A DEEPER PURPOSE
Grupo Germano de Sousa's success can best be summed up by its understanding that science and medicine only really progress when technological development is combined with a deeper respect for human values and professional ethics.
BIOGRAPHY
Germano de Sousa is a doctor of medicine with a specialization in clinical pathology. He is CEO and Clinical Director of the Centro de Medicina Laboratorial Germano de Sousa. Prior to his current positions, he was a former associate biochemistry professor and regent of the master course in chemical pathology at Nova Medical School as well as former head of the clinical pathology department at Fernando Fonseca Hospital. He has been active in his field as former president of the Portuguese Society of Clinical Pathology, the Portuguese Medical Association, and the Portuguese Society of Osteoporosis. Since 2005, he has been a member of the New York Academy of Sciences.Grupo Germano de Sousa was established more than 43 years ago. Can you describe the main achievements and activities of the company?
For more than 40 years, we have placed ourselves at the service of our patients. The company's initial focus was on hematology, biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology. In 2009, we built a lab in the field of genetics. After that, in 2014, we shifted our building from Lisbon to our present location due to the increasing business operations that demanded more space. In the field of oncogenomic, the study of genes and malignant tumors, we have developed a highly skilled team since 2015. During this time, I invited three high-performance researchers to work with us in oncology. This area is extremely important because the main goal of our study is the type of mutations and fusions of genes found in both solid and liquid tumor biopsies. Therefore, our studies can help our fellow colleagues perform better diagnosis and therapeutics. It is an important achievement of our company's history because it was the pioneer in Portugal for liquid biopsy. We also study predictive risk in cancer, namely in breast, prostate, and colon cancers, among others. A percentage of the global population will definitely have cancer, and we are attempting to stop it in its early stages. The future is now and we are extremely pleased with our contribution in the precision medicine model.
You are collaborating with the medical faculties at Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Universidade Nova de Lisboa. Could you please explain the details of these collaborations?
In terms of teaching, we are connected to medical and biomedical students with a positive relation in laboratory medicine. Grupo Germano de Sousa has considerable influence on the future physicians of Portugal since it collaborates with Universidade Católica in a post-graduation laboratory medicine course and with Nova Medical School in immunology course. Notably, we have connections with other research institutions and foreign laboratories. Our company is known for its high-qualified doctors specializing in each area of clinical pathology, anatomic pathology, and genetics. We also have an active participation in international research groups.
Do you have collaborations with other laboratories around the world?
At present, the group is more than a network of clinical pathologies laboratories across Portugal. It is also a research center and a partner for institutions around the world, with whom we share clinical and technological knowledge in a wide variety of areas such as genetics, autoimmunity, molecular biology and oncological diagnosis. In terms of the group's future, we want to do better in Mozambique, where we already have a partnership. Moreover, we analyze biological products that come from labs in Spain, Angola, and Saudi Arabia, and we are currently partnering with laboratories in northwest Africa.
What are the main challenges for growth for private health companies? What are the main priorities for your group in the next coming years?
We have 10 million Portuguese people, and only 30% are treated by private health companies. Our purpose is to make diagnosis available for every patient that needs a good healthcare support. Innovation, quality, and precision have always been our motto. Therefore, we will continue with developments and challenges in medicine. We will continue to invest in modernity and diversity in terms of techniques and equipment to keep up with the latest requirements in medicine. We understand that science and medicine only really progress when technological development is combined with a deeper respect for human values and professional ethics.
A DEEPER PURPOSE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Focus: Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries
Making an Impact
Established in 1996, the Community of Portuguese Language Speaking Countries (CPLP) is a mechanism geared at linking and sharing the experience of Lusophone countries. Besides Portugal, this includes Brazil, Portugal, Cape Verde, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
read articleFocus
Don’t Mind the Disruption
Having won the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest, Lisbon hosted the 2018 event. The relevance? Well, the contest began back in 1956 as a showcase not only of song, but of then-nascent live television broadcast technology. Today, Portugal is on the cutting edge of new technological developments.
read articleInterview
João Pedro Soeiro de Matos Fernandes , Minister , Environment and Energy Transition
The Ministry for the Environment and Energy Transition is focusing on decarbonizing the economy, valuing the territory and its habitats, and striving for a more circular use of the country's resources.
read articleInterview
António Braz Costa , General Manager, Portuguese Technological Centre for the Textile & Clothing Industries (CITEVE)
CITEVE has transformed the industry by promoting value addition, adopting the latest technologies, and ensuring the highest standards of environmental sustainability.
read articleFocus: New airport
Right Time to Seize Missed Opportunities
Portugal has seen its air traffic figures increase by as much as 80% in the last five years. As a result, its transportation infrastructure, and Lisbon's airport in particular, cannot cope with the rising numbers. A new airport project that will turn a military base into a commercial airport is now under discussion to bring much-needed relief to air traffic.
read articleInterview
Germano de Sousa , President, Grupo Germano de Sousa
Grupo Germano de Sousa's success can best be summed up by its understanding that science and medicine only really progress when technological development is combined with a deeper respect for human values and professional ethics.
read articleInterview
Isabel Capeloa Gil , Rector, Universidade Católica
Having pioneered the introduction of multiple subject areas to Portugal's tertiary education scene, Universidade Católica is aspiring to establish the country's first private medical school and introduce cutting-edge digital transformation.
read articleInterview
Carlos Guillén Gestoso , President, Escola Universitária de Ciências Empresariais, Saúde, Tecnologias e Engenharia & President, Atlantica University
Atlantica University differentiates through its company-university model and an MBA program in partnership with the University of California, Berkley, among other initiatives, to produce practical theoreticians.
read articleFocus: Public teaching staff
An Age-old Problem
Over a decade of austerity measures combined with an ageing population have seen the average age of the Portuguese public teaching staff progressively climb to one of the highest in the OECD. With frozen salaries, an extended retirement age, and precarious working conditions, today the sector faces one of its biggest challenge yet.
read articleInterview
Pedro Queiroz , General Manager, Federation of the Portuguese Agri-Food Industry (FIPA)
Portugal's economic recovery has seen its F&B sector emerge with annual turnovers of EUR16 billion, thanks to FIPA's undeterred focus on stable policies, excellent nutrition standards, and sustainability.
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