Bruno Costa-Silva

My research focuses on new mechanisms by which Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) regulate cell signalling, tumour progression and response to therapy. During my postdoctoral work, I led the first study detailing how pancreatic cancer-EVs form pre-metastatic niches in the liver and serve as prognosis biomarkers for this cancer type (Costa-Silva et al., 2015). I was also a leading author in a seminal study describing the molecular basis for how tumour-derived EVs form pre-metastatic niches in specific organs (Hoshino, Costa-Silva and Shen, et al., 2015). In 2016 I established my own research group, where we have concentrated on developing new technological platforms that facilitate the study of EVs as disease biomarkers in the clinical setting. This includes a vesicle flow cytometry method for the expedited study of EVs in non-processed biofluids (Maia, 2020), which has already led to the identification of important EV biomarkers in pancreatic, breast, colorectal, and clear cell renal cell carcinomas. In addition, in still unpublished work, we are evaluating the diagnostic/prognostic value of new EV protein biomarkers we identified linked to the presence of liver metastatic colorectal and pancreatic cancer and their associated stroma. Beyond the horizontal transfer of biomolecules, we intend to investigate EVs as regulators of the activity and biodistribution of soluble proteins relevant to oncologic and non-oncologic diseases. We believe that this underappreciated mechanism is likely to play a crucial role in these settings. To investigate this phenomenon, in the past few years, we have developed methodologies that allow us to characterise EV-protein interactions. In unpublished data, we have identified the interaction of EVs with multiple extracellular soluble factors that play important roles in immunity and metabolism. This includes IFNγ, a key player in immunosurveillance and response to emerging anti-tumour therapies like Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. We will utilise our knowledge of EV biology and animal models (e.g., cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer) to investigate the pathophysiological relevance of EV protein interactions. Since 2016, our group has published 33 papers (23 original and 10 reviews), with 12 of them having me as corresponding/co-corresponding author. We have also registered a patent for a method of monitoring the tumour burden in pancreatic cancer patients. Our work was presented at over forty national and thirty international conferences and communicated to the general public via radio, television, print, and digital news platforms in at least ten occasions. We were also awarded with 5 international grants (+€1.5M). Furthermore, I have supervised 18 researchers (8 post-docs, 7 PhD students, and 3 MSc students), of whom 6 are still active and 12 have concluded their work. I also served on the organising committee for the Champalimaud Symposium of 2022. Besides, I am currently a member of the Champalimaud International Neuroscience and Cancer Doctoral Programme education committee. In this period, I have also reviewed papers for more than 21 international scientific periodicals and grants for more than 6 funding agencies, and I have served on the jury for more than 15 PhD theses and 6 MSc dissertations.