LATEST NEWS

ciTechCare celebrates 6 years of research and scientific innovation

22 May 2025

On May 13th, the auditorium of the School of Health Sciences of Polytechnic of Leiria hosted the event that celebrated the 6th anniversary of ciTechCare. Over the past 6 years, ciTechCare has been creating innovative and impactful solutions for the community, improving health care and developing distinctive proposals for the promotion of healthy lifestyles, based on the acquired scientific knowledge. The opening session was attended by the President of the Polytechnic of Leiria (PL), Rui Pinto, the Pro-President of the PL, Carolina Henriques and the Coordinator of ciTechCare, Maria Guarino. Marco Lemos, researcher at MARE- Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre/Polytechnic

The science of caring: when compassion inspires research – an opinion article

1 May 2025

The newspaper Diário de Leiria recently published an opinion article by Maria Guarino, coordinator of ciTechCare about the sense of compassion in the universe of science and research. “If, on the one hand, compassion is seen as a risk to scientific objectivity, on the other hand, it contributes to drive research into areas of greater social impact, especially in healthcare,” assumes the researcher, highlighting the researchers’ ability to develop “more humane and effective solutions, promoting a more ethical science and aligned with the real needs of populations”. Maria Guarino also points out the importance of compassion in one of the

Researcher Joana Cruz contributes to the international definition of physical activity determinants within a COST action

26 April 2025

Integrated researcher at ciTechCare, Joana Cruz, is co-author of the article ‘Definitions of determinants of physical activity behaviour: process and outcome of consensus from the DE-PASS expert group’, published this April in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (IJBNPA). Developed within the scope of the COST Action ‘Determinants of Physical Activities in Settings (DE-PASS)’ and involving a team of international experts, this work aimed to reach consensus on definitions for 41 key determinants of physical activity behaviour — a crucial step to harmonise concepts and improve research quality and evidence-based policy development in this field. The COST – European

Bruno Cabrita highlights the impact of pulmonary rehabilitation for respiratory patients

21 April 2025

Coordinator of the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Work Commission of the Portuguese Society of Pulmonology (SPP), pneumologist at ULS of Leiria Region and member of ciTechCare, Bruno Cabrita explains the impact of Pulmonary Rehabilitation on quality of life, exercise tolerance and reduction of mortality in respiratory patients, to mark the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Day, celebrated on april 21. It is a non-pharmacological treatment, composed of education and physical exercise training, however, it is estimated that less than 1% have effective access to this intervention, either by “poor referencing by health professionals, lack of human resources, lack of knowledge or difficulty in accessing healthcare

ciTechCare is classified as ‘Excellent’ by FCT

17 April 2025

The Foundation for Science and Technology has released the preliminary results of the evaluation of R&D Units (UID) under the Multiannual Program for Funding R&D Units 2023/2024 and revealed that ciTechCare was recognized as excellent in “Public Health, Nursing, Health Technologies” category, thus achieving the highest score of quality. “This result represents not only an unequivocal recognition of the scientific quality of the work developed by the whole team, but also open new horizons and brings new responsibilities’, reveals Maria Guarino, ciTechCare coordinator. The results revealed that reveal that ciTechCare was one of the 313 evaluated centers and one of the 135

Researcher João Morais is co-author of an article in the European Heart Journal that highlights the advances in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy in 2024

15 April 2025

João Morais, integrated researcher at ciTechCare is the only Portuguese academic and one of the 18 international co-authors of the article ‘New pharmacological agents and novel cardiovascular pharmacotherapy strategies in 2024’, published in the European Heart Journal, last March. The review article summarizes the most relevant studies in cardiovascular pharmacotherapy in 2024, including the approval of first-in-class drugs for the treatment of resistant hypertension and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Regarding pharmacological safety, the research team highlights the newest data on adverse reactions and drug–drug interactions that may complicate treatment and/or reduce drug adherence, with the consequent decrease in drug effectiveness. Finally,