Team Members

Principal investigator

Paula is the head of the Glycoimmunology Research Group. She presently coordinate several multidisciplinary national and international projects in Glycosciences, involving clinical teams, as well as Biotech and Pharma companies and patient associations. Her focus is on Glycobiology, Oncobiology and Immunology projects with impact on cancer, infection and rare diseases.

Researcher, PhD

Zélia Silva holds a PhD in Biochemistry and is a Pos Doc researcher who has been studying the role of glycans in the biology of immune dendritic cells (DCs) and cancer. She has studied the role of DC´s sialylated glycans on trafficking and the modulation of surface sialic acid content by ectosialyltransferases present at the cell surface. Her work has also contributed to elucidating the significant importance of sialic acid content of DC´s immunogenicity modulation. These findings led to the use of glycoengineering on DCs to boost their anticancer activity.  She is, currently, committed to unravelling the molecular aspects that account for DC´s improved immunogenicity, namely the enhanced interactions between  DCs and T cells. Through fundamental research, we hope to contribute to the development of innovative cancer immunotherapies based on DCs.

Researcher, PhD

Mariana Barbosa holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Faculty of Pharmacy of University of Porto (FFUP). From May 2019 to June 2021 she held a Post-Doctoral Fellow position at LAQV@REQUIMTE - Laboratory of Pharmacognosy from FFUP, where she developed her line of research in the functional screening of marine polyphenols.

Her experience, complying with both chemical and biological expertise, represents an advantage for contributing specially in the areas of Medical and Health Sciences.

She is currently working as Researcher and Project Manager of the Project "ProDGNE - Novel therapeutic approaches to target GNE myopathy" (EJPRD/0001/2020) at the Glycoimmunology Lab (UCIBIO, i4HB) of NOVA School of Science and Technology | FCT NOVA.

Laboratory Technician

Inês Teodoro has a bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon as well as a master's degree in Clinical microbiology and emerging infectious diseases from Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon and a postgraduation in Pharmaceutical medicine at nova medical school. It is involved in the European glycotwining project. 

PhD Student

Inês Ribeiro has an integrated MSc in Biological Engineering by Instituto Superior Técnico. Currently, she is doing her PhD in Biology focused at studying the potential of Sialyl-Tn (STn) as a potential immunotherapy target against pancreatic cancer.

PhD Student

Marta Falcão has a BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology by NOVA FCT and a MSc degree in Biomedical Sciences by IHMT NOVA. Currently, she is doing her PhD aimed at assessing the immunological response in Congenital Disorders of Glycosylation (CDG) both at the functional and molecular level to unravel new therapeutics, ultimately improving CDG patients' quality of life.

Master's student

Ana Santos has a BSc degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology by NOVA School of Science and Technology (FCT NOVA).

She is currently taking a MSc in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine by FCT NOVA, which is focused in "The crosstalk between inflammatory conditions and glycosylation in rare diseases of glycosylation". 

Master's student

Margarida Nunes holds a BSc in Biotechnology from Lusófona University and is now doing a MSc degree in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine from FCT NOVA. She is currently doing her master thesis in "Studying novel compounds to target PD-1/PD-L1 axis, and their antitumor therapeutic potential". 

Master's student

Daniela Tomás has a BSc degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology and is now pursuing a MSc degree in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine, both by FCT NOVA. She is currently focusing on the implications of defective sialic acid conditions on cell stress response.

Master's student

João Carrilho has a BSc degree in Biochemistry by Faculdade Lusófona.

He is currently taking a MSc in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine by FCT-UNL, which is focused on "Understanding the role of sialylted antigens in pancreatic cancer".

PhD Student

Aryane Pinheiro is a Pathology PhD student at the Federal University of Ceará and is conducting her work on the "Assessment of the Anticancer Potential of Lectins from Marine Organisms". She completed her bachelor's degree in Dental Medicine and her master's degree in Pathology.

PhD Student

Patrícia is now starting her PhD at the Glycoimmunolab. 

PhD Student

Rita Adubeiro Lourenço has a BSc degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology and an MSc in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine, both from NOVA School of Science and Technology (FCT NOVA). She is currently taking her PhD in Biology from FCT NOVA. This project focuses on studying sialic acid manipulation strategies as new immunotherapy approaches and its association with drug-carrying hydrogels. The work is conducted in the Glycoimmunology Lab (UCIBIO, i4HB) at FCT-NOVA in partnership with Stemmatters SA.

This PhD is supported by a grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT).

PhD Student

Daniela Barreira has a BSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology degree by NOVA School of Science and Technology and MSc degree in Biopharmaceutical Sciences from Universidade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa (FFUL), having conducted her Master Thesis project in Centro de Estudos de Doenças Crónicas (CEDOC) of NOVA Medical School. Presently, she is doing her PhD which is aimed at understanding the impact of SARS-CoV-2 glycosylation in the viral infection and evaluate the potential glycan-based strategies for COVID-19 treatment and infection control.