António Salgado

António Salgado is a biologist with a PhD in Tissue Engineering and Hybrid Materials (2005), and a Habilitation (DSc) in Health Sciences, from the University of Minho. Currently he is a Coordinating Investigator at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) and Vice-Dean for Research at the School of Medicine – University of Minho. His research interests are focused on the development of innovative therapies for CNS repair, namely on Spinal Cord Injury and Parkinson’s Disease, using stem cells secretome. His main areas of research are: 1) Development of ECM like hydrogels for the transplantation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells into the injured CNS; 2) Role of the secretome of MSCs in neuroprotection and repair, particularly the establishment of novel therapies based on the sole use of MSCs secretome. He is currently an author of more than 165 papers (over 8000 citations; h-Index=50), has delivered over 75 invited talks worldwide and is/was the Principal Investigator of more than 25 grants funded by National/International funding agencies. He has previously served as the President of the Portuguese Society for Stem Cells and Cell Therapies. He has received several distinctions for his work including the Gulbenkian Award on Cutting Edge Research in Life Sciences, the Prize Melo e Castro for Spinal Cord Injury Research, the University of Minho Prize for Scientific Merit and the Grünenthal Prize in Basic Research.