🌟RETORNA presented the periodic report
February and March were busy months for the consortium! All partners worked together to draft the first periodic report and submit it within the 60 days time. Partners had online meetings to coordinate themselves during the 2 months. It was a period to reflect and review all the work done in these first 2 years.
A teamwork was carried out to complete the Technical part, explaining how we are meeting the objectives, highlighting our achievements and describing the work done until 31st of January 2025.
We also explained the challenges we faced and the steps we took to overcome them. As within all research projects, challenges are inevitable and necessary to make us grow as professionals! 😊
🌟1 year PhD for Yao
On the 1st of March 2024 Yao started oficially her RETORNA experience as DC2 at prof. Zohreh Hosseinzadeh’s lab in Radboudumc, The Netherlands. RETORNA is her first European experience, an experience that was challenging to prepare due to all the burocracy matters, but worth the effort!
Here is what she has to say about these 12 European months:
“The first year of my PhD has been enriched with challenges, opportunities, learning new techniques, expanding knowledge, and collaborating with various excellent groups. I feel extremely fortunate to join such a professional and lovely team in Radboudumc and RETORNA, which helps me grow as a good researcher and makes me more enthusiastic about science. Moreover, I enjoyed the time I explored different places and cultures with friends. There are always and more challenges ahead. Wish me luck!”
🌟 Secondments
- DC3 – Nathalie finished her secondment at prof. Jan Wijnholds lab at LUMC.
- DC2 – Yao finished her secondment in Istanbul at prof. Serdar Durdagi‘s lab with a presentation of her research in front of other PhD students, professors and post-docs.
- Ceren – DC8 is already half the way in her secondment experience in Leiden, The Netherlands!
🌟 Publications
The commentary of prof. Jan Wijnholds has been published in March 2025.
“miR-429 RNA therapy as generic strategy to protect against photoreceptor loss” is freely available in our publications section.
🌟Online training session with PI Nicolás Cuenca
On the 6th of March 2025 DCs assisted a new online session, this time with the PI Nicolás Cuenca from the Universidad de Alicante.
This is the 3rd session from this pack of research online training session that the RETORNA consortium decided organizing for improving DCs’ knowledge on specific research topics in which the PIs of the project are experts.
During the 2 hours session prof. Cuenca went through basic concepts of retina, reaching the main topic of the sessione “Celular response associated to retinal diseases and therapeutic approaches”.
🌟Claire presenting her work at the monthly Economics seminar
On the 21st of March 2025 Claire had the opportunity to participate in the Monthly Research Seminar Series organized by CUBS – Cork University Business School.
On a monthly basis staff members and PhD students showcase their current research to fellow staff members and students in an convivial atmosphere. In March it was Claire’s turn. She presented her findings in the session “The economic impact of retinal diseases for which gene therapy may soon become a reality: A systematic literature review”.
Greetings,
RETORNA team