Under the auspices of the BERC-Luso project, the intensive internship on biomedical research and clinical trials took place in Lisbon between 12 and 18 de September 2021.

The internship included practical sessions with the CEIC – the Ethics Commission for Clinical Research and Infarmed – the National Medicines and Healthcare Products Authority as well as visits to INSA –the Doutor Ricardo Jorge National Institute of Health and the IHMT – the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

This event was considered of extreme relevance by all the participating parties as it enabled the consolidation of the knowledge hitherto obtained ever since the first comparative study of the legislation existing in the PALOPs, including training in Cape Verde and different online training sessions providing the opportunity to better understand the workings of the Portuguese institutions and interlink theory and practice while also strengthening the capacities and improving the working procedures of the National Ethics Committees and Medical Regulatory Authorities in various countries.

In attendance for the opening session were Carlos Carvalho Fonseca, Ambassador of Angola to Portugal, Filomeno Fortes, IHMT Director and Maria Hermínia Cabral, Director of the Partnerships for Development Program of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

The team in Angola is multidisciplinary and made up of technical experts from MINSA (Office of the Secretary of State for Public Health, INIS/CISA, ARMED, IGASF and the Juridical Office).

Joana Morais is the project coordinator in Angola assisted by Katiza Mangueira.