Students

PhD Students

Viviana Correia

PhD Fellowship PD/BD/105727/2014 (co-supervision with Ana Luísa Carvalho)

I am a student in the Molecular Biosciences PhD program, since 2015. My research project – “Deciphering carbohydrate: protein interactions in the Human Microbiome – A combined high-throughput and structural approach”, aims at elucidating carbohydrate-binding specificities of polysaccharide utilization loci (PULS) proteins from representative strains of the human gut microbiota metabolic capabilities, which play a key role in the human nutritional balance and immune system modulation. Our strategy includes the production of a recombinant-protein library, the development of carbohydrate microarrays comprising a diverse range of glycan probes for high-throughput screening analysis of glycan ligands; and elucidation of the 3D-structure of protein:glycan ligand complexes using X-ray crystallography. 

Macromolecular Crystallography & GlycoLab - Functional Glycobiology | UCIBIO@REQUIMTE, FCT/NOVA | Phone: +351 212 948 300 (Lab 607, ext.: 10962) | Fax: +351 212 948 550 | Email: vivianacorreia@campus.fct.unl.pt 

Raquel Costa

I am currently a PhD student in Molecular Biosciences program from FCT-NOVA & ITQB. My work is supervised by Angelina Palma and Ana Luísa Carvalho and is being developed at Functional Glycobiology and Macromolecular Crystallography Groups at UCIBIO (FCT-NOVA) within the research areas of Structural Biology and Glycobiology.

The main goal of my PhD is to elucidate the interaction of PULs proteins from B. thetaiotaomicron (prominent human gut bacteria) for host-derived glycans, particularly mucins that act as a barrier to protect the human gut epithelium. To address that, I am using X-ray crystallography and carbohydrate microarray technology as main methodologies. My work will be important to understand how bacteria establish molecular communication with the host and how this glycan recognition influences the balance of being beneficial/pathogen. Addressing these questions could lead to novel strategies to promote human health by using pre or probiotics to modulate the human gut microbiome.

Filipa Trovão

I have a BSc and a MSc in Biochemistry, both acquired at FCT-NOVA.

From 2017 to 2019 I worked as MSc Research Assistant at the Macromolecular Crystallography and GlycoLab (UCIBIO-NOVA). During this period, I had the opportunity to acquire knowledge in different biological systems and solid experience in protein expression and purification, X-ray Crystallography, and also in state-of-the-art techniques to assess the specificity and affinity of protein-ligand interactions, such as glycan microarrays, MST and ITC.In December of 2019, I started my PhD degree in Biochemistry, under the supervision of Angelina Palma (GlycoLab) and co-supervision of Ana Luísa Carvalho (Macromolecular Crystallography).

My research project, entitled "Translating the human-microbiome molecular cross-talk using glycan microarray and structural biology strategies", aims to decipher how the structural diversity of host glycans is exploited by bacteria and how it influences commensal vs pathogenic interactions.PhD Fellowship SFRH/BD/143494/2019

Nuno Lopes

Supervisors: Dr Catarina Brito (Advanced Cell Models Lab, iBET & ITQB-NOVA)                     

                   Dr Angelina Palma

I graduated in Cellular and Molecular Biology, followed by a master’s in Biotechnology. In the past years, I learned about the tumour immune microenvironment and methods for working with 3D cell-based models.

In Dr Brito’s lab, we established a 3D breast cancer model, where we depicted the impact of different subtypes in the modulation of macrophages.With my PhD project “GLYCO-Interact: defining triple negative breast cancer glycan signatures to target tumour-associated macrophages”, also supervised by Dr Palma, we aim to bring the perspective of glycobiology towards unveiling novel targets for breast cancer. We devised an approach based on 3D cell models and protein/glycan microarrays. We aim to unveil novel glycans at the surface of tumour cells and the lectins of macrophages which bind to such glycans. These results will be further translated to breast cancer patients.

MSc Students

André Favinha 

My name is André Griffin de Almeida Favinha, I am 22 years old and I am currently doing my master thesis in the XTAL Crystallography Group and GlycoLab, at FCT NOVA, under supervision of Dr. Maria Angelina de Sá Palma and Dr. Ana Luísa Carvalho.Previously I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry also at FCT NOVA.

My work is focused on the study of the interaction of proteins from the cellular surface of the commensal bacteria Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with typical glycans that cover our gastrointestinal tract epithelium, a subject that to this date rises multiple questions and is associated to multiple diseases, which captivated me to explore and try to understand a bit more of this intricate theme. My scientific interests comprise protein expression and purification using several techniques like affinity chromatography and FPLC, protein crystallization using the sitting and hanging drop vapour diffusion methods, the study of protein three-dimensional structure and protein-ligand interactions through x-ray crystallography, MST (MicroScale Thermophoresis) and ITC (Isothermal Titration Calorimetry) and also glycan microarrays in order to study the bacterial protein interactions with a vast array of mammalian glycans.

Filipa Lopes

I obtained my BSc in Biochemistry in 2018, at the Faculty of Science and Technology, New University of Lisbon (FCT-UNL).

I am currently developing my master's thesis in Biochemistry under the supervision of Dr. Márcia A. S. Correia and co-supervision of Dr. Angelina S. Palma and in collaboration with Dr. Natércia Brás from Faculty of Sciences of the Univeristy of Porto (FCUP).

My work focuses in the study of the binding and inhibitory potential of glycogen phosphorylase (GP) with different natural compounds that can assist in regulating blood glucose levels in diabetes.

Liliana Ringler

I am Liliana Ringler, a master's student in Biochemistry for Health and I'm developing my thesis at the Functional Glycobiology lab under the supervision of doctor Benedita Pinheiro and doctor Angelina Palma.

I have a bachelor in Biotechnology Engineering from Lusófona University and I was an  Portuguese Air Force military for seven years.

Currently, I use techniques that characterize glyco-binding proteins, such as glycoarrays, molecular biology techniques, and protein expression and purification.