IPO Porto Research Center

IPO Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP) IPO Porto Research Center (CI-IPOP) is a Department of the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto/Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil, EPE (IPO Porto), the largest specialized Portuguese cancer center (~10.000 new patients/yr) dedicated to patient care, training, and research in Oncology (http://www.ipoporto.pt/). IPO Porto is a member of the Organization of European Cancer Institutes (OECI) and is accredited by OECI as a Comprehensive Cancer Center (Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center Raquel Seruca; Porto.CCC) in collaboration with Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), acting as Coordinator of the National Network of Comprehensive Cancer Centers.

CI-IPOP is endowed with the mission of coordinating and developing research activity of IPO Porto. It is a founding member of the Associated Laboratory Health Research Network (RISE) in which it coordinates Thematic line 2 (TL2)- “Clinical & Translational Research in Oncology”. CI-IPOP (R&D Unit of MCTES/FCT HESC-Norte -Porto-776) is an FCT R&D unit since 2004, rated as Excellent in the last international evaluation (2019).

CI-IPOP encompasses five translational research groups (Cancer Biology & Epigenetics; Cancer Genetics; Experimental Pathology & Therapeutics; Medical Physics, Radiobiology & Radiation Protection; and Molecular Oncology & Viral Pathology), and a group dedicated to responding to the growing needs in epidemiology of cancer, outcomes and quality of life in Oncology, as well as sustainability of health systems and value-based healthcare (Epidemiology, Outcomes, Economics & Management in Oncology). CI-IPOP’s clinical research is mainly developed by two clinical research groups (Precancerous Lesions & Early Cancer Management and Clinical Oncology), the Clinical Research Unit, which comprises an early phase Clinical Trials Unit (Center for Therapeutic Innovation in Oncology), dedicated to investigator-initiated trials, and the Oncology Nursing Research Unit.

Additionally, CI-IPOP activity is supported by IPO Porto’s Biobank that is integrated in Biobank.PT Consortium through the National Tumor Bank Network. Since 2021, CI-IPOP is a node of the GenomePT Consortium.

AIM

CI-IPOP’s strategic ambitions revolve around leveraging past achievements and seizing opportunities presented by advancements in knowledge and technology, transforming them into benefits for cancer patients. IPO Porto and CI-IPOP’s overarching patient-centered research goal is to enhance the delivery of Precision Cancer Medicine to Portuguese cancer patients, improving care and increasing cure rates, based on the significant advancement of knowledge accomplished by CI-IPOP’s multidisciplinary research team. Three major research lines were defined:

Promote cancer prevention through the development of new hereditary cancer risk predictors aiming to implement effective preventive actions in specific risk groups.
Develop new and more effective strategies for screening and early detection of the most prevalent cancers using non- or minimally invasive technologies.
Expand access to Precision Oncology, leveraging the already ongoing program by mapping new molecular targets using multiple “omics” and other laboratory discoveries to implement innovative and more effective therapeutic approaches.

RESEARCH TEAM

CI-IPOP comprises 327 members, 175 of which hold an MSc and 71 are integrated PhDs, 22 as full-time researchers (3 permanent contracts), 30 health professionals (17 MD, 11 technicians, 2 nurses) primarily dedicated to clinical care, and 19 external PhD researchers having main positions at other health or academic institutions. Furthermore, 68 members are PhD students (37 supported by FCT, 1 EU-MSCA, 16 IPO Porto staff, and 8 other funding). CI-IPOP research team also includes 10 MSc research assistants supported by external fellowships and 23 MSc students.

Director: Prof. Carmen Jerónimo, PhD

Vice-directors: Prof. Mário Dinis Ribeiro, MD, PhD, and Prof. Rui Medeiros, PhD

FACILITIES (~4000 m²)

The Research Center cutting-edge facilities are distributed across eight different areas at IPO Porto. It comprises three translational research laboratories (1, 2 and 3) (~1500 m²), one dry research laboratory (4), two clinical laboratories (~750 m²), and two Research Units (~1750 m²). This high intensity laboratory facilities include several technological units, namely:

Facility for Complex Data Analysis
Advanced Light Microscopy and Bioimaging
Flow Cytometry and FACS Sorting
Proteomics and Glycomics
In vivo CAM
Genomics and transcriptomics
Cytogenetics unit
Cell culture and in vitro models
Tissue histopathology, immunostaining, and Tissue microarrays
Biobank
Center for Innovative Therapeutics in Oncology (1250 m²)

CI-IPOP VIDEO

PUBLICATIONS

In 2023, CI-IPOP members published a total of 298 peer-reviewed scientific articles, with 262 of those published in journals with impact factor. From all the publications, 171 had at least one category in Q1 from Scimago classification. Among these, 36 were in “Oncology”, 44 in “Medicine” and 17 “Cancer Research” categories. The mean impact factor (IF) was 5.4 and the Sum of IFs was 1391.9. Moreover, 97 articles were published in journals with IF between 5 and 10, with 19 publications with IF above 10.

EXTERNAL ADVISORY BOARD

Prof. Dr. Christoph Plass, PhD
Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ)
Germany
https://www.dkfz.de/en/CanEpi/plass.php

Prof. Dr. Elisabete Weiderpass, MD, PhD
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
France
https://www.iarc.who.int/directors-page/

Prof. Dr. Ernst Kuipers, MD, PhD
Research of Nanyang Technological University (NTU)
Singapore
https://www.ntu.edu.sg/about-us/leadership-organisation/university-leadership

Prof. Dr. Joan Seoane, PhD
Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO)
Spain
https://vhio.net/biosketch-joan-seoane/

Prof. Dr. Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD
Hospital 12 de Octubre & Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO)
Spain
https://www.cnio.es/en/research-innovation/scientific-programmes/clinical-research-programme/h12o-cnio-lung-cancer-clinical-research-unit/

Dr. Sergio Roman Roman, PharmD, PhD
Institut Curie
France
https://institut-curie.org/personne/sergio-roman-roman

REPORTS

INTERNATIONAL EVALUATION BY FCT (2019)

CI-IPOP was rated as EXCELLENT for the period 2013-2017 and activity plan for 2020-2023, following an international evaluation performed by the panel HEALTH SCIENCES – Clinical and Translational Research organized by FCT. The resulting FCT basic and strategic funding (UIDB-00776-2020 and UIDP-00776-2020) amounted to a total of 1,242,000€ for the period 2020-2023, which allowed hiring PhD full-time researchers. Moreover, the international evaluation awarded eight PhD fellowships to CI-IPOP directly funded by FCT.

ACTIVITIES

Calendar of Scientific Meetings 2024