ATG Newsletter 11 - Professor Maria by ATG - GABBA alumni

ATG Newsletter Issue 11

August 2020

Welcome to another edition of the ATG Member Newsletter

ATG Newsletter Issue 11

Professor Maria

August 2020 Contributors: Albino Maia Ana Rita Araújo André Sousa Anna Olson António Amorim António Damásio Arsélio Pato de Carvalho Catarina Carona Catarina Cunha Fátima Carneiro Graça Porto Hanna Damásio Hélder Araújo João Passos Karin Wall Lígia Tavares Manuel Sobrinho Simões Maria De Sousa Maria Mota Patrícia Lopes Pedro Resende Raquel Sousa Susana Frazão Pinheiro Telmo Catarino Cover: Raquel Sousa and Mafalda Azevedo Editors: Mafalda Azevedo Marta Madureira Telmo Catarino

Mafalda Azevedo Editor-in-Chief

This year will hardly be forgotten by any of us. The

reasons are many. We may have experienced the confinement and reopenings of the past months differently, but April 14th was surely a sad day for all of us and the scientific community in general. The impact Professor Maria had in our lives, whether scientific or personal, is undeniable. Many wrote beautiful letters and tributes honoring Professor Maria. We include several in this edition of the newsletter, as well as a few photos highlighing important accomplishments and candid moments. Professor Maria was a regular contributor to this newsletter. We include the poem she wrote in April as her contribution to this edition. Sadly, Professor Maria will not be able to contribute herself to her section De Sousa et al. We hope to keep it alive as a continuous tribute to her. Please let us know your suggestions on what the future of that section should be.

We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter.

ATG - All Time GABBA The Alumni Association of the Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology University of Porto - Portugal www.atg.up.pt i3S, R. Alfredo Allen, 4200135 Porto, Portugal

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Contents Message from the President of the Executive Board LĂgia Tavares 7 De Sousa et al. Maria de Sousa 11 Professor Maria 13 City of Knowledge Part I. Knowledge Ana Rita AraĂşjo & Telmo Catarino 69 Part II. Citizens Marta Madureira 79 ATG News Mafalda Azevedo 85 Partnership with Chaperone 87

Have you already become a member? To become a member, all you need to do is pay the annual dues, fill out the membership form, and email us the payment confirmation along with the membership form. You may find the form on the ATG website: www.atg.up.pt

Message from the President of the Executive Board Lígia Tavares

Dear GABBA community and ATG newsletter readers Our dear GABBA program has started from the will, the vision, the passion and even the stubbornness of, amongst others, a dear person to us all, Prof. Maria de Sousa. It is with sorrow that this newsletter is dedicated to Prof. Maria as she died from Covid-19. However, it is also with great happiness and a full heart from having known her, being touched by her, her thoughts and ideas, her youth even at her old age. She “The world should move on knowledge, interdisciplinarity, networking, freedom and happiness. Those are the values of both GABBA and ATG and were impregnated by their funders, namely Prof. Maria.”

has started the GABBA program and we hope, with the help of those touched by Prof. Maria at the GABBA program and beyond, to keep pushing the scientific knowledge further and promote the Portuguese scientific community.

Personally, I feel I am really lucky of being a member of such a different and diverse community as the GABBA and ATG’s communities. The world should move on knowledge, interdisciplinarity, networking, freedom and happiness. Those are the values of both GABBA and ATG and were impregnated by their funders, namely Prof. Maria. I am sure that even if one of us leaves science and move into the furthest of the subjects we will take those values with us, we will pursue happiness of doing what we like and having the

freedom to do so. Prof. Maria de Sousa knew that only when that happened one can give the most, surprise ourselves and the world, and be amongst the best ones. For us this seems such an obvious think, but still so difficult to achieve and so far from most people we know. Sometimes people get lost in the webs, in the pre-establish order of things, trying to obey the rules and they lose their youth, their passion. Prof. Maria has shown us that we can leave an entire life with those values “... aim to have the sparkle of Prof. Maria’s eyes in your own eyes, I am sure you will not need anything else! That will be her true memorial. “

and we will be the happiest of the persons. We will glow from touching and being touched by others, we will exhale by our achievements and from others achievements, we will be happy with their happiness that will be ours as well. By doing so we will have the best, more cheerful and trustful friends, just as she did.

So, aim to have the sparkle of Prof. Maria’s eyes in your own eyes, I am sure you will not need anything else! That will be her true memorial.

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We know you are really busy with other impact factors, but your help would really have a major impact on ATG! ATG really needs your help! Send us an email when you are ready to help us, will you?

DE SOUSA et al. Maria de Sousa

Love letter in a virus pandemic

Bagpipes played in Scotland

Tenors sing from verandas in Italy

The dead will not hear them

And the living want to mourn their dead in

silence

Who do they want to cheer?

The children?

But the children are also dying

In my circumstance

I may die

Wondering if I will ever see you again

But before I die

I want you to know

How much I care for you

How much I worry about you

How much I remember shared and cherished

moments Moments then Eternities now Poetry Laughter The sea Sunsets

The feather that the gull took to our table

Breakfast

Golden cufflinks

The magnolia The hospital

Socks pijamas and other thoughtful things

All moments then

Eternities now

As I may die and you must live

In your living the hope of my lasting

April 2020

Professor Maria In this edition of the newsletter, we pay our tribute to Professor Maria by publishing letters from those close to her.

A minha homenagem pessoal é dizer que a mais importante das opções profissionais que fiz foi francamente marcada por ela e que isso marcou, muito positivamente, a minha vida a muitos outros níveis para além do profissional. Tive oportunidade de lhe dizer isto em viva voz, mas fica aqui também a minha gratidão pelos conselhos e pelo exemplo. Albino J. Oliveira Maia, GABBA 6th edition April 14th, 2020

“Life as a Ph.D. student should only be fun.” She wrote me this sentence in a long email before I moved to the US for my graduate studies. Years later, I included it in the acknowledgements of my dissertation because I tried my best to fulfill its meaning as best as I could. I followed her advice and, during my PhD studies, I did attend a lot of seminars in areas that ranged from astrophysics to cinema. All for fun, because what’s better than to discover new things? I really don’t hesitate to say that she changed my life. She, of course, is Professor Maria. Professor Maria then, Maria now. What started as a normal professor/student relationship developed into a cherished friendship. I will fondly remember all our lunches in The Morgan Library and in Lisbon, her raising her voice because I was not doing something as well as she thought I could, our meetings while we were creating ATG, or our discussions about Science and Art while having an afternoon-long pizza tasting in New Haven. It is very sad to realize that we will now always talk about her in the past tense... As most GABBA students, I first met Maria during my interview. Of course, I already “knew” her. Who didn’t? She became more involved with our GABBA edition while we were organizing our annual symposium. The symposium was centered on the concept of “homeostasis”, and she was invited to speak. But we sought her help even before her talk at the symposium. It was the first time we organized such an event and we naturally made several mistakes. I remember when Bruno and I met with her in order to identify and fix those mistakes. After

some harsh words, we started fixing our missteps and we were able to plan a successful symposium. Throughout the years we became closer, especially when Bruno and I decided to create ATG after her teasing email, in which she wrote: “Do we have volunteers for the creation of the alumni association or am I supposed to start it at this end?” One of her greatest strengths was to bring people together, creating a proverbial team, greater than the sum of its parts. She really had a keen eye for this, as can be observed by the results from our GABBA program. In recent years, we were not able to meet as often as before due to the health issues you all know about. We talked mainly by phone; phone calls with Maria could last one hour or be abruptly interrupted after five minutes! Our last call was just five days before she passed away. She was already in the hospital, but her main concern was to know whether or not my wife and I were well and in good health. She was a very generous person! That generosity was sometimes demonstrated through ‘tough-love’ actions or words, but it all came from her altruistic core. Again, I will always prize everything she gave me, from life-lasting advice to inspirational books. I tried to give back as much as I could. When we created ATG, the first two programs we implemented were the prizes for high- school students who participate in Ciência Viva research programs, and the Maria de Sousa Summer Research Program. She was very pleased with these initiatives and saw in them the beginning of something bigger: what was starting as a summer program might very well end up as an independent school to train the next generation of scientists. This was one of her passions: to see the younger generations flourish into scientists and informed citizens! She understood the strengths of our alumni association and what it could be in the future. Our alumni association needs to live up to Maria de Sousa’s dreams. We need to continue to strive for excellence and never abandon her ideals: only freedom can guarantee creativity and innovation! For that, we will need to continue our journey as a strong community. We can all imagine her smile and happiness if we achieve all this! André M. M. Sousa, GABBA 11th Edition New Haven, May 17th, 2020

Source: Os Segredos do Pessoa, 8/12/16, Expresso

JÚRI DO PRÉMIO PESSOA DE 1996. Mário Soares, Maria de Sousa e Pinto Balsemão (sentados); Alexandre Pomar (à esquerda, de pé, cortado), Carlos Coelho, Norton de Matos (ambos da Unisys), José Mattoso e António Alçada Baptista. O júri reúne-se sempre no Palácio de Seteais, em Sintra. (Foto: Rui Ochôa in Expresso).

JÚRI DO PRÉMIO PESSOA DE 2012. Clara Ferreira Alves, Rui Baião, Maria de Sousa, Viriato Soromenho Marques, Miguel Veiga, Joana Frade e Mário Soares num intervalo da reunião do Prémio Pessoa. (Foto: Tiago Miranda).

When Maria de Sousa fell ill, I was busy working with three colleagues from the area of science communication on a video about immunity and Covid-19. Sadly, she never got to see the outcome, but it really was an initiative that had a lot to do with her. It was science communication about immunology, her scientific discipline. But it was more than that. Communication through words and pictures was an important part of who Maria was as a professional and as a person. Interdisciplinarity is not the only characteristic of the Portuguese institutions under Maria’s influence – there is also the openness towards arts, poetry, music, philosophy. I’m immensely grateful for the privilege of working in one of these institutions, and for having had the opportunity for 15 years to experiment with Science, Ethics and Society in the GABBA program. Anna Olson

As a non-believer in afterlives And risking to look selfish or egocentric I - painfully - miss Maria. I - regretfully – kept a shy distance, and I - barely – grasped her Greek half-goddess nature. Shiveringly – I shared a few of her Herculean tasks Against all streams And I – safely – can say the works’ harshness was - Mostly - mythical and manmade Although - sadly – no less real. Archaeology of Science will never do justice to her 18

And History still less so, but I – desperately – try to. May the Augean stables she was washing stay clean And some of the golden apples she brought from the Hesperides. Be –as she used to say – democratically available. António Amorim

MARIA DAS VIRTUDES By Antonio and Hanna Damasio We first met Maria de Sousa on a festive evening in Spring of 1993. We had come to the Palacio de Queluz to receive our joint Prémio Pessoa from the hands of President Mário Soares, and there she was, sitting at our table in the reception that followed. We knew that Maria was a famous immunologist and we would later find out that she was also a poet. Still, what had mostly drawn our attention until then was Maria’s preoccupation with the state of science in Portugal. She had gone to great lengths to ensure that new generations of Portuguese who dreamed of a scientific career would not have to immigrate in order to pursue their aspirations. She wanted to renew and strengthen the traditional science institutions by reforming their ways of teaching and of evaluating progress. She wanted to make these institutions vibrant enough to foster the talent that new generations of students were revealing. In this ambition Maria was very much helped by Mariano Gago, a physicist and legendary Portuguese Minister of Science and Technology, whose unusual tenure spanned several elected governments and who was animated by similar goals. We must agree that their quest was a success. The national institutions did reform and several private foundations have joined the 19

effort. Today the panorama of science in Portugal is unrecognizable and Maria should be recognized for her contribution to this outcome. The friendship that began on that spring evening was happily shared with Mário Soares and his wife Maria Barroso. Maria de Sousa was often present when we visited Lisbon and had dinner with Mário Soares and whenever we talked with him on the phone, there were inevitable mentions of Maria to whom he always referred with affection as the “Sábia” (the “Sage”). “Sábia” fit Maria perfectly. Not only was she knowledgeable in the world of immunology but in the wider worlds of biology and even neuroscience which she explored for her own pleasure. Quietly, she also pursued a passion for Portuguese history and was an avid concert goer. But we deserve laurels too! The nickname we found for Maria, was no less affectionate or appropriate: “Maria das Virtudes” (“Maria of the Virtues”). It came out of the plain fact that in Porto, the city where she lived for many years, her apartment was located on a verdant and quiet promenade with a gorgeous view of hillside houses and, in the distance, the Douro River. Fittingly, this was named the Passeio das Virtudes (the Promenade of the Virtues). Virtues was indeed the correct honorific for someone who was as penetratingly intelligent and creative as Maria was, and who, at the same time, had such reserves of generosity for people that she had never met and such pure ambition and reverence for the country where she had begun her scientific career. Over the years we nourished our friendship and exchanged ideas by phone or letter or in person, in Los Angeles, New York, Porto and Lisbon. On occasion Maria attended our presentations and we did the same for hers. But in recent years the shadow of her severe kidney disease grew darker and she depended for survival on frequent sessions of dialysis. Once the COVID-19 pandemic began her illness put her at grave risk. Sadly and predictably the day came when her infection was diagnosed. She knew that her fate was sealed although she kept a brave voice as her condition deteriorated. We talked on the phone, for one last time, when she was already in the hospital, and all she could utter to our pained 20

questions was “estou mal, mesmo muito mal”. She would pass away less than a day later. To say that Maria das Virtudes will be missed is not saying enough. António Damásio e Hanna Damásio

Condecoração Grande-Oficial da Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada 20 Janeiro 2012 Luís Filipe Catarino/Presidência da República, 2012

O meu testemunho sobre Maria de Sousa A Maria de Sousa regressou a Portugal, em 1984, depois de uma digressão científica por vários laboratórios estrangeiros onde contribuiu significativamente para o avanço da Ciência, com especial ênfase no seu trabalho como imunologista. Essa contribuição científica tem sido amplamente referida, e a Maria é reconhecida internacionalmente pelo seu trabalho. Após o seu regresso, e durante os 30 de vida ativa como professora e cientista em Portugal, Maria de Sousa continuou a ser uma personagem com grande influência na Ciência como investigadora e como mentora de uma nova geração de cientistas de sucesso. Eu quero realçar, particularmente, a sua contribuição para instalar, formalmente, numa universidade portuguesa programas modernos de ensino de pósgraduação no âmbito da Biologia Experimental de da Biomedicina e, muito importante, quero realçar a sua contribuição para estabelecer decisivamente em Portugal um sistema de avaliação da Ciência, o que há muito era um dos sonhos de Mariano Gago.

Contribuição para a pós-graduação; criação de programas doutorais universitários A Maria de Sousa rompeu com a atitude atávica das universidades portuguesas relativamente à formação científica dos nossos jovens, que, em muitos casos não ia para além duma dissertação caseira orientada pelos chefes dos departamentos universitários, longe do contacto com os grandes centros científicos. A filosofia do programa GABBA instituiu formalmente, pela primeira vez, numa universidade portuguesa, a internacionalização dos doutoramentos com a participação de grandes figuras estrangeiras da Ciência como docentes, que facilitam a inserção dos nossos jovens cientistas e dos centros de investigação em redes internacionais. Contribuição para um sistema de avaliação da Ciência em Portugal O meu primeiro contacto com a Maria de Sousa foi um de confronto, em que ela chefiava um dos primeiros painéis de avaliação internacional que avaliou o Centro de Neurociências de Coimbra, que eu então coordenava, nos anos 90. Foi um confronto difícil porque a Maria foi extremamente exigente, e queria saber tudo sobre o centro; a sua apreciação informada pelo detalhe testava constantemente a nossa preparação e visão, as suas observações e comentários diretos iam ao fulcro das questões. No final do encontro, era evidente que a Maria e eu tivemos o sentimento comum de que estava ali a ser lançada uma nova era da Ciência em Portugal. Foi aqui que começou a nossa amizade. Obrigado Maria, pela tua grande contribuição para lançar decisivamente o principal pilar de sustentação da idoneidade da Ciência que se pratica em Portugal. Arsélio Pato de Carvalho Instituto de Educação e Cidadania IEC, Mamarrosa

Conheci a Prof. Maria pela primeira vez quando trabalhámos juntas numa candidatura Marie Curie, era ela directora de grupo do IBMC e tinha um pequeno gabinete no 2º andar do edifício do Campo Alegre, que foi o nosso local de encontro muitas vezes ao longo dos anos, até se jubilar. Essa candidatura era institucional, ela estava a escrever pelo IBMC e não pelo seu grupo de investigação. Cedo percebi a sua generosidade e entrega aos outros e à Ciência. Para além da sua forma brilhante de pensar, ela era uma pessoa de acção e isso atraiu-me logo. Se fosse preciso fazer alguma coisa, ela fazia, não esperava que fizessem por ela. Fomos juntas a Bruxelas na preparação dessa candidatura e ficamos amigas desde então. Depois veio o GABBA, a adequação a Bolonha, o ICBAS, o livro de comemoração dos 15 anos do programa, muitas reuniões científicas anuais e acima de tudo os alunos que foram sempre a sua principal motivação. Foram anos de trabalho conjunto e uma amizade que se foi consolidando e que muita importância teve para mim. A minha vida era e é sem dúvida mais rica por dela fazer parte a Prof. Maria. Nunca senti a nossa diferença de idades nas nossas conversas ou forma de ver o mundo. A Prof. Maria sempre esteve à frente do seu tempo e o seu pensamento não podia ser mais moderno. Era uma pessoa inspiradora, alegre, com imenso sentido de humor, e sei que vou sentir imenso a falta daquela gargalhada sincera, e das suas palavras amigas sempre que eu precisava. Ao longo dos anos sempre que viajava enviavalhe um postal que ela me telefonava a agradecer na expectativa do relato das minhas aventuras. Vou sentir falta desse postal e desses telefonemas, entre tantas outras coisas, mas a memória que nos deixa a todos os seus amigos é a melhor e mais alegre e por isso lhe agradeço. Muito obrigada eum beijinho grande onde quer que esteja. Catarina Carona

Maria experienced human being all the light your mind released sanctified our seeing you walked in shoes brimming with sand of future eras, delivering the path we get to wander leading to where the frontier is your absence fills our mind with your flame we miss you always, today, and at every point, grande dame. Although I didn’t know Maria very well, the few encounters with her that I was honored to experience were very significant, and I feel the loss of Maria intensely. Her presence and work enriched my life in such a way that is beyond price (the most personal was when by coincidence we took the same flight back to NYC after a GABBA meeting). I wasn’t much involved in the program since my path to achieving my degree was full of bureaucratic hurdles and I was also a mom already when I joined the program which made my life more occupied since I had to cope with the situation of moving to NYC financially/emotionally/culturally for my kid (now 3 kids) and me. I also didn’t grow up in Portugal although I am from Porto. My connection to Portugal and my people was always a doubleended sword of love/pride and pain consisting of mostly nostalgia and 25

embarrassment to not be Portuguese enough/different. What made me go through with all of this no matter how difficult times were was to a large extent due to this inspiring strong woman that set this monumental example for all of us but especially for us women. She assembled a path that opened the world for/to us. Catarina Cunha

A Prof. Maria, capaz de despertar sentimentos diversos naqueles com quem interagiu, teve o mérito (notável) de deixar uma marca naqueles com quem contactou mais proximamente. Lembro-me com clareza da primeira interação que tive com a Prof. Maria. Dava eu os primeiros passos na investigação e tinha acabado de fazer a apresentação de um trabalho sobre a expressão imuno-histoquímica de alguns marcadores. Aí aprendi, com os comentários contundentes da Prof. Maria, que os controlos que usei no estudo não eram suficientes, fragilizando as conclusões. Um ensinamento para a vida. Assisti (de perto), sem bem compreender a importância do que estava a acontecer, à génese do Programa GABBA em 1996. A fusão de quatro cursosde mestrado da Universidade do Porto levou os seus regentes (Maria de Sousa, Manuel Sobrinho Simões, Conceição Magalhães e António Amorim) a constituirem-se os fundadores de um Programa Doutoral que resistiu às adversidades pela força dos princípios orientadores. Tratava-se de criar um modelo exemplar de ensino pósgraduado numa realidade quase imaginária (lembro-me das vezes em que a Prof. Maria me disse “o GABBA é um figmento da nossa imaginação”). Testemunhei a ação da Prof. Maria, a intuição particular para selecionar os novos alunos de cada edição, a defesada liberdade dada aos estudantes na escolha dos laboratórios e orientadores (num Mundo de Ciência sem fronteiras). Pode não perdurar o Programa GABBA tal como concebido e vivido. Perdurará a sua história (que lhe dá identidade) na memória dos 26

estudantes, coordenadores, orientadores, professores ou colaboradores que lhe deram vida e no registo escrito, impulsionado pela Prof. Maria (que lhe dá existência futura): “A decade and a half in the life of a graduate program”. Lembro-me da expressão de apoio que a Prof. Maria me deu em momentos especialmente dolorosos da minha vida pessoal, nos anos de 2010 e 2013. Lembro-me da maneira como partilhou o sentimento de incerteza quando confrontada com o diagnóstico de uma lesão de que não suspeitava, pois não a sentia. Lembro-me de lhe ter telefonado na semana passada (por impulso inadiável) e de assim ficar a saber da situação clínica que a levou, de cabeça erguida, para a trajetória final da sua vida. Do seu último poema extraio as palavras finais: “...As I may die and you must live In your living the hope of my lasting” Fátima Carneiro 15 de abril de 2020

Source: i3S Archive

LEMBRAR MARIA DE SOUSA Maria de Sousa foi a minha mentora, líder, colaboradora e amiga incondicional. Sem dúvida que a melhor forma de a homenagear será perpetuando as suas palavras e ensinamentos. Sinto-o quase como um dever. Não só no sentido de partilhar com os outros aqueles textos que ela me foi deixando ao longo dos anos, mas também para contribuir de alguma forma para cumprir as suas últimas palavras: “As I may die and you must live, in your living the hope of my lasting”. Para esta Newsletter optei por recordar alguns enxertos de um discurso que a Maria proferiu numa reunião do Instituto de Psicanálise do Porto em 27 de maio de 2000. O título era “Do Sagrado e do Secreto: uma nota sobre a experiência criativa em ciência ou como os poetas dizem sempre melhor”. Penso que é um texto inspirador para toda uma geração de novos cientistas como é o caso da comunidade de alunos e alumni GABBA, a quem aproveito para agradecer este generosíssimo convite para contribuir para a sua newsletter ATG. O discurso da Maria começa assim:

“…. Decidi classificar as ideias e as observações em Ciência em dois tipos: 1. Dentro da evidência do seu tempo, ou “aconchegadas” e 2. Contra a evidência do seu tempo, ou ideias “fraturais”. “… uma ideia “aconchegada” é uma ideia que não está muito longe da companhia e do aconchego das ideias do seu próprio tempo. É uma ideia que pode ter como retrato físico os corredores a chegarem à meta da corrida dos 1500 metros, por exemplo. O vencedor da medalha de ouro está separado do vencedor da medalha de prata por uma fração de segundo. Por outras palavras, o aconchego de ideias que se percebem no seu próprio tempo tem um pesado preço para o investigador que as tem e as defende com os seus experimentos. Particularmente no mundo da investigação biológica contemporânea, a que eu e os meus colaboradores pertencemos, a competição é feroz. Não tem nada de sagrado. Porque o segredo de muitos resultados da biologia contemporânea passou também a ser a alma do negócio até ser registada uma patente, o próprio secreto é secular. Tem a compensação de toda a gente perceber o que o investigador está a fazer ou a dizer, incluindo os editores das mais prestigiadas revistas científicas; daí, apesar de tudo, a noção de “aconchego”. “… a ideia fratural, como a qualificação procura dizer, parece absolutamente nova aos olhos dos que rodeiam o(a) cientista que as tem. Por outro lado, corta ou parece cortar, como uma fratura, com o que se sabe até ali e no seu próprio tempo. Uma ideia nova parece também transcender aquele que a tem. É este elemento de transcendente que tem o sabor a sagrado. O processo de nos sentirmos habitados por uma ideia nova é profundamente íntimo. Quem tem essa experiência procura mantê-la secreta. Não pela alma do negócio, mas talvez pelo sentimento de um misterioso “negócio da alma”. Talvez porque a experiência da ideia fratural se passa ou parece passar-se entre o secreto e o sagrado, é mais fácil encontrar a descrição do processo em textos de poetas.”

O discurso continuou com múltiplas referências poéticas para ilustrar o processo da ideia fratural, introduzindo expressões tais como: a sua “entrada não anunciada”, o sentimento de se “ser habitado” pela ideia, ou ainda a capacidade de “se esvaziar de si” como um antecedente que torna provável a tal entrada não anunciada. Mas penso que a melhor descrição dessa qualidade que se pode identificar como um antecedente para a entrada de uma ideia nova foi a da própria Maria no seu poema “Coisas da Ciência” (1) que termina assim: “E, a não ser na criança Não é descobrir Um pouco deixar de ser?” Maria finaliza o seu discurso sobre a experiência criativa com a seguinte frase: “… Penso que uma parte substancial da constituição do ser criativo em Ciência é um gosto insaciável e infantil de aprender, como se nada do que se sabe chegasse. A outra parte, procurar agir, nem sempre se faz por gosto.” O facto é que Maria de Sousa é hoje admirada pelas suas ideias fraturais (2,3) e por saber agir. Como ela própria descreveu, “a condição de fratural não depende só da observação, mas da força da ideia ou da atitute que a acompanha”. A força da ideia levou-a ao reconhecimento entre pares; a atitute que a acompanhou foi sempre a coragem de agir. Graça Porto Porto, 18 de julho de 2020 (1) Maria de Sousa e Agostinho da Silva. A Hora e a Circunstância. Editor: Gradiva. edição abril de 1988. (2) De Sousa M. Kinetics of the distribution of thymus and marrow cells in the peripheral lymphoid organs of the mouse: ecotaxis. Clin Exp Immunol. 1971; 9(3):371-80. (3) De Sousa M. Lymphoid cell positioning: a new proposal for the mechanism of control of lymphoid cell migration. Symp Soc Exp Biol. 1978; 32:393-410.

Pavia 1986 – Maria de Sousa (right) with Graça Porto (left) during the European Iron Club Meeting where the study of the first portuguese family with hemochromatosis was presented.

Douro 1987 – Maria de Sousa (right) with Graça Porto (left) taking a break on their way to Carrazeda de Ansiães, to identify families with hemochromatosis in the north of Portugal.

Part 1 Maria de Sousa and her unique vantage points

Maria de Sousa was a complex and multilayered person. Her

training and her work extended beyond science and related to varied areas, from music to literature. It is thus difficult to choose one single aspect to define her. Yet, one of the aspects that has always impressed me was her capacity to see beyond what was expected.

Her capacity to see was almost comparable to the notion we are

given about God at an early age. God sees everything and is everywhere. In fact, people always looked up to her, recognized her for her superior viewpoint, and sought her advice. Yet, she did not see everything and she was not everywhere. She chose very carefully where to be and what to engage in. She also knew that she did not need to see everything. In fact, one of her most astounding traits was her unyielding focus, which has allowed her to be rarely distracted by whatever she did not consider relevant. She was always very determined in pursuing her goals and encouraged people to stay focused on their goals.

But whatever she chose to see, she had the best vantage point

over it. It was from that vantage point that she saw past, present, and future like no one else. Here, the comparison to our idea of God could be made again, but I suspect that her vantage point emerged from both her training in biology and her interest in history. A biologist knows the importance of time, from birth to death. A historian knows the importance of time, from the beginning to the end. Both the biologist and the historian know that all domains of time need to be equated simultaneously: past, present and future. Only the future can define the past. One of her most remarkable ideas is the notion that the importance of a scientific finding cannot be assessed by only considering how relevant the finding is to current knowledge or applications. Who knows if an irrelevant finding from today will be essential tomorrow? Only the future will tell what aspects of the past are most important.

It was not only time. It was also space. The woman who described

thymus-dependent areas in the lymphoid follicles, could only have 32

done so because of her excellent spatial skills. She had the exceptional capacity to analyze problems in terms of space like no other. And that, too, required a superior vantage point, a capacity of holding an aerial view while the rest are so caught up with what happens in their immediate radius. Or, conversely, being able to offer a detailed view when the tendency is to overlook details.

It is this constant handling of different spatial and temporal

dimensions that prevents her from crystalizing into a fixed and rigid being. Most her peers tend to become stagnant when they reach senior positions. Moreover, they tend to conform to whatever they believe will guarantee their prestigious positions or will help them obtain an even better one. Maria de Sousa, on the other hand, persisted in constant fluidity, which made her almost ageless and oftentimes the youngest voice in the room, another aspect that has always made her so attractive to younger minds.

To see what she saw and to verbalize it may be tremendously

disruptive to all others with more limited views. And again, it might not be what grants someone a leading position. Yet, she never shied away from speaking out. What is equally impressive is that she persisted despite all the heat generated by the resistance to her viewpoints. Moreover, she persisted even when repeating her words did not seem to have any effect on some people. In such conditions, very reasonable people tend to surrender. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Against stupidity even the gods contend in vain.â&#x20AC;? Yet, she courageous and resiliently always persisted, out of her integrity and honesty, but also out of her generosity towards others.

Unfortunately, even owning her unique vantage points and ability

to be outspoken about what was wrong when nobody seemed to see it, was not enough for her to prevent her own COVID-19 infection from her regular hemodialysis clinic. She, better than anyone, knew that it is not enough to have something to say. We also need someone to listen 33

to what we say. She was not able to fully change a system of doctors, scientists, and academics who are so arrogantly comfortable in their ignorance. But she was able to change parts of that system. Those are fruits that we will forever harvest from trees that she planted. Moreover, she leaves us with many words. When in doubt, we should definitely listen to her.

Part 2 Our friendship. When is it a good time to call you, again?

I met Maria de Sousa as her student at Abel Salazar Institute for

Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) in 2001. It was in 2002, when we were both in her office at ICBAS, maybe while I was interviewing her for our school magazine, that Maria called me a friend for the first time. She received a phone call in the middle of our conversation. I was happy to sit and wait because I was mesmerized by her office. It was the tiniest place and it was full of stacks of papers and books. I wanted to sit there and observe all that for as long as I could, but she told the other person that she couldn’t talk on the phone because she was with a friend. Immediately after, she asked me, “You are my friend, aren’t you?” I was nothing but thrilled with her word choice.

Despite her word choice, I never expected our relationship to

evolve beyond what was expected from a professor and a student, and later a mentor and a mentee. I admired her and cared for her tremendously. I was very grateful for her support. She was very important and dear to me, but I never expected to become important or dear to her. In the most recent years, however, we become closer, and I finally realized that we were indeed friends.

People whose lives revolve around blood family may never

understand the true importance of friendship, but both Maria and I valued 34

friendship in a different way. Fortunately for me, despite the fact that Maria de Sousa had so many good friends, she valued our friendship enough to make time for our phone calls. I needed to consider when it would be a good time to call. Not all days were good, she was very torn after her hemodialysis sessions. Mondays, Wednesdays or Fridays, sometimes Sundays were good days to call. I would also need to take into consideration the time difference and my work schedule, but a call would eventually happen. She was rarely alone, but when she was, words were deeper and silences were more meaningful.

Maria de Sousa, possibly during that interview in 2002, told me

about death: we only take what we leave. Our last conversations, when Maria de Sousa had already been admitted to the hospital, left my heart broken into pieces. I feared the worst, but I wanted to forget all I knew about odds and prognoses, medicine and science, and simply believe that she would survive. â&#x20AC;&#x153;How can a tree that ever withstands the fiercest of the storms die restlessly? How can a bird that ever flops her wings so wide and high up in the sky drown in the sea? As you gasp for air, I know this anguish is not you, Maria.

It is not your time 35

Not now. Not today.”

For Maria, April 9, 2020

Every person should leave behind hearts that tear up with one’s

demise. It comforts me to know that she has left many. It also comforts me to know that she left us with a tremendous deal of memories and a huge legacy to carry on our shoulders. Fortunately, we have so many beautiful and young minds that are willing to carry her torch and to be as nonconformed as she was. Maria de Sousa will surely outlast her lifetime.

It’s Friday, Senhora Professora, and still wonder if it’s a good time

to call you…You deserve all my tears. I hope you always felt as loved and cared for as you truly were. With love, Helder Araújo Los Angeles

I first met Maria de Sousa when I joined the GABBA program in 2002. I find it remarkable how much impact she has had in the lives and careers of so many and the legacy that she has left behind. The scientific community around the world owes her a huge debt of gratitude. From a personal perspective, I am extremely grateful for her encouragement and friendship over the years. Since the beginning of my scientific career she supported and nurtured my aspiration to investigate the aging process. When I became a group leader, she enabled my contact with a GABBA PhD student, Clara Correia-Melo, who joined my

laboratory in the UK and made several important discoveries. My last contact with her was in 2018, upon my move to Mayo Clinic in the US. As always, she offered kind words of encouragement and enthusiastically shared several emails detailing historical information about Dr. Mendes Ferreira who was at Mayo Clinic in the 1930s. I cherish my e-mail correspondence with her over the years and am forever thankful for the impact she had on both my professional and personal life. João Passos, GABBA 6th Edition Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA

Cientista emérita, reconhecida internacionalmente pelo seu trabalho na área da imunologia, Maria de Sousa era membro externo do Conselho de Escola do ICS desde 2009. Dizia que era do ICS, e para todos nós, investigadores e técnicos, era do ICS. Era um membro activo e exigente do Conselho de Escola, ajudou o Instituto a definir uma estratégia de internacionalização, era uma voz crítica e indomável da assembleia, estava sempre disponível para pensar estrategicamente o instituto. Mas era muito mais do que isso. Era uma defensora acérrima da ciência, de todas as áreas científicas, e da carreira de investigação, enquanto carreira autónoma e fonte insubstituível de pensamento independente e criativo. Ambicionava e lutava por uma sociedade melhor, mais esclarecida, mais informada, onde a ciência fosse um mundo aberto e acessível a todos. Queria lideranças fortes e humanas, masculinas e femininas, e não só: queria que as lideranças soubessem pensar o futuro, soubessem mobilizar os investigadores, soubessem, sempre e em todos os momentos, ter em conta o “bottom-up”. Sabia que um centro de investigação é, acima de tudo, um colectivo feito de agendas individuais e equipas fortes, que é aí que encontra a sua força e a sua agenda estratégica. Mas também sabia que o colectivo tem de se projectar, saber o que quer ser, e lutar por esse futuro. Maria, não nos esqueceremos das tuas palavras sábias 37

e de estímulo, das tuas perguntas e exigências, dos teus conselhos críticos. Também não nos esqueceremos que foste uma amiga fiel, dedicada, sempre presente nos momentos mais difíceis do ICS. Julgo não exagerar se disser que ao longo da última década incentivaste todos os directores e todos os presidentes do Conselho de Escola do ICS a definir estratégias, a encontrar novos caminhos e a pôr as ciências sociais no centro da ciência em Portugal. A tua memória e o teu legado farão história, mas a tua perda deixa a comunidade científica e a comunidade ICS mais pobre. Há menos de duas semanas, pouco antes de ser internada, recebi um email de Maria de Sousa. Era sobre a situação actual da pandemia. Tinhalhe dado conta do que se passava no ICS, do inquérito que tínhamos acabado de lançar, do que estávamos a fazer. Quis deixar-me nesse dia um curto testemunho, umas palavras sobre a pandemia. Gostaria de vos transmitir essas palavras. São em inglês (escrevia-me sempre em inglês e começava sempre, ‘dear Karin’, e terminava sempre, ‘yours Maria’). Dear Maria, thank you. Thank for everything you did for Science, for ICS, for the Social Sciences. Words from a concerned immunologist “I am quite concerned to hear that some politicians are comparing the pandemic to a war. Identifying a virus as the enemy. Understandably. The only occasion when politicians, great men like President Roosevelt in the US or Winston Churchill in the UK had to deal with whole world tragedies, they were world wars. A pandemic, however, is not a war. A viral pandemic is the propagation through the populations of all countries in the world of a virus, identified first in China and now present worldwide. But not a war. In a war the people invaded does not protect the people invading. A virus is not the enemy because a virus is not an intelligent being. A virus is a small particle that to keep going needs to “feed” in material within cells. What is a cell? A body, that we all know has head, neck, arms, legs, lungs, intestines, etc. all its parts are constituted by small units called cells. Each cell has two major parts and a virus needs to enter 38

the cell to eat from one of the cell’s components. Thus, the virus is not the enemy. The enemy is the person that in his/her well intentioned proximity of a person infected lets the virus jump from one cell to another, at the distance of a hug. Not a War, the transmission of a virus from a person to a person that are not respecting the 6 feet recommended by all Public Health Units”. Karin Wall

Maria de Sousa e José Mariano Gago: retratos de uma amizade As fotografias são o melhor testemunho: De uma longa conversa, que começou em 1986 (quando o ZM foi nomeado presidente da Junta Nacional de Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (JNICT)… De admiração mútua… De partilha de ideias e de ações, em prol de uma ciência inovadora e aberta ao mundo… De convergência intelectual e de vontades (e de sentido de humor!) … De uma visão crítica e construtiva sobre a ciência em Portugal… De uma perspetiva solidária e mobilizadora dos cientistas enquanto pessoas… De reconhecimento da urgência de um investimento constante no talento promissor dos jovens… De defesa da ligação da ciência à sociedade, à cooperação, à paz, aos direitos humanos… Karin Wall Fonte: Arquivo de Ciência e de Tecnologia (FCT) Autora: Luísa Ferreira Data: 2011 - Inauguração do Arquivo de Ciência e de Tecnologia

Conheci pessoalmente a Prof. Maria de Sousa (Maria) há quarenta anos no primeiro (e único…) Congresso Luso-Hispano-Alemão de Anatomia Patológica em Dezembro de 1980. A notícia do desastre aéreo do primeiro ministro português apanhou-nos a jantar no Senhor Vinho no dia 4 de Dezembro. A Maria abandonou o Congresso no dia seguinte, com estrondo, e tratou-nos bastante mal por não termos tido coragem de interromper também a parte científica. Talvez tivesse razão e fiquei amigo dela para sempre (leia-se: durante quarenta anos). Os anos oitenta reforçaram a nossa amizade e a confiança. Embarcámos na aventura organizada e dirigida pela Maria sobre a avaliação internacional da investigação em Saúde, em 1987, e criámos o Ipatimup em 1989 (fotografia). Queríamos fazer patologia e imunologia com a componente molecular associada à clínica e escolhemos o nome IPATIMUP em disputa com o PATIM.

A década de noventa foi marcada pela implementação do GABBA, “aquilo” que continuamos a considerar a história mais notável de pós-graduação em Portugal e uma iniciativa singular a nível mundial. Tenho (temos) muito orgulho por interpostas pessoas: a Maria, as e os colaboradores e, sobretudo, os GABBAs. Chapeau. Chamei-lhe “Uma estrangeirada virtuosa” no número de homenagem no Jornal de Letras de Abril/Maio por ser uma personalidade exemplar com enorme capacidade para selecionar pessoas e independência total – Viva o GABBA! Sempre achou que a Ciência é internacional e 41

colaborativa e nunca caiu em burocracias nem em tiranias métricas. Foi sempre excepcional em termos de competência, solidez, resiliência e combatividade. Acabado de reformar em 2018 – a Maria há meia dúzia de anos – continuávamos o mesmo tipo de conversa – desta vez era “GABBA reunião urgente”. Falei com A prof Fátima. No ICBAS eles só podem mesmo às 14. Melhor talvez se os outros podem ser às 14 no ICBAS. Eu tenho que voltar para Lisboa no fim da sessão. Diálise na 5ª ás 8 da manhã, levantar às 6.... M (Wednesday, 11 April, 2018 20:26:27)

Caros Colegas. De volta ao mail - chegamos ontem de madrugada venho confirmar que irei com a Fátima depois da CAC para o ICBAS e que espero lá estar às 14 horas. Manuel Sobrinho Simões (Thursday, 12 April, 2018 10:05:07)

Thank you. Estava frio em veneza? Ou nem a viu... prepare-se para o que é possível...Maria (Thursday, 12 April, 2018 16:04:14)

Maria. Desculpe o silêncio mas para além de Veneza sem mail - entrei na vida desgraçada em que me meti - estou a ir para Linz. Vemo-nos no dia 18 às 14 no ICBAS. Um beijo. Manuel (Friday, 13 April, 2018 10:21:43)

ao menos reconhece-a como desgraçada. Um começo, Manuel. Mas faznos tanta falta cá!!!!!!Maria (Friday, 13 April, 2018 12:49:39)

A Maria testemunhou a minha apresentação pós AVC em 2019. Senti-a amiga e com ternura mas não me apaparicou (nunca o faria a ninguém…). E dei comigo a apoiar uma ideia da Maria nos últimos anos: fazer um talhão dos cientistas, no Porto, junto do Doutor Corino de Andrade. Falou primeiro com o arq. Eduardo Souto de Moura para projectar o mausoléu e depois almoçámos com o presidente da Câmara, Rui Moreira (fotografia). Ainda não o fizemos mas lá chegaremos.

Manuel Sobrinho Simões 16 de Julho de 2020

“Uma cientista de corpo inteiro, a tempo inteiro” Eu não seria cientista se a Maria de Sousa não tivesse passado na minha vida. Para mim é tão simples quanto isto. Além disso, possivelmente não seria a pessoa que sou hoje. Com apenas 21 anos ter tido a possibilidade de trabalhar e conviver com uma mulher com aquela força e forma de estar (que eu admirava), assertiva, incisiva e até mesmo cortante (que por vezes me deixavam mesmo muito irritada), capaz de fazer ligações de pensamento extraordinárias (que me deixavam maravilhada) só pode ter deixado uma marca muito presente em mim. Para além da cientista com descobertas incríveis, a Maria era realmente 43

uma cientista de corpo inteiro, a tempo inteiro. Sempre curiosa, com novas questões sobre os seus projetos e sempre com novas perguntas para os nossos projetos, os projetos de todos. A Maria de Sousa deixou um legado incrível de cientistas mas também de uma forma de estar na ciência – o seu impacto no desenvolvimento da ciência em Portugal é notável. Obrigada Professora Maria de Sousa, Obrigada Maria. Maria Mota

Professor Maria de Sousa once invited me to participate of a public outreach opportunity. When giving my presentation, a member of the public asked me if it was possible that a wild bird he found on his walks was singing at him, for him. I put on my scientist hat and said something to the tune of “No, the bird was likely advertising his territory or courting female birds”. Later that day, Professor de Sousa told me the following, regarding my response “You know, sometimes people need magic in their lives and it’s ok to give them that.” That was so striking to me, as I only knew Professor de Sousa’s more rigid, serious, “sciencey” side. It was also a big lesson and it is what I carry from my interactions with this world renowned outstanding female scientist: you need the science but you also need the beauty and the magic of this world. Patrícia C. Lopes, GABBA 11th edition

Condecoração Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada 24 Novembro 2016 (dia da ciência) Rui Ochoa/Presidência da República, 2016

My first conversation with Professora Maria happened in 2006, during an interview on the context of my application to the GABBA PhD program. My B.Sc final grade was 14/20 which did not place me in a good position to be admitted into very competitive PhD program, in which only 12 students would be selected from an approximate 100 applicant pool. But GABBA is not a program whose students are selected based on 45

simplistic criteria - they are selected based on their curricular merit and, very importantly, their potential as future scientists. They are not selected just on their technical competencies, but also with the ultimate goal of forming a team, with complementary profiles. During my interview, we did not talk about my B.Sc grades, we talked about what I was passionate about in science, my motivation to move from industry to academia, the history of Sandwich (a small town in Kent, UK, where I was living at the time) and how this town’s name was linked to the sandwiches we know as snacks, why I wanted to live in California, and, finally, about the learnings of my sports career. I am convinced that if GABBA did not exist, and if Professor Maria did not lead that interview, I would never have had the opportunity to do a PhD nor the opportunity to fulfil one of my life goals: to live in California. I owe these to Professor Maria,. And this is so much for someone to owe! During my years as a GABBA student, I assimilated the values of the program: freedom, transdisciplinarity and collaborative spirit. Other programs will mention that these values are also the ones guiding them, but very few would know how or have the courage to implement them in their plenitude. Would they allow their students to go anywhere in the world, no strings attached, hoping that some of them would come back to Portugal to apply the knowledge they gathered while abroad or even contribute to the development of Portuguese science while being abroad? Would they respect their intellectual freedom by exposing them to classes on a very wide portfolio of scientific areas and allow them to pick their area of specialisation? Would they have the vision of selecting and evaluating people focusing on collective criteria instead of individual ones? It was not an easy task, the one to create and to maintain a program with these characteristics. I have heard how hard it was/is many times from Professor Maria, the “mother” of GABBA as we students fondly call her, and also from Professors António Amorim, Sobrinho Simões, Fátima Carneiro, Castro Lopes and Alexandre do Carmo.

During my time as a GABBA student, Professor Maria was always present and accessible, and she always knew how to listen and always had a lot to say. Her findings related to the “ecotaxis” theory and its corollaries have a lot of parallels with the concept of the stem cell niche, which was the focus of my PhD studies. For this reason, at the end of each of my presentations in the GABBA annual meetings, an immunologist and a stem cell biologist, would engage on a conversation about the importance of in vivo studies, which fully-respect the complexity of Biology, about cell migration, about how “homes” can be built inside tissues and “populations are governed” inside them. She was a mentor, for me and for many of the GABBA students. A little before I finished my PhD, in 2012, Professor Maria motivated my friends and colleagues Bruno Fontinha and André Sousa to create the alumni association of the GABBA P.h.D program, a project that I joined a few months after, still on time to be one of its co-founders. After this time, for this reason and due to my return to Portugal, my conversations with Professor Maria became more frequent and less focused on science, and more focused on science policy and culture. I feel privileged because I was invited to participate in one of the several tributes to Professor Maria that happened in the last years. It allowed me, during these difficult times, to find the inner peace of someone who had the opportunity to tell her how grateful I was. A mutual feeling, since Professor Maria also recently wrote me one of the most beautiful recommendation letters I ever received. On the day of the tribute, which happened during the “2º Módulo do Ciclo de Seminários Livres de História da Medicina ICBAS/IPATIMUP/CMAS”, about two years ago (picture above), I shared, in what I am convinced it was the first public sharing, a poem written by Professor Maria in New York. She had shared this poem with me by email a few years before. In this poem, she makes the analogy between Spring and all of the transformation that this season brings in Nature, while doing a self-reflection exercise, very typical of her. 47

In the last part of this poem, she leaves a note on what I believe it has been the most frequent feeling on her last years: What else could one wish for this late season? It may arrive with shortness of breath. But this other breath? This other most important of all breaths? This breathing the success of the young(er) This breathing their emerging greatness Making Spring of all Winters. Professor Maria left us grateful and with a very good feeling of life accomplishment, by being able to witness her legacy so alive and active. A legacy cannot be resumed only by GABBA, far from that, but GABBA is the one I am comfortable speaking about. Nowadays, GABBA is not fed only by convictions and ideals, it is supported by outstanding examples of success in the history of Portuguese science and by strong numbers. On its way to reach 200 PhDs, GABBA alumni are spread in about 17 countries, many came back to Portugal. Among the twenty prestigious ERC grants that were awarded to Scientists working in Portugal in the field of Life Sciences, during the first ten years of this funding mechanism, eight were awarded to GABBA alumni (40% of Portugal´s total, data from “ERC in Portugal, Beyond the First Decade”, FCT, 2017). More than 22 million Euros were attracted to Portuguese science from non-national sources, by GABBA Alumni (data collected by ATG, All Time GABBAs, GABBA Alumni Association). In one of her last interviews, published on 7th March of this year, at Expresso, Professor Maria said “nothing changes if we don´t change ourselves”, an elementary observation. So many people yearning for a world change and without the will to change themselves. Thank you Professor Maria, from all of us. Pedro Resende, GABBA 11th Edition 48

Professor Maria de Sousa has very sadly passed away today with Covid-19; a bright, beautiful light has been extinguished. One of the greatest immunologists I have ever met and a deeply dedicated professor. Her support was essential in enabling me to fulfil my dream of pursuing research in HIV through a PhD at Oxford; she was a mentor ever since. As she was for so many generations of scientists, either through her engagement in the establishment of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, the founding of the pioneering GABBA programme, her constant support to students and to research in Portugal, the UK, and the US. Her contribution to science in Portugal, and to immunology globally, is immeasurable. Maria de Sousa had a rare combination of a brilliant intellect and the determination and pragmatism to act upon it; her inquiring mind and forthright expression of her views were graced with great kindness, so often reflected in her radiant smile. Professor Maria has touched my life in far more ways than I am able to express; she leaves behind a tremendous legacy, which would hardly be possible to capture in these few words, but one that will always live on. Professora Maria, I will forever be extremely grateful for and treasure your teachings and guidance. Susana FrazĂŁo Pinheiro, GABBA 2nd Edition April 14th, 2020

Source: i3S Archive

Presidente da República evoca Professora Maria de Sousa O Presidente da República lamenta profundamente a morte da Professora Maria de Sousa, figura ímpar da ciência portuguesa e investigadora de prestígio internacional na imunologia e apresenta à Família sinceras condolências. A sua carreira brilhante obteve múltiplos reconhecimentos, de instituições nacionais e estrangeiras, tendo sido condecorada por três Chefes de Estado, nomeadamente, em 2016, pelo atual Presidente da República, com a Grã-Cruz da Ordem Militar de Sant’Iago da Espada, insígnia destinada a distinguir o mérito literário, científico e artístico. Além da notável carreira académica e científica, desenvolvida primeiro no Reino Unido e nos E.U.A. e depois em Portugal, Maria de Sousa foi também um exemplo de cidadania. Na ciência, foi fundamental no desenvolvimento de várias instituições de referência em Portugal, bem como em todos os passos importantes na consolidação do sistema científico português ao longo das últimas três décadas. Nesse papel, soube sempre combinar, de modo inigualável, uma grande exigência científica com um elevado sentido crítico. Era uma mulher inconformada e persistente, procurando sempre transmitir um sentido de exigência a todos que, tal como o Presidente da República, tiveram o privilégio de com ela privar. Era também alguém que tinha uma visão ampla do mundo, que não se confinava à academia, mas que abraçava com entusiasmo a relação entre conhecimento e sociedade, ciência e arte. Deixa um legado na ciência e um exemplo maior de rigor, de exigência e de compromisso cívico e cultural, os quais o Presidente da República, que ainda recentemente teve a oportunidade de a visitar, gostaria de enaltecer e agradecer em nome de Portugal. 14.04.2020 http://www.presidencia.pt/?idc=18&idi=176555

***

ATG: A City of Knowledge. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s take another look at a few of our citizens and some of their knowledge published since our last issue!

Part I. Knowledge Telmo Catarino & Ana Rita Araújo

e are proud to share the great scientific contributions of the GABBA students and alumni, since the last newsletter. Among the list of publications, there are several articles that were published in prestigious high impact journals (original publications as first or last author) that we will highlight here. Immunology

“...the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) acts as a major sensor of infection dynamics, and is capable of orchestrating the host defense according to the status of the infection.”

Pedro Moura-Alves, from GABBA 8th edition, recently published in Science as a result of his work as a post-doc at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, in Berlin. He and his colleagues showed that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) acts as a major sensor of infection dynamics, and is capable of orchestrating the host defense according to the status of the infection. This work puts AhR in a central position in sensing of P. aeruginosa quorum, monitoring bacterial communication and bacterial infection dynamics as well as modulating the host’s immune response. Pedro is currently a group leader in Oxford, at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.

Moura-Alves, P., Puyskens, A., Stinn, A., Klemm, M., GuhlichBornhof, U., Dorhoi, A., … Kaufmann, S. H. E. (2019).

Host monitoring of quorum sensing during Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection. Science (New York, N.Y.). Ferreira, C., Barros, L., Baptista, M., Blankenhaus, B., Barros, A., Figueiredo-Campos, P., … Veldhoen, M. (2020). Type 1 Treg cells promote the generation of CD8(+) tissue-resident memory T cells. Nature Immunology. Puyskens, A., Stinn, A., van der Vaart, M., Kreuchwig, A., Protze, J., Pei, G., … Moura-Alves, P. (2020). Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Modulation by Tuberculosis Drugs Impairs Host Defense and Treatment Outcomes. Cell Host & Microbe.

“...(they)recently discovered that DNA and RNA genetic testing identifies more patients with hereditary cancer than DNA test alone. This was demonstrated in 18 different predisposition genes...”

Vera, I. M., Grilo Ruivo, M. T., Lemos Rocha, L. F., Marques, S., Bhatia, S. N., Mota, M. M., & Mancio-Silva, L. (2019). Targeting liver stage malaria with metformin. JCI Insight. Oncobiology Rachid Karam, from GABBA 8th edition, is currently the Associate Director of Ambry’s Translational Genomics Lab in the USA. He and the team recently discovered that DNA and RNA genetic testing identifies more patients with hereditary cancer than DNA test alone. This was demonstrated in 18 different predisposition genes which improves the diagnostic yield of genetic testing and reduces variants of unknown significance. RNA genetic testing identified disease-causing variants that would not have been resolved with DNA-only testing which gives healthcare providers clearer, more accurate results to inform medical management.

Landrith, T., Li, B., Cass, A. A., Conner, B. R., LaDuca, H., McKenna, D. B., … Karam, R. (2020). Splicing profile by capture RNA-seq identifies pathogenic germline variants in tumor suppressor genes. NPJ Precision Oncology.

Carvalho, J., Oliveira, P., Senz, J., Sao Jose, C., Hansford, S., Teles, S. P., … Oliveira, C. (2020). Redefinition of familial intestinal gastric cancer: clinical and genetic perspectives. Journal of Medical Genetics. Perera, Y., Melao, A., Ramon, A. C., Vazquez, D., Ribeiro, D., Perea, S. E., & Barata, J. T. (2020). Clinical-Grade PeptideBased Inhibition of CK2 Blocks Viability and Proliferation of T-ALL Cells and Counteracts IL-7 Stimulation and Stromal Support. Cancers. Duraes, R. O., Berardinelli, G. N., da Costa, A. M., ScapulatempoNeto, C., Pereira, R., Oliveira, M. A., … Reis, R. M. (2020). Role of Genetic Ancestry in 1,002 Brazilian Colorectal Cancer Patients From Barretos Cancer Hospital. Frontiers in Oncology. Pinto, F., Costa, A. M., Santos, G. C., Matsushita, M. M., Costa, S., Silva, V. A., … Reis, R. M. (2020). The T-box transcription factor brachyury behaves as a tumor suppressor in gliomas. The Journal of Pathology. Menezes, W. P. de, Silva, V. A. O., Gomes, I. N. F., Rosa, M. N., Spina, M. L. C., Carloni, A. C., … Reis, R. M. (2020). Loss of 5’-Methylthioadenosine Phosphorylase (MTAP) is Frequent in High-Grade Gliomas; Nevertheless, it is Not Associated with Higher Tumor Aggressiveness. Cells. Outeiro-Pinho, G., Barros-Silva, D., Aznar, E., Sousa, A.-I., Vieira-Coimbra, M., Oliveira, J., … Jeronimo, C. (2020). MicroRNA-30a-5p(me): a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for clear cell renal cell carcinoma in tissue and urine samples. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. Monteiro-Reis, S., Lameirinhas, A., Miranda-Goncalves, V., Felizardo, D., Dias, P. C., Oliveira, J., … Jeronimo, C. (2020). Sirtuins’ Deregulation in Bladder Cancer: SIRT7 Is Implicated in Tumor Progression through Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition Promotion. Cancers. Andre, S., P Nunes, S., Silva, F., Henrique, R., Felix, A., & Jeronimo, C. (2020). Analysis of Epigenetic Alterations in Homologous Recombination DNA Repair Genes in Male Breast Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Pereira, C., Ferreira, D., Mendes, N., Granja, P. L., Almeida, G. M., & Oliveira, C. (2020). Expression of CD44v6-Containing Isoforms Influences Cisplatin Response in Gastric Cancer Cells. Cancers. Barros-Silva, D., Lobo, J., Guimaraes-Teixeira, C., Carneiro, I., Oliveira, J., Martens-Uzunova, E. S., … Jeronimo, C. (2020). VIRMA-Dependent N6-Methyladenosine Modifications Regulate the Expression of Long Non-Coding RNAs CCAT1 and CCAT2 in Prostate Cancer. Cancers. “... (they) identified a novel molecular mediator of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), neuronal regenerationrelated protein (NREP), which is epigenetically reprogrammed by parental metabolic syndrome and contributes to hepatic lipid accumulation and fibrosis development.”

Teles, S. P., Oliveira, P., Ferreira, M., Carvalho, J., Ferreira, P., & Oliveira, C. (2019). Integrated Analysis of Structural Variation and RNA Expression of FGFR2 and Its Splicing Modulator ESRP1 Highlight the ESRP1(amp)-FGFR2(norm)FGFR2-IIIc(high) Axis in Diffuse Gastric Cancer. Cancers. Physiology and Cell Biology Dário F. de Jesus is a recent graduate from the 15th GABBA edition and developed his PhD work at Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, where he is now a post-doc. He and his colleagues identified a novel molecular mediator of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), neuronal regeneration-related protein (NREP), which is epigenetically reprogrammed by parental metabolic syndrome and contributes to hepatic lipid accumulation and fibrosis development. Furthermore, they reported that NREP expression in NAFLD patients correlates with the presence of steatosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. Their findings highlight the potential of NREP as a NAFLD biomarker and as a target for therapy.

De Jesus, D. F., Orime, K., Kaminska, D., Kimura, T., Basile, G., Wang, C.-H., … Kulkarni, R. N. (2020). Parental metabolic 72

syndrome epigenetically reprograms offspring hepatic lipid metabolism in mice. The Journal of Clinical Investigation. Abreu, C. M., Thomas, V., Knaggs, P., Bunkheila, A., Cruz, A., Teixeira, S. R., … Mendes Pinto, I. (2020). Non-invasive molecular assessment of human embryo development and implantation potential. Biosensors & Bioelectronics. Almeida, A. R., Bessa-Goncalves, M., Vasconcelos, D. M., Barbosa, M. A., & Santos, S. G. (2020). Osteoclasts degrade fibrinogen scaffolds and induce mesenchymal stem/stromal osteogenic differentiation. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research.

“They manually curated 112 datasets of phosphoenriched proteins, generated from 104 different human cell types or tissues and identified regulatory phosphosites across different molecular mechanisms, processes and diseases.”

Chan, F. Y., Silva, A. M., & Carvalho, A. X. (2020). Using the FourCell C. elegans Embryo to Study Contractile Ring Dynamics During Cytokinesis. Methods in Molecular Biology (Clifton, N.J.). Genetics and Gene expression

Pedro Beltrão is from the 6th edition of GABBA and runs his group at EMBL-EBI. His team recently generated a comprehensive human phosphoproteome containing 119,809 human phosphosites. They manually curated 112 datasets of phospho-enriched proteins, generated from 104 different human cell types or tissues and identified regulatory phosphosites across different molecular mechanisms, processes and diseases. This can reveal genetic susceptibilities at a genomic scale and open new avenues to study regulation of proteins involved in almost any cellular and disease processes. Ochoa, D., Jarnuczak, A. F., Vieitez, C., Gehre, M., Soucheray, M., 73

Mateus, A., … Beltrao, P. (2020). The functional landscape of the human phosphoproteome. Nature Biotechnology Gammerdinger, W. J., Toups, M. A., & Vicoso, B. (2020). Disagreement in FST estimators: A case study from sex chromosomes. Molecular Ecology Resources. Casanova, M., Moscatelli, M., Chauviere, L. E., Huret, C., Samson, J., Liyakat Ali, T. M., … Rougeulle, C. (2019). A primatespecific retroviral enhancer wires the XACT lncRNA into the core pluripotency network in humans. Nature Communications. Machado, A. M., Munoz-Merida, A., Fonseca, E., Verissimo, A., Pinto, R., Felicio, M., … Castro, L. F. C.(2020). Liver transcriptome resources of four commercially exploited teleost species. Scientific Data. Fonseca, E., Machado, A. M., Vilas-Arrondo, N., Gomes-DosSantos, A., Verissimo, A., Esteves, P., … Castro, L. F. C. (2020). Cartilaginous fishes offer unique insights into the evolution of the nuclear receptor gene repertoire in gnathostomes. General and Comparative Endocrinology. Alves, L. Q., Ruivo, R., Fonseca, M. M., Lopes-Marques, M., Ribeiro, P., & Castro, L. F. C. (2020). PseudoChecker: an integrated online platform for gene inactivation inference. Nucleic Acids Research. Garcia, S. A. de B., Araujo, M., & Freitas, R. (2020). Dataset of HOXB7, HOXB8 and HOXB9 expression profiles in cell lines representative of the breast cancer molecular subtypes Luminal a (MCF7), Luminal b (BT474), HER2+ (SKBR3) and triple-negative (MDA231, MDA468), compared to a model of normal cells (MCF10A). Data in Brief. Natarajan, N., Foresti, O., Wendrich, K., Stein, A., & Carvalho, P. (2020). Quality Control of Protein Complex Assembly by a Transmembrane Recognition Factor. Molecular Cell. Invergo, B. M., Petursson, B., Akhtar, N., Bradley, D., Giudice, G., Hijazi, M., … Beltrao, P. (2020). Prediction of Signed Protein Kinase Regulatory Circuits. Cell Systems. Silva, J., Sukweenadhi, J., Myagmarjav, D., Mohanan, P., Yu, J.,

Shi, J., … Kim, Y.-J. (2020). Overexpression of a novel cytochrome P450 monooxygenase gene, CYP704B1, from Panax ginseng increase biomass of reproductive tissues in transgenic Arabidopsis. Molecular Biology Reports. Luzuriaga-Neira, A., Perez-Pardal, L., O’Rourke, S. M., VillacisRivas, G., Cueva-Castillo, F., Escudero-Sanchez, G., … Beja-Pereira, A. (2019). The Local South American Chicken Populations Are a Melting-Pot of Genomic Diversity. Frontiers in Genetics.

“... a novel learning process orchestrated between the digestive system and the brain that compels animals to seek out food that they never actually tasted.”

Fonseca, E. S. S., Hiromori, Y., Kaite, Y., Ruivo, R., Franco, J. N., Nakanishi, T., … Castro, L. F. C. (2019). An Orthologue of the Retinoic Acid Receptor (RAR) Is Present in the Ecdysozoa Phylum Priapulida. Genes. Galardini, M., Busby, B. P., Vieitez, C., Dunham, A. S., Typas, A., & Beltrao, P. (2019). The impact of the genetic background on gene deletion phenotypes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Molecular Systems Biology. Neurosciences

Albino Oliveira-Maia from 6th edition and Rui Costa from 2nd edition recently published a work funded by the BIAL foundation in Neuron. The project disclosed a novel learning process orchestrated between the digestive system and the brain that compels animals to seek out food that they never actually tasted. Moreover, the study showed that dopamine neurons are part of this learning process and are activated when nutrients reach the gut which is critical for driving foodseeking behaviors.

Fernandes, A. B., Alves da Silva, J., Almeida, J., Cui, G., Gerfen, C. R., Costa, R. M. & Oliveira-Maia, A. J. (2020). Postingestive Modulation of Food Seeking Depends on Vagus-Mediated Dopamine Neuron Activity. Neuron. Seabra, C. M., Aneichyk, T., Erdin, S., Tai, D. J. C., De Esch, C. E. F., Razaz, P., â&#x20AC;Ś Gusella, J. F. (2020). Transcriptional consequences of MBD5 disruption in mouse brain and CRISPR-derived neurons. Molecular Autism. Cunha, C., Smiley, J. F., Chuhma, N., Shah, R., Bleiwas, C., Menezes, E. C., â&#x20AC;Ś Teixeira, C. M. (2020). Perinatal interference with the serotonergic system affects VTA function in the adult via glutamate co-transmission. Molecular Psychiatry. Oliveira, J., Maia, A., Lajnef, M., Mallet, L., Tamouza, R., Leboyer, M., & Oliveira-Maia, A. J. (2020). Opportunities and challenges in meta-analyses of oxidative and nitrosative stress markers in neuropsychiatric disorders. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica.

***

Part II. Citizens Marta Madureira

Name: GonĂ§alo Rodrigues GABBA Edition: 15th Edition PhD Thesis: Defining the role of tumor-derived exosomes in brain-metastasis Current location: Barcelona, Spain

Our Newsletter is dedicated to our beloved Prof Maria. What was your first contact or memory of Prof Maria? My first contact with Prof Maria happened during the interviews for my GABBA program edition. As new applicants to the program, we knew that a group of GABBA coordinating committee members would interview us but we didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know beforehand which ones would be chairing our particular session. At the day of the interview, I remember

getting the feeling that people dreaded having Prof Maria in their panel. While waiting for my turn to be interviewed, I also became aware of a hearsay that in a previous year the panel had asked about the physics behind how a refrigerator worked, something I had absolutely no clue at all. As I was getting ready to enter the meeting room, the refrigerator question was the only thing more frightening than the tales of Maria’s stringent standards and straightforwardness.

“I entered and immediately recognized Prof Maria from the pictures I had seen of her. She looked serious, but welcoming. There was a certain eminence attached to her figure and I remember feeling a bit intimidated by that.”

It was my turn. I entered and immediately recognized Prof Maria from the pictures I had seen of her. She looked serious, but welcoming. There was a certain eminence attached to her figure and I remember feeling a bit intimidated by that. I sat down, introduced myself, and then one of the other committee members started to interview me about my curricular path. It was when we started talking about the brief scientific research experience I had that Maria intervened. While I was unwisely expecting some criticism or question regarding the quality of my work and experimental approaches, what Prof Maria wanted to know was why exactly I had decided to pursue those specific scientific questions and, from my perspective, what had I learned and generated from pursuing them. Although I was very inexperienced and naïve, I was also very interested and passionate about my research projects, so we connected over that and from that point I felt like we had gone from a structured meeting interview to an exciting coffee-table conversation about science and new ideas. I could not even have imagined at the time that this was just the first of many great scientific discussions and moments we shared over the following 7 years.

Is there any particular advice that Prof Maria gave you, scientific or otherwise, that resonated with you? Countless. She was one of the wisest people I ever met and I learned a lot from her advice. She had a unique stance towards adversity and she was able to make me see different perspectives that proved to be crucial on distinct occasions of my life. I’m not sure I was able to retain all the great advices she gave me but I will share a particular one that might be helpful to another young student somewhere. Prof Maria struggled greatly with my lack of focus, especially during my first two years of PhD. When I arrived to the lab in NY I was exposed to a myriad of different projects that were

extremely interesting and I had fallen into the trap of trying to do a handful at the same time. “You can only have one question. One!” – I honestly heard Prof Maria tell (sometimes shout) me that dozens of times, if not hundreds! One question. One question, she told me, if answered well, would open not only many more questions, but also better ones. Therefore, too many questions to begin with was a problem. While I could justify the waste of energy involved in pursuing different questions at the time, as a means of finding out the most interesting one, I was not able to account for the time being dispersed in this process which would later be needed to fully and properly explore the question chosen. It didn’t take me long to realize I needed to follow her advice. I would probably still be doing my PhD right now without it.

“One question. One question, she told me, if answered well, would open not only many more questions, but also better ones.”

During your graduate studies, Prof Maria was your comentor along with David Lyden. How has this experience shaped your career? My PhD has been one of the most challenging experiences in my life so far, so the fact that I could count with the guidance of two incredible scientists and minds in Maria and David was something exceptional for me. Luckily, they also naturally complemented each other very well. Although I don’t think I can fairly summarize how much they have contributed to my formation as a scientist, if I had to resume it to two sentences I would say that while David had a great “big picture” view of science with incredible ideas and promoted my independent exploration of distinct scientific questions, Maria brought a more focused and wiser perspective, making sure to keep me in my track. I credit both as my biggest professional influences and I owe to them the completion of my studies.

Is there a message/sentiment/opinion from Prof Maria de Sousa you wish you could pass on to fellow scientists and future researchers? I think for her the most important would be that we keep delving into the pursuit of worthwhile and challenging scientific questions with real-world implications, and that we aim for excellence in our approach and execution as we 81

investigate them.

In your opinion, what is the best way for us to keep the legacy of Prof Maria alive for years to come? Either by preserving the existence of the GABBA program or by creating a new academic program that shares the same core values. The key aspect for me would be to maintain the ideas Prof Maria believed in and defended, even if in a format distinct from the more traditional academic program that I proposed above. “... for her the most important (message) would be that we keep delving into the pursuit of worthwhile and challenging scientific questions with realworld implications, and that we aim for excellence in our approach and execution as we investigate them.”

Favourite Sunday activity: Beach with friends Dream vacation: French Polynesia Favourite non-Portuguese cuisine: Italian TV show that you binge-watched recently: The Last Dance What is the place one must visit in the city where you’re currently residing? Parc Guell Best thing you’ve done during lockdown: I cooked a lot Worst thing you’ve done during lockdown: I ate a lot Pipet tip box usage method (in order, the ones in same area or random): In order, then random as soon as something falls out of place Friday night drink: Caipirinha

It would be great to count with your help for the next ATG Newsletter If you are willing to help, just write us an email. We will take all the help & ideas you may have.

ATG News Mafalda Azevedo RECENT GRADUATES Joana Nabais, GABBA 16th Thesis: Melanoma in zebrafish disregards telomere maintenance mechanisms. Mentor: Graça Raposo, PhD (Institut Curie, Paris, France). Defense date: 08-01-2020

Andreia Trindade Pereira, GABBA 19th Thesis: Graphene based materials for blood contacting devices. Mentor: Inês Gonçalves, PhD (i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Ciência, Porto, Portugal). Defense date: 16-04-2020

Mafalda Azevedo, GABBA 16th Thesis: Mechanisms regulating myonuclear positioning and its impact on muscle function. Mentor: Mary Baylies, PhD (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City, USA). Defense date: 06-05-2020 Vânia Passos, GABBA 19th Thesis: New insights into HIV-1 restriction – functional studies on 90K orthologues and endogenous SERINC5. Mentor: Christine Goffinet, PhD (Institute of Virology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany). Defense date: 22-05-2020 Gonçalo Rodrigues, GABBA 15th Thesis: Defining the role of tumor-derived exosomes in brain metastasis. Mentor: David Lyden, (Children’s Cancer and Blood Foundation Laboratories, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York City, USA). Defense date: 05-06-2020

Maria InĂŞs Cunha, GABBA 18th Thesis: Functional analysis of phagocytes in myelin repair using in vivo live imaging in zebrafish. Mentor: Mikael Simons, PhD (Institute of Neuronal Cell Biology at the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Munich, Germany). Defense date: 07-07-2020

Partnership with Chaperone Dear ATGs, We are happy to let you know that our association has recently signed a partnership with Chaperone, a startup founded by Pedro Resende (ATG co-founder) and Joana Moscoso. Chaperone (www.chaperone.online) is the first online marketplace of personalised career development for scientists and aims to empower researchers in the management of their careers. On this platform, science students and professionals can browse and book online 1-to-1 sessions with career consultants (career specialists, advisors, counselors and coaches). With more than 25 consultants and 50+ career topics, Chaperone brings together experienced career consultants from different countries to provide services to scientists all over the world. Through our partnership, ATG members can benefit from a discount on online career development sessions. If you would like to have access to the discount voucher, please email us at alumnigabba@gmail.com. If you are not yet a member, our annual membership is only 20 Euros. For more information, please visit https://atg.up.pt/ become-a-member/.

Chaperoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s message to us: Many core values of ATG and Chaperone are aligned. We both have scientistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; education and training very close to our heart and we both aim for a better and stronger science with higher impact in the society. Due to this alignment and to my strong bond to ATG, this partnership is a very natural step for us. If you are searching for career development services, and have any questions about our services and partnership, please email us at hello@chaperone.online. All the best,

Pedro Resende (Chaperone Director) ***

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ATG - All Time GABBA The Alumni Association of the Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology University of Porto - Portugal