iBET present at the 7th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health

A group of 10 researchers from iBET actively participated, with 3 oral presentations and 6 posters, in the 7th International Conference on Polyphenols and Health (ICPH 2015) held October 27-30 in Tours, France.

ICPH is a biennial conference and the most important international forum in Food and Health research. This year alone, ICPH attracted over 700 delegates including several world renowned speakers to present and discuss the latest trends, topics and developments in the field of polyphenols, food science and health.

Polyphenols, an area to which iBET dedicates substantial research, are widely recognized as bioactive compounds of plant foods demonstrating a potential role in the protection of human health from chronic diseases through multiple mechanisms of action. Knowledge in the field of polyphenols has greatly evolved in the past years, however much remains to be done to identify the levels of intake to optimize their health benefits for everyone and to support the development of new functional foods.

In this conference, two awards were attributed to iBET students. Inês Costa received a travel grant from the organizing committee and Andreia Gomes was distinguished amongst the 10 best poster presentations with her work was entitled “Identification of polyphenol metabolites in Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rat tissue after a sustained daily intake of a cardioprotective berries mixture”. Both Inês and Andreia are PhD students at the Disease and Stress Biology Lab of iBET’s Food in Health Unit.