People

Postdoctoral Researchers

Inês Padrão

PostDoc Researcher

Inês Padrão

PostDoc Researcher

Inês Padrão is a Postdoctoral Researcher within the project UNMASK, focused on unraveling new diagnostic pathways for Parkinson's disease. Her work is focused on developing sample pre-treatment strategies and implementing biochemical analysis methods, including data interpretation. She also coordinates interactions with clinical and corporate partners and is responsible for scientific documentation and technical reporting. Inês holds a PhD and a Master's in Biotechnology, with a background in Biochemistry.

PhD Students

Catarina Domingos

PhD Student

Catarina Domingos

PhD Student

Catarina Domingos is a PhD student in Biotechnology. She has a background in Chemical and Biological Engineering and her thesis project is focused on the development of functionalized purification matrices, for the bioseparation of biopharmaceuticals. She did her MSc thesis in BIOCEV institute and has experience in photosensitive proteins.

Cátia Soares

PhD Student

Cátia Soares

PhD Student

Cátia Soares holds a Bachelor in Biochemistry and a Master in Biotechnology both from School of Science and Technology, NOVA University Lisbon. Currently, she is a research fellow at Biomolecular Engineering Lab (UCIBIO) in the PROTEIOS project financed by FCT (PTDC/CTM-CTM/3389/2021). She believes that her research will contribute to implementing protein-based materials as sustainable and functional bio-based materials. She works in the areas of Bioengineering and Biotechnology with an emphasis on molecular biology, protein engineering, and bio-based materials.

Carolina Natal

PhD Student

Carolina Natal

PhD Student

Carolina Natal is a PhD student in the Biomolecular Engineering Lab at NOVA Faculty of Science and Technology. She has a degree in Biochemistry (2018) and a Master Degree in Techniques of Characterization and Chemical Analysis (2021) by University of Minho (Braga). She worked in the SMASUS project as a research assistant before joining the PURE team. She has a background in HPLC/NMR/MS techniques, organic chemistry, affinity ligands, quantification of proteins and electrophoresis methods.

Catarina Faustino

PhD Student

Catarina Faustino

PhD Student

Afonso Eva

PhD Student

Afonso Eva

PhD Student

Afonso Eva holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry (2021) from Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, and a master’s degree in Biotechnology (2023) from NOVA School of Science and Technology. Afonso has previously worked with bacteria pure cultures to develop a sustainable bioprocess for CO2 capture and biomass valorization into value-added products. Now, he aims to gain experience in other research fields with innovative techniques and grow as a valuable member of the team and that is why he joined Biomolecular Engineering Lab as a fellow researcher within the PROTEIOS project.

João Saavedra

PhD Student

João Saavedra

PhD Student

João Saavedra completed the bachelor’s (2021) and master’s (2023) degrees in Biological Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST). During the master’s thesis, he conducted research work on the downstream processing of bacteriophages’ preparations for clinical applications, at the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB). Currently, João Saavedra is working as a research assistant in the PROSPLIGN project, which comprises producing, purifying and characterising recombinant proteins to be used in an artificial olfaction sensor. Before joining the Biomolecular Engineering Lab, João worked as a teaching assistant in the laboratory courses of Biological Reactors, at IST.

Research Assistants

Maria Pinho

Research Assistant

Maria Pinho

Research Assistant

Maria Rolão Pinho completed her bachelor's and master's degree in Biomedical Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico. Following her degree, she worked as a junior researcher, where her work centered on the development of microfluidic on-chip diagnostic assay and point of care devices for detection and quantification of cancer biomarkers in human serum. Maria has now joined the Biomolecular Engineering Lab for the SUBTLE project because she is eager to learn more about biobased optical gels and contribute to the development of a low-cost solution to protect public health thorough anti-counterfeiting.

Sara Pereira

Research Assistant

Sara Pereira

Research Assistant

Sara Pereira holds a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from NOVA Faculty of Science and Technology, and a master’s degree in Biotechnology from Instituto Superior Técnico. Sara has previously worked as a research assistant at Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica. Her work focused on studying a 12-mer catalytic peptide, specifically the propensity to undergo phase separation and form liquid-like micro-sized coacervates. Sara has now joined the Biomolecular Engineering Lab for the UNMASK project because she wants to learn more and gain practical experience with cutting-edge techniques for non-invasive diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases.

Susana Serrano

Research Assistant

Susana Serrano

Research Assistant

Susana Serrano holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Algarve and an MSc in Microbiology from the University of Aveiro and is currently concluding her PhD in Veterinary Sciences (Food Safety and Technology) at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Lisbon. Her multidisciplinary research started with zebrafish models of Paget’s bone disease, shifted to bioinformatics during her master’s, where she combined in vivo and in silico analyses of antimicrobial metabolites from haloarchaea, and progressed in her doctorate to metagenomic and conventional microbiology studies of Portuguese Traditional Protected Designation of Origin PDO cheeses to identify regional biomarkers and industrial strains. An international internship at the University of Basilicata (Italy) strengthened her R-based data analysis. She has now joined the Biomolecular Engineering Lab to develop cross-species tools for monitoring bone diseases and cancer, reconnecting with bone pathology while integrating microbiology, bioinformatics, and bioengineering expertise.

Master Students

Gabriel Morais

Master Student

Gabriel Morais

Master Student

Gabriel Morais holds a Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology from Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar (ESTM- IPL). He is currently pursuing his Master degree in Biochemistry at NOVA School of Science and Technology (FCT NOVA). His thesis focuses on the design of chromogenic chimeric proteins for the efficient dyeing of cotton fibers.

Maria Roque

Master Student

Maria Roque

Master Student

Maria Roque holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from NOVA School of Science and Technology (FCT NOVA) and is currently pursuing her Master's in Biochemistry at the same institution. She is working on the UNMASK project, which aims to fingerprint metabolites associated with Parkinson’s disease patients by applying principles of protein design and engineering.

João Pires

Master Student

João Pires

Master Student

João Pires is a Master's Student who is doing his thesis about molecular docking in the Biomolecular Engineering Lab at NOVA Faculty of Science and Technology. He has a degree in Biology in Instituto Superior de Agronomia (2021-2024) and a Master Degree in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics in NOVA Faculty of Science and Technology (2024- ). I did the first certificate in Cambridge and I also have the twelve grade. My former position is a Student in NOVA Faculty of Science and Technology.

Likhita Kusampudi

Master Student

Likhita Kusampudi

Master Student

Likhita Kusampudi holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering from Bharath University, India. She is currently completing her master's in molecular biotechnology from Hochschule Anhalt, Germany. She worked with polymers for bone glue development as her master's thesis at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Galway, Ireland, as an Erasmus student. She will be part of INSPIRE, dedicated to the production of cell-free extracts.

Bachelor Students

Madalena Figueiredo

Bachelor Student

Madalena Figueiredo

Bachelor Student

Madalena Figueiredo is an undergraduate Biochemistry student at NOVA FCT, currently completing her academic training. With previous internship experience, she now joins the Biomolecular Engineering Lab for the INSPIRE project. Her main goal is to apply and deepen her academic knowledge in a practical research context, while actively contributing to the project's challenges. Her work will be centered on the design and discovery of biological ligands against therapeutic targets, thus contributing to the development of innovative detection tools for monitoring skeletal diseases and cancer.