António Salgado.

António Salgado is a biologist with a PhD in Materials Science and Technology - Tissue Engineering and Hybrid Materials (University of Minho, 2005) and a Habilitation in Health Sciences (University of Minho, 2018).

Currently he is a Coordinating Investigator and Vice-Dean for Research at the School of Medicine, Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), University of Minho. His research interests are focused on the development of innovative therapies for CNS repair. 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 and 3) Modulation of MSCs secretome through bioreactor based approaches.

He is currently an author of more than 160 papers (h=46) with over 8000 citations, and 2 patents.

He has previously served as the President of the Portuguese Society for Stem Cells and Cell Therapies, and serves as Specialty Chief Editor for Frontiers in Medical Engineering.

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.