Universidade de Lisboa is part of the international consortium that won the EU4Health (EU for Health) competition, a European funding programme dedicated to translational research and health promotion. The Portuguese team includes professors Filipa Alves da Costa and Rita Guedes, from the Faculty of Pharmacy, through the research groups ‘Public Health & Medicines Use’ and ‘Computational Medicinal Chemistry’ at iMed.ULisboa, with the support of the Directorate-General for Reintegration and Prison Services (DGRSP).
The winning project, called “PACE — Pathway to Equitable Access: Expanding Cancer Prevention Vaccination in European Prison Settings”, aims to reduce the impact of cancers associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) and viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) in prison populations, one of the most vulnerable groups with the greatest inequalities in access to healthcare due to structural, cultural and operational barriers.
PACE was designed to test and implement innovative models adapted to the local realities of seven European countries: Italy (coordinating country), Portugal, France, Greece, Cyprus, the Republic of Moldova and Romania. In Portugal, the interventions will take place in prisons, in close collaboration with the DGRSP, and will focus on improving access to vaccination, screening and connection to healthcare, promoting sustainable and replicable solutions.
The University of Lisbon is leading Work Package 7, dedicated to the development of a monitoring system that will enable the impact of the interventions implemented, namely vaccination against HPV and hepatitis B, to be assessed in a coordinated manner in the different participating countries.
The project also includes the development of the Prison Implementation Compass, a practical framework that will guide the replication of these good practices in other European prison contexts.
PACE, funded to the tune of around €904,000, of which €107,000 has been allocated to the University of Lisbon, will run for 36 months, with a planned start date of November 2025.
As part of the project, a doctoral scholarship will be awarded at the University of Pisa, the coordinating entity of the consortium, led by Prof. Lara Tavoschi. The 3-year scholarship includes co-supervision from the University of Lisbon. Applications are open until 18 July 2025 (see the scholarship regulations here).
PACE actively contributes to the World Health Organisation’s Hepatitis Elimination Goals and the European Plan to Combat Cancer, reinforcing the commitment of the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Universidade de Lisboa and its researchers to promoting public health and reducing inequalities, particularly in prison contexts.
