I obtained my MSc degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aveiro in 2013. In July of 2018, I completed my PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Aveiro, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) through a PhD scholarship. During the PhD I gathered a vast knowledge in the development of sustainable extraction/purification platforms (using liquid-liquid systems) of bioactive compounds, having also the opportunity to broaden my scientific skills abroad,through trainees at Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil, and Tokyo University of Agriculture, Japan. After finishing my PhD, I moved to Technical University of Munich (TUM, one of the world's top universities), Germany, as a post-doctoral researcher, to work on the purification of biocompounds from microalgae in collaboration with the company Oceanbasis, with a TUM University Foundation Fellowship. This fellowship is awarded once a year by TUM, where 10 to 15 young scientists are selected from all over the world. Currently, I am hired as a researcher at UA in a scientific project under the scope of the scientific project ChiResus (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030750), in order to develop cost-efficient purification platforms to solve the chiral resolution of drugs problem using centrifugal partition chromatography based on enantioselective aqueous biphasic systems.

Since the beginning of my research activities, I published 1 book chapter and 15 peer-reviewed multidisciplinary high impact journals (458 citations, h-index of 10). Moreover, I contributed with +50 oral and posters communications in national and international conferences and meetings.

2014-2018: PhD in Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Portugal.

2008-2013: MSc in Chemical Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Portugal.

Path 

Development of sustainable products and processes using alternative solvents 

http://path.web.ua.pt

https://www.facebook.com/PATh.group

Chemical Engineering

Development of innovative, integrated and sustainable processes for the extraction and separation of value-added compounds (alkaloids, amino acids, phenolic acids and others natural compounds) with therapeutic features from biomass, as well as wastes, using aqueous solutions of ionic liquids and surfactants, within a biorefinery perspective (circular economy).

Biotechnology

Development of cost-effective purification and recovery processes for several value‐added biopharmaceuticals, namely proteins, enzymes, antibodies, and nucleic‐acids‐based products.

Chemistry/Physical Chemistry

Understand the molecular‐level mechanisms which rule the liquid-liquid equilibria and the extraction performance of separation processes, by the determination of thermodynamic properties of solution, solvation and transfer.

MSc students

Guilherme A. S. V. B. Barros, Extração de dopamina de fontes naturais com benefícios para a saúde, Master in Chemical Engineering, University of Aveiro, 2019/2020 (in progress).

BSc students 

Ana S. F. Pinto, Avaliação do efeito hidrotrópico de compostos zwiteriónicos de baixa toxicidade para aplicação na indústria farmacêutica, Graduation in biochemistry, Supervisors: Dr. Helena Passos and Dr. Ana M. Ferreira, University of Aveiro, 2019/2020 (in progress).

Tatiana D. Ferreira, valiação do efeito hidrotrópico de compostos zwiteriónicos de baixa toxicidade para aplicação na indústria farmacêutica, Graduation in biotechnology, Supervisors: Dr. Helena Passos and Dr. Ana M. Ferreira, University of Aveiro, 2019/2020 (in progress).