Transparency note: AI-assisted tools were used to support the drafting of this article.
This July, the University of Coimbra (UC) team of the Piezo4Spine consortium swapped the lab for the conference floor at the CRS 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition, hosted by the Controlled Release Society at the Lisbon Congress Centre from 6 to 9 July 2026. As one of the world’s premier gatherings for drug, gene and controlled release delivery science, CRS brought together thousands of researchers, clinicians and industry experts eager to exchange ideas on the future of therapeutic delivery.
Representing Piezo4Spine were Lino Ferreira, Paulo J. Oliveira and Susana Simões, who presented two posters showcasing complementary pieces of the project’s spinal cord injury (SCI) research:
- Paulo — “Organotypic spinal cord model as nanoformulation screening platform in the context of spinal cord Injury,” introducing a preclinical model designed to test nanoformulations under conditions that closely mimic the injured spinal cord.
- Susana — “Gene editing aged cells with non-viral CRISPR/Cas9-based nanoformulation,” presenting a safer, virus-free route to delivering gene-editing tools to aged cells.
Together, these two contributions capture the range of Piezo4Spine’s approach: building better tools to test and refine therapies, while advancing the gene-editing technology that could ultimately deliver them. Presenting at CRS 2026 gave the team a valuable opportunity to discuss their latest results with the broader international delivery science community and gather fresh input for the project’s next steps.
More information on CRS 2026: controlledreleasesociety.org
