5th CHRC Annual Summit, a successful scientific gathering
On the 23rd and 24th of October, the 5th edition of the CHRC Annual Summit took place at Palácio D. Manuel in Évora. Of the 5 CHRC Annual Summits that already happened, this edition was the most successful of all, with close to 200 participants and many works submitted for the Oral Communications for this event.
The motto of the 5th CHRC Annual Summit was reflected in the past and future of our Research Centre, taking into account that the CHRC will begin a new phase with new structures, partnerships, a strong investment in essential research areas such as technology in health in the next year of 2025. To date, the exponential growth of our Research Unit has been recognized, not only in the integration number of new members, but also in publications, projects, funding and national and international collaborations. Based on the indicators of the last 3 years, the time has come to evolve along the path that was traced by all those who are part of the CHRC.
It was an honor to receive the Rector of University of Évora, Prof. Dr. Hermínia Vilar and the Mayor of Évora, Dr. Carlos Pinto Sá who left us some reinforcing words about the great importance and impact that health has on the civil community. Not only was it recommended to reinforce academic paths related to the health sector, especially in the interior, like Évora, but also the establishment of researchers and health professionals in order to not only open doors to improved access to healthcare, but also to create new policies to improve health, health literacy and well-being of the populations.
The 5th CHRC Annual Summit also had several spaces for the presentation of projects funded by the CHRC, works by PhD students and the presentation of abstracts. In total, there were 31 oral presentations and 79 digital posters over the two days of this event. Furthermore, two Hot Topics were offered to our participants with Pedro Saint – Maurice from the Champalimaud Foundation with the conference “Physical Activity and Cancer: Advancing research through the use of new technologies” and Fernando Bozza, researcher at CHRC and FIO Cruz with the conference “Science for Equity - challenges and opportunities in global health”.
A moment of great importance took place with the presentation of the indicators of the first years of CHRC’s activity by the Executive Committee, which led it to take the next steps towards a very important decision on the future path for the Research Unit from 2025 onwards. It was presented a new proposal that is being evaluated by FCT, which demonstrates the new structures, missions, collaborations, partnerships and focuses for the period of 2025-2029.
This CHRC Annual Summit also allowed a lot of social networking, which proved to be very active this year with more than 100 members participating in our activities. It is important for all of us, coming from different places across the country, to be able to cross paths in these moments of our scientific community meetings.