Research

Research, Development and Innovation

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto is one of the most prestigious national Higher Education institutions, and it is recognized for the quality of its pre and post-graduate teaching, for its leadership position in producing medical-scientific research and for the symbiotic relationship maintained with more than 20 health institutions.

In the last 5 years, the Faculty has raised around ¤30 million in competitive tenders, ensuring the financing of 112 scientific projects, 20 of which were of international scope. FMUP also promoted 250 clinical trials and produced about 6,000 articles in journals indexed in WoS (69 Highly Cited articles and 7 Hot Papers), of which 41% were published in Q1 journals. The approximately 6,000 publications subscribed by FMUP were the basis for 50,000 citations, contributing to the institution's prominence in areas such as Cardiovascular Diseases, Internal Medicine, Neurosciences, Gastroenterology and Allergology.

This institution also hosts two renowned R&D Units - CINTESIS and UnIC - and integrates the first Portuguese Associated Laboratory dedicated to clinical and translational research - RISE, besides benefiting from the collaboration with other laboratories, such as the i3S.

Within this framework, FMUP plays a key role in promoting interaction between Basic and Clinical Sciences, and Data Sciences and Health, guaranteeing a leading role in translational and clinical research in Portugal.

Associated Laboratory

Headquartered at FMUP, RISE – Health Research Network is the first large Associated Laboratory dedicated to clinical and translational research in Portugal. The laboratory was created through the collaboration of CINTESIS and UnIC, two research units installed at FMUP, with CCUL - Cardiovascular Centre of FMUL and CI-IPOP (the Research Centre of the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto - IPO-Porto).

RISE comprises five major research lines (Cardiovascular Sciences; Oncology; Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases; Health Policy, Technology and Digital Transformation; Community Health and Societal Challenges) and brings together hundreds of PhD researchers and PhD students.

Its mission is to develop health research, from the pre-clinical and clinical stages to the community level, namely through digital health, bringing together Universities and Health care providers, in the scope of the national policy objectives for Science and Technology.

R&D Units

FMUP hosts two research units – CINTESIS and UnIC – financed by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and rated as Very Good and Excellent, respectively.

In addition, FMUP researchers participate in activities of 16 other R&D units, in particular i3S and Epi-Unit.

CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research is a large Research & Development Unit (R&D) based at FMUP. The Center has a multicentric, decentralized and flexible nature that includes 46 partner institutions and poles in Higher Education/Polytechnic Institutions. Its structure aggregates more than 600 researchers in 26 research groups working in 3 major thematic lines: Preventive Health and Societal Challenges (TL1), Clinical and Translational Research (TL2), and Health Data and Decision Sciences & Information Technologies (TL3).

UnIC - The Cardiovascular R&D Unit was created in 1994 to fill a gap in the translational research of cardiovascular diseases. Currently, the Unit integrates more than 120 researchers from various departments of FMUP, many of whom combine research with clinical activity. Combining basic science and clinical departments allows UnIC to implement "bench to bedside to bench" approaches, placing the Unit at the forefront of scientific production, training and implementation of innovative therapies.

Innovation

FMUP has a long tradition of promoting knowledge transfer, which currently combines with the concepts of Triple Helix and the Third Mission of the University.