Sen (Indiana University) and Professor José Baena (REGEMAT 3D), focused on the role of nanotechnology for tissue transfection and of 3D printing technology.

The Scientific Programme also included a session on Infectious Diseases. With the invaluable testimony of Dr. Dermot Maher (World Health Organization) and the presentation of the work performed by Professor Ishwar Singh (Lincoln University) on teixobactins, the first discovered class of antibiotics in decades, the auditorium was confronted with the recent developments in this area. This year’s Neurosciences Session was lectured by Professor Lorna Role (Stony Brook University) and Professor David Erritzøe (Imperial College London), who addressed the audience by discussing the cholinergic control of memories and the therapeutic potential of hallucinogenics.

The Spinoza Prize Session counted with the presence of Professor Michel Ferrari (Leiden University), recipient of the prestigious Spinoza LifeTime Achievement Prize in 2009 for his studies on the basic pathophysiology of migraines and its clinical implications and therapeutics.

This year’s edition also included a Keynote Session, given by Professor Maria de Sousa, Professor Claudio Sunkel and Dr. Delfim Duarte, who spoke about the current status of research in Portugal.

Finally, the Surgery Session, one of the most cherished by our participants, was presented by Professor Joan Père Barret (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona/Hospital Universitari de la Vall d’Hebron) and Dr. Rozina Ali (Rozina Ali Reconstructions & Aesthetics), who shared their revolutionary work on facial transplant and breast reconstruction.

Read the Abstract Book - Porto Biomed J 2018;3(3)



12th YES Meeting

The twelfth edition of YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 14th to the 17th of September 2017. More than 500 biomedical students from all over the world gathered in Porto for this year’s conference. For the first time, The YES Meeting has expanded the duration of the congress, providing one additional day of lectures and Poster Sessions to all Presenting and Non-Presenting Students.

The congress started with a Keynote Session lectured by Professor Manuel Sobrinho Simões (Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto), who spoke about the path of the Faculty throughout time.

This year’s edition also counted with the presence of the 2009 Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry, Professor Ada E. Yonath (Weizmann Institute of Science). In this session, Professor Ada Yonath lectured the audience about her studies on the structure and function of the ribosome. The Lasker Award Session was lectured by Dr. Nicholas Lydon (BluePrint Medicines), who received the 2009 Albert Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his discovery of Imatinib, an innovative medicine used to treat Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.

The Scientific Programme also included lectures on Neurosciences, given by Professor Grégoire Courtine (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), who is at the forefront of the studies of locomotion neuronal networks, and Professor Rodrigo Quiroga (University of Leicester), who presented his work on memory and visual perception. This year’s Molecular Biology Session lectures were given by Professor Ivan Đikić (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main), a renowned scientist working on the role of ubiquitin in a series of molecular and cellular processes, and by Professor Gillian Bates (King’s College London), who has showed us the molecular basis of Huntington’s Disease.

Two of the hottest scientific topics of the moment were particularly discussed on the Biotechnology Session by Dr. Tobias Hasenberg (TissUse), currently studying the Human-on-a-chip technology, and by Dr. Levi Hargrove (Northwestern University), an investigator on the area of bionic prosthesis presented the nature of the recent accomplishments in their areas of study. Psychopathy was the chosen theme for an out-of-the-box Session, which was lectured by Professor James Fallon (University of California), who accidentally discovered that his brain patterns are similar to the ones of psychopaths.

Finally, the Surgery Session, one of the most cherished by our participants, was presented by Dr. Tomoaki Kato (Columbia University Medical Center) and Dr. Mark Sullivan (Oxford University Hospitals), both of them experts on ex vivo surgery based on surgical techniques used to resect tumors and to improve transplantation techniques.

Read the Abstract Book - Porto Biomed J 2017;2(5)



11th YES Meeting

The eleventh edition of YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto, from the 15th to the 18th September 2016. The congress had an attendance of more than 450 biomedical students of worldwide origin who gathered in Porto for this year’s meeting.

The 11th YES Meeting Pre-Course was organized in a joint effort with Dr. Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global Tuberculosis Programme at the WHO (World Health Organization) and speaker at the 10th edition of the congress. The Global Health Day addressed many relevant issues, such as Global Health Issues, Mental Health, Epidemics & Outbreaks, and Career Opportunities in Global Health.

This year’s edition counted with the presence of two Nobel Prize laureates. Professor Harald zur Hausen was laureated with the 2008 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer. Professor Werner Arber was laureated in 1978 for his discovery of the restriction enzymes. The 11th YES Meeting also included a Lasker Award Session given by Professor Jeffrey Friedman, who received the 2010 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for the discovery of the hormone leptin.

The 11th YES Meeting addressed one of the hottest scientific topics of the moment. In the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Session, Dr. Valentino Gantz presented the groundbreaking CRISPR technology. Furthermore, Professor Haifan Lin gave a lecture on Piwi-Interacting RNAs. The Neurosciences Session counted with the presence of Professor Nikolai Axmacher (Ruhr University Bochum), who presented his works on Alzheimer’s disease and Dr. Monica Rosenberg (Yale University), who lectured about predicting attention and behavior with whole-brain functional connectivity studies.

Moreover, this year’s edition included lectures about Interventional Cardiology delivered by Dr. Nora Lang (German Heart Center, Munich) and Dr. Bruno Oliveira (University of Cambridge). Lectures on Organoids were given by Professor Jamie Davies (University of Edinburgh) and Dr. Sylvia Boj (Hubrecht Organoid Technology Foundation). Dr. Martin Meuli (University Children’s Hospital Zurich) shared his expertise in Fetal Surgery, while Professor Juan Tovar (La Paz University Hospital) gave a general perspective of the Pediatric Surgery specialty.

Finally, there was a session on Gender Dysphoria lectured by Professor Domenico Di Ceglie (University College London), Founder and former Director of the Gender Identity Development Service of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust, and Paris Lees, British journalist and international activist for the transgender community’ rights.

Read the Abstract Book - Int J Med Students 2016;4 (Suppl 1)



10th YES Meeting

The tenth edition of YES Meeting took place at the Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto, from the 17th to the 20th September 2015. The congress had an attendance of 450 biomedical students of worldwide origin who gathered in Porto for this year’s meeting.

One of the meeting’s major highlights was the Nobel Prize Session, which counted with the presence of Professor Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, 2009 Chemistry Nobel Prize laureate for his studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.

Another high point was the Spinoza Prize Session, lectured by Professor Frits Rosendaal, who won this prize in 2002. The Professor addressed the risk factors for deep venous thrombosis and acute myocardial infarction.

The 10th YES Meeting also included one of the hot topics of the moment. In the Gynecologic/ Obstetric Surgery Session, Dr. Randa Akouri, clinician at the Universitary Hospital of Sahlgrenska, talked about the first human uterine transplantation resulting in successful childbirth. In the same session, Professor Stephan Gordts, teacher at the University of Leuven, introduced the transvanginal laparoscopy technique, which he pioneered.

This year the Neurosciences Session counted with the presence of Professor Alim-Louis Benabid (Lasker Award winner of 2014), who talked about his discovery of deep brain stimulation and Dr. March Folcher, researcher at the Swiss Federal Institute of technology, lectured about a synthetic mindcontrolled gene switch device.

Moreover, this year’s edition also included lectures about innovative cancer treatments, delivered by Professor Dmitri Lapotko (Rice University) and Professor Magnus Essand (Uppsala University), lectures about epilepsy, given by Professor Heinz Beck and Professor Christian Elger (both from Bönn University). Dr. Ilan Youngster (Harvard Medical School) shared his expertise in fecal transplants and the same scientific session counted with Dr. Manson Fok (Dean of the Macau University of Science & Technology).

Finally, this year had an Infectous Disease Session lectured by Dr. Mario Raviglione, the director of the global tuberculosis programme at the WHO and Dr. Fernando Garcês (The Scripps Research Institute).

Read the Abstract Book



9th YES Meeting

From the 18th to the 21st of September 2014 the ninth edition of YES Meeting was held at the Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto.

The speaker for the 9th edition’s keynote session was Professor Duarte Nuno Vieira, the President of the European Society of Pathology, who was the winner of the Douglas Lucas Medal 2014, the most prestigious prize in the Forensic Pathology area worldwide.

One of the highlights of the 9th YES Meeting was the presence of Professor John Kheir (Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School) presenting his work on intravenous oxygen administration. In the same session Professor Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu (Babes-Bolyai University) talked about blood substitutes.

Rachel Waddingham (London Hearing Voices Project) and Professor Michael Bloomfield (Imperial College London) enlightened the audience about schizophrenia. Moreover, Professor Julian Yates (University of Manchester) and Denis Dufrane (Saint Luc Clinic Hospital) were responsible for a lecture about Regenerative Medicine.

Other remarkable moment was the Ophtalmic Surgery session, in which Professor Venkata Avadhanam (Sussex University Hospital) presented the complex and rare osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis surgery.

Furthermore, the 2014 edition of the meeting included lectures from Professor Carlos Caldas (Cancer Research Cambridge Institute) and Professor Inês Gonçalves (INEB) regarding oncology as well as the presence of Professor Martin Hallbeck (Linkoping University) and Helois Radford-Rose (University of Leicester) who talked about neurodegenerative diseases.

In addition to these speakers, YES counted with Professor Carlos Fiolhais and his lecture on Scientific Fraud Throughout History and also with a lecture by Professor João Lobo Antunes on Science Integrity.

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8th YES Meeting

The eighth edition of YES Meeting took place at Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, from the 19th to the 22nd September 2013.

The Meeting focused on the following areas of basic and clinical research: Oncology and Molecular Biology, Ischemia and Acute Stroke Imaging, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Malaria, Lysosomal Storage Disorders and Humanizing Medical Care. Furthermore, this edition comprised a groundbreaking Nobel Prize Session and “Speed Meeting with Scientists”.

The Nobel Prize Session was held by the illustrious Prof. Ada Yonath, the world pioneer of ribosome crystallography, from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.

Some notable speakers of the 8th edition were Eng. Tal Golesworthy, a Chartered Engineer with aortic dilatation due to Marfan’s Syndrome who throve to build the first personalised external aortic root support model; Prof. Hélder Maiato, Principal Investigator at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology in Porto, who put a stop on mitosis by interfering with the mitotic spindle and Prof. Gregory Pastores, from the University of Yale, engaged in the development and testing of treatment for Lysosomal Storage Diseases.

The 2013 edition of the Meeting included as well the presence of Prof. David Tannahill, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge; Prof. Krishna Dani, Glasgow University; Prof. Andrea Banfi, Laboratory of Cell & Gene Therapy, Basel University Hospital; Prof. Maria Mota, Malaria Research Group, IMM; Salmaan Sana, COM-passion for Care; Prof. Jorge Cruz, Catholic University of Porto and Prof. Jorge Correia-Pinto, Medical Sciences School of the University of Minho.

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7th YES Meeting

The seventh edition of YES Meeting took place at Faculty of Medicine from the University of Porto, from the 14th to the 16th September 2012.

The Meeting focused on the following areas of basic and clinical research: Micro & Nanoparticles, Diabetes, Reproductive Medicine, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Borders of Consciousness, Primary Care as well as a Keynote Lecture and an innovative Breaking News Session.

The Keynote Speaker invited was Prof. Klaus Starke from the “Institut für experimentelle und klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie”, Germany.

The Breaking News Session was held by Janine Heutschi from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland and focused on the advances of the regeneration of spinal cord injuries.

Some of the speakers of the 7th edition were Prof. Jan Bruining from the University of Erasmus in Rotterdam, most known for being a pionner on pediatric diabetes and for first describing the existence of anti-insulin antibodies as well as Glycated hemoglobin; Prof. Stephan Gillam, Cambridge University, presented the British health pay-per-performance system; Prof. Johan Skog, from the Neurosciences Departament of the University of Harvard discussed the use of exossomes in the diagnosis of cerebral cancer;

Many other speaker were present such as Prof. Rebecca Dragovic, Department of Gynecology & Obstetrics , Oxford University; Prof. Steven Laureys, Coma Science Group e Dept. of Neurology, Liège; Prof. Fazel Fatah, President of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons among others.

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6th YES Meeting

The sixth edition of YES Meeting took place at Fundação Engenheiro António de Almeida, Porto from the 16th to the 18th September 2011.

The Meeting focused on the following areas of basic and clinical research: Bone Marrow, Brain-Machine Interface, Cardiovascular Medicine and Cardiothoracic Surgery, NOTES and Ageing as well as a Keynote Lecture.

The Keynote Speaker was Prof. Reinhard Fassler from the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Germany who covered the genetic aspects of integrin biology.

Some of the speakers of the 6th edition were Prof. Gero Hütter from the University of Heidelberg, who received major public attention for the cure of a HIV patient and discussed the implications of Bone Marrow Transplantation in HIV; Prof. Mikhail Lebedev from the Nicolelis Lab, Duke University, presented astonishing results with brain-machine interfaces in monkeys; Prof. Mark Caulfield, former president of the British Society of Hypertension, who gave his insight into renal nerve sympathectomy as a treatment for resistant hypertension; Prof. Robert Montgomery, Director of Transplantation Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, gave a lecture on transvaginal donor nephrectomy; Prof. Rudi Westendorp from the University of Leiden, Netherlands, mastered a very thought-provoking discussion on “Old Men and the Future”.



5th YES Meeting

The fifth edition of YES Meeting took place at Fundação Engenheiro António de Almeida, Porto from the 24th to the 26th September 2010.

It covered six main areas of basic and clinical research: Chronic Pain, Evolution in Medicine, Robotic Medicine, Ischemic Heart Disease, Stem Cells and Oncological Therapy, as well as a Keynote Lecture and a Nobel Prize Winner Session.

Our Keynote Speaker was Prof. Paul Wilkinson from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and co-Director of the Centre for Global Change and Health of the WHO, discussing the impacts of climate change on health.

Other notable speakers included Prof. Noel Boaz and Prof. David Haig from the International Institute of Human Evolutionary Research, USA and Harvard University, respectively, who discussed the importance of evolutionary medicine and anthropology; Prof. Paolo Machiarinni, who successfully developed a technique for human trachea transplantation; Prof. Paolo Rossini presented his results with robotic hand control in human amputees; Prof. Kieran Clarke, Principal Scientist in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford, discussed stem cell therapy for the infarcted heart.

One of the highlights of the 5th YES Meeting was the Nobel Prize Winner Session with Prof. Aaron Ciechanover who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2004 for his work regarding the ubiquitinproteasome system.



4th YES Meeting

The fourth edition of YES Meeting took place at Fundação Engenheiro António de Almeida, Porto from the 25th to the 27th September 2009. This year was a turning point to YES Meeting due to a change in the scientific sessions scheme with the introduction of six constant areas on which the lectures should focus on.

The six main areas of basic and clinical research were the following: Obesity, Reproductive Medicine, Surgery, Tuberculosis, Cellular Tensegrity and Biomaterials, as well as a Keynote Lecture and the Nobel Prize Winner Session.

Our Keynote Speaker was Prof. Russel Foster from the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology, University of Oxford, UK, who gave a lecture on “Chronobiology”.

Other notable speakers included Prof. Lee Kaplan from Division of Nutrition, Harvard Medical School, who discussed the metabolic implications in weight-loss surgery; Prof. Jan Kajstura from Brigham Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, whose work focuses on Tissue Engineering and Stem Cell Therapy regarding cardiac stem cells; Prof. Donald Ingber from Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School, who gave a speech about The Tensegrity Cell Model; Prof. Andrew Thorns from St Christopher’s Hospice, King’s College, who discussed ethical and medical issues regarding palliative care and euthanasia; and Prof. Sylvie Testelin from Hospital Edouard Herriot, Université Lyon, who brought to us the newest techniques on facial transplant.

One of the highlights of the 4th YES Meeting was the Nobel Prize Winner Session with Prof. Rolf Zinkernagel, who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for his discoveries concerning the specificity of the cell mediated immune defences.



3rd YES Meeting

In its third edition, held from the 26th to the 28th of September, YES Meeting had sessions on: Neurodegenerative Diseases, Oncobiology, Regenerative Medicine, Human Transplantation, Heart Failure and Model Organisms.

The Keynote Speaker was Prof. Göran Andersson from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who talked about “Adipose Inflammation and Obesity”.

Other remarkable speakers were Prof. Flaviano Giorgini from the University of Leicester, UK; Prof. Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology, University Hospital of Zurich, SWI; Prof. Leif Oxburgh from the Maine Medical Center Research Institute, USA; Prof. Kareem Abu-Elmagd from the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute, Pittsburgh, USA; Prof. Tomas Prolla from the University of Wiscosin-Madison, USA; Prof. Walter Paulus from the VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, NL; Prof. William Little from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, North Carolina, USA; Prof. Michael Hengartner from the Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zurich, SWI and Prof. Anton Scheurink from the University Medical Center, Groningen, NL.



2nd YES Meeting

In its second edition, held from the 27th to the 29th of September, YES Meeting continued to count on the strong support from the professors form the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. An important step towards its international recognition was given by establishing international partnerships with other students Meetings.

The scientific sessions focused on Diabetes mellitus, Endothelium, Thyroid Pathology, Arterial Hypertension, Asthma, Ischemic Heart Disease, Ethics in Scientific Publication, Immunomodulation, Oncobiology, Chronic Pain, Hematology, Stroke and Osteoarticular Pain.

The participation of international speakers was much more significant and, among others, we could count with the participation of Prof. Eleftheria Zeggini from the Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Prof. Curtis L. Triplitt from the University of Texas Health Science Center and Prof. Marshall Devor from the Department for Cell and Animal Biology, Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

The highlight of this edition was the lecture on “Ethics in Scientific Publication” given by Prof. João Lobo Antunes.



1st YES Meeting

YES Meeting was born in 2006 after a pioneer idea of a fellow student of ours. Despite being considered by many a megalomanous concept, with the support of our Faculty, and some Firms that believed in the value of this idea the Meeting started to take shape.

It was a totally innovative project in Portugal and it attracted speakers from some of the major reference centers in the world since the very beginning.

In its first edition, there were sessions on Arterial Hypertension, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, Chronic heart failure, Cyclin History, Oncology – Learning from lab… Improving patients care, Sexual disfunctions - Men and Women approach: from brain to genitalia, HIV, Ischemic heart disease, Pain: Multidisciplinary approach, Immunology: From bench to bedside, Research? Yeah, but where? University, Industry or Biotech park? and Stem as the cell.

Regarding the invited speakers, among several Professors from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and Portuguese Scientists working abroad such as Prof. Alcino Silva or Prof. Fernando Lopes da Silva, we also had in Porto Prof. Ferenc Follath from the University of Zurich and Sir Richard Timothy Hunt who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology.



Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
+351 225 074 370
info@yesmeeting.org

Al. Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, Porto, Portugal
+351 225 074 370
info@yesmeeting.org