In Episode 2, Sian Harding, a world leader in cardiac research, joins Hedi to reveal the heart as you’ve never seen it before, as they discuss her book The Exquisite Machine: The New Science of the Heart. From how social rank, air pollution, noise, and even your mother’s pregnancy diet can shape heart health, to the heart’s mini-brain or growing hearts in the lab from skin cells, they uncover the remarkable ways this muscular organ does far more than “just” pump blood.

Host

Ana Luísa Correia, PhD, Cancer Dormancy & Immunity

Venue

Seminar room

An international team, led by researchers at the Champalimaud Foundation (CF), has shown – for the first time in a realistic way – that it may be possible, in the future, to diagnose Parkinson’s disease (PD) years earlier, by scanning people’s brains with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Although there are treatment options after diagnosis, there is no cure.  Therapies are continually improving — with ongoing research aiming to slow or even alter the course of the disease - investing in the research of methods that enable much earlier diagnosis is crucial.

Champalimaud Foundation (Fundação D. Anna de Sommer Champalimaud e Dr. Carlos Montez Champalimaud), a private, non-profit research institution in Lisbon, Portugal, is looking for a Rodent Research Technician to join our team. 

Following Episode 1 - Part 1, this second part of Hedi’s conversation with science writer Moheb Costandi unpacks how our sense of agency – the feeling of being in control of our actions and responsible for their outcomes – can be disrupted in conditions like Alien Hand Syndrome and Schizophrenia, manipulated on the operating table, or even altered in the lab.

When a fruit fly is navigating straight forward at high speed, why does it know that it’s not straying off course? Because as long as the fly moves directly forward, the visual scene shifts from front to back in a near-perfect mirror image across both retinas – generating, in other words, a symmetrical visual motion pattern. This pattern, known as “optic flow”, provides a powerful cue for detecting self-motion and maintaining direction.

On the upcoming May 12th at 5:30 PM, the Auditorium of the Champalimaud Foundation will host a landmark event: the public presentation of the Multidisciplinary Recommendations on the Clinical Use of Psychedelic Substances.

Chosen from over 200 applicants across Europe and associated countries, Veiga-Fernandes was one of just 32 scientists ultimately appointed as ERC Ambassadors. The final selection aimed to balance gender, seniority, and the representation of both current ERC grant holders and different countries. The 32 ambassadors represent 21 EU Member States and four Associated Countries – Israel, Norway, Turkey, and the United Kingdom – plus Switzerland.

Every two weeks, the new podcast series Leafing Through Science brings together host Hedi Young, Champalimaud Foundation neuroscientist and science communicator, with the authors behind some of the most fascinating non-fiction books in the life sciences. From new releases to timeless classics, we explore everything from the mysteries of consciousness and free will, to broken hearts, alien hands, and minds under siege. Expect page-turning ideas, head-spinning science, and stories that might just change how you see the world – and yourself.

This recognition affirms the dedication and collaborative effort of countless individuals over the years in building the diverse and sophisticated infrastructure necessary to support a world-class, cutting-edge biomedical research centre.