Below you can find a list of the main activities carried out in April and May 2026.
🌟 Public engagement activities
University College Cork
Fondazione Telethon
🌟 Dissemination and communication activities
She presented her research entitled “Patient preferences for retinal gene therapy: A discrete choice experiment (DCE)”.
The symposium brought together PhD researchers, academics, and students to showcase innovative research across a wide range of disciplines. Claire’s work contributed to discussions on patient-centred approaches in retinal therapies, highlighting the importance of incorporating patient preferences into the development and assessment of gene therapies.
🌟 Preparing the next career step
As our Doctoral Candidates approach the final months of their PhD contracts, they are also actively exploring the next steps in their careers. Building professional networks remains a key strategy in shaping these future paths, something that has been strongly encouraged from the very beginning of the programme—both within the consortium and through participation in international conferences and research events.
Equally important is staying informed about available career opportunities and funding schemes, just as Enola did by attending the online webinar “MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships Training” organised on the 23rd of April 2026 by the University of Primorska within the KRPAN project, gaining valuable insights into postdoctoral funding opportunities and application strategies.
🌟 Conferences
ISEV – The International Society for Extracellular Vesicles annual meeting took place in Puerto Rico from 22 to 26 April 2026.
The event brought together leading researchers, clinicians, and industry experts interested in the latest advances in extracellular vesicle (EV) science and its applications in diagnostics and therapeutics.
The conference featured a rich programme of keynote lectures, scientific sessions, and networking opportunities that our DC1 Maria Eduarda took advantage of. She could get to know better the EV community, the latests advances as well to present part of her work during the poster session on Saturday, engaging with peers and receiving valuable feedback on her work. Read her impressions on this first experience at ISEV here.
ARVO – The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting took place in Denver – USA from the 3 to 7 May 2026.
🌟 Research retreat
On the 29th of April 2026, right before attending ARVO, Chiara participated to the Research retreat Day organized at the Department of Ophthalmology of the Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center. The programme featured talks on vision research advances, poster sessions and an imaging contest.
Pictures above from the Vision Science Retreat are from the Linkedin profile of the researcher and associated partner Dr. Miguel Flores-Bellver.
🌟 Secondments
Finalized
Enola (University of Alicante, Spain)
Arthex Biotech, Spain
Read the full considerations of Enola here.
Vaishnavi (Leiden University Medical Center, The Netherlands) Radboud University Medical Center, The Netherlands
Vaishnavi has just finished her secondment in Nijmegen at Radboud University Medical Center where she was guided and supported by Dr. Zohreh Hosseinzadeh and the PhD student Yao Yao.
Read Vaishnavi’s feedback on these last months spent in Nijmegen here.
Ongoing
Claire (UCC/Cork University Business School, Ireland) Retina International, Ireland
Maria Eduarda (Catholic University of Valencia, Spain) University of Tubingen, Germany
It is really nice to be back in Tübingen, especially because I can clearly see how much I have improved since my last stay here. Coming back to a familiar place made it much easier to settle in, and it has given me the chance to keep developing my skills while learning new techniques in an environment I already know. This time, I feel more confident, more prepared, and better able to make the most of the experience.
Maria Eduarda
Chiara (Catholic University of Valencia, Spain) University of Colorado Anschutz, USA
🌟 Complementary activities that improve our DCs scientific skills
DCs are curious, eager to learn, to experience, to improve…to build their best future version. They do research, support the team and say “yes” when they find themselves in front of an interesting proposal. That is the case of Enola, who was invited by her co-supervisor Dr. Lorena Vidal to join a new experience and challenge herself. Dr. Lorena Vidal has been collaborating for a long time with the journal “Actualidad en Farmacología y Terapéutica” (AFT) (Current Developments in Pharmacology and Therapeutics”, a quarterly pharmacotherapy journal of the Teófilo Hernando Foundation and the Spanish Pharmacology Foundation, endorsed by the Spanish Society of Pharmacology. The journal publishes new pharmacological advances and drugs that have come onto the markey, always written rigorously by professors and researchers.
In the nr. 24 of the journal, at page 54, Dr. Lorena Vidal (co-supervisor of our DC4 Enola) analyses Lerochol, a new treatment that could improve the colesterol LDL. With proud we want to say that Enola has seen this process closely: the analysis behind the articles, deciding the structure, the does and dont’s, learning about responsability and commitment to deliver what promised in duetime….and all that are skills that she is taking with her, for her future improved version.
For who might be interested the journal is in digital format and free, with some parts in English and others in Spanish, for which we invite you all to have a look at it.