Ivo Martins, researcher at the Madeira Chemistry Center (CQM), won the award for best oral communication at the international congress “Molecules 4 Life”, with the work entitled “Synthesis of carbon dots using dendrimers as co-precursors”.

The award-winning work results from research carried out within the scope of his doctoral project, under the supervision of João Rodrigues, Senior Researcher at CQM and professor at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Madeira, and consists of the synthesis and characterization of carbon-based nanomaterials with potential application in the field of medicine, particularly for the detection and treatment of cancer. The Biochemistry degree student, Sara Lobo, has also contributed to this study.

The ongoing research is supported by funds from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology and is part of the COST Action NanoSpace. The event took place between the 20th and 22nd of September, at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Vila Real, and was attended by more than 120 participants from various international universities and institutes, including representatives from the United States, France, Germany, South Korea, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Ukraine, and Malaysia, which presented their most recent results in the area of biomedicine, such as drug delivery, sensors and diagnostics, and also in the area of healthy eating.