The pursuit of my scientific ideals
Since very early, I have figured out the science as a way to express my interest in finding new strategies to improve people’s quality of life. My willingness to pursue my scientific ideals is what triggered me to master graduate in Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, in 2015.
I consider myself a perfeccionist and I like to keep me busy. That's why I envisaged a deeper high-level formation to shape me to a better individual and help me move forward up to my professional values. And since 2017, I have been granted with a PhD scholarship, by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), with the project “Development of ionic-liquid-based supported materials for the purification of Ribonucleic Acid (RNA)” ranked top 5 PhD projects within the Biotechnology and Bioengineering fields.
Today’s my main motivation as scientist is the belief that someday I will be able to create something to improve people’s life, always ensuring its low environmental impact. I believe that my PhD project is a contribution to boosting my scientific ideals towards the development of more sustainable methodologies for the processing of biopharmaceuticals as gene therapy innovative mediators of "undrugable" diseases.
Conquests tagged along the way: 9 publications in peer-reviewed multidisciplinary high impact journals | +30 oral and poster communications in national and international conferences | 1 best poster award | 1 merit-based scholarship | 1 recognised merit-based distinction
my scientific highlights along with my academic background
October 2017-December 2020 | PhD in Chemical Engineering - Bioengineering field, University of Aveiro, Portugal | Thesis Title: "Characterization and development of aqueous biphasic systems envisioning their application in the purification of nucleic acids", supervised by Dr. Mara G. Freire (CICECO-UA) and Prof. Dr. Fani Sousa (CICS-UBI)
May 2018-June 2018 | Research fellow as external PhD student | CICS-UBI – Health Sciences Research Centre of University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal
October 2015-September 2017 | Research Fellow (BI/UI89/7215/2015) within the project "IgY Technology: A Purification Platform using Ionic Liquid-Based Aqueous Biphasic Systems”, from the ERC Starting Grant ERC-2013-StG-337753 | CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, Portugal
September 2013-July 2015 | MSc in Industrial and Environmental Biotechnology, University of Aveiro, Portugal | Thesis title: "Concentration of human pollution tracers with ionic liquids", supervised by Dr. Mara G. Freire (CICECO) and Prof. Dr. Valdemar I. Esteves (CESAM)
September 2009-July 2013 | BSc in Biotechnology, University of Aveiro, Portugal | Final-year project report: "Aqueous Biphasic Systems with Ionic Liquids: Characterization and Application in the Concentration of Synthetic Hormones", supervised by Prof. Dr. João A.P. Coutinho (CICECO) and Dr. Mara G. Freire (CICECO)
my hands-on experiences gained so far
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Experimental determination and thermodynamic characterization of liquid-liquid separation | aqueous biphasic systems (ABS);
Experimental development of predictive models valuable at large-scale operations | faster thorough analysis and finding of optimal conditions for target-product purification and recovery. |
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Experimental “design” of ABS to respond to the various challenges and needs, whether of environmental or public health concern:
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Experimental and theoretical background of: Chromatography | High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC); Spectroscopy | Circular Dichroism (CD), Spectrophotometer in UV-Vis range, Nuclear Magnetic Ressonance (NMR); Electrophoresis of nucleic acids. |
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Basic techniques of microbiology and cell culture procedures;
Nucleic acids isolation experimental protocols from cell cultures. |
Publications
Integrated platform resorting to ionic liquids comprising the extraction, purification and preservation of DNA
Dinis, TBV; Valente, AI; Tavares, APM; Sousa, F; Freire, MG
2023, SEPARATION AND PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY, 315.
Advances Brought by Hydrophilic Ionic Liquids in Fields Involving Pharmaceuticals
Dinis, TBV; Silva, FAE; Sousa, F; Freire, MG
2021, MATERIALS, 14, 21.
ISBN:
1996-1944
Insights on the DNA Stability in Aqueous Solutions of Ionic Liquids
Dinis, TBV; Sousa, F; Freire, MG
2020, FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY, 8.
Binary Mixtures of Ionic Liquids in Aqueous Solution: Towards an Understanding of Their Salting-In/Salting-Out Phenomena
Neves, CMSS; Dinis, TBV; Carvalho, PJ; Schroder, B; Santos, LMNBF; Freire, MG; Coutinho, JAP
2019, JOURNAL OF SOLUTION CHEMISTRY, 48, 7, 983-991.
ISBN:
1572-8927
Simultaneous extraction and concentration of water pollution tracers using ionic-liquid-based systems
Dinis, TBV; Passos, H; Lima, DLD; Sousa, ACA; Coutinho, JAP; Esteves, VI; Freire, MG
2018, JOURNAL OF CHROMATOGRAPHY A, 1559, 69-77.
Mechanisms ruling the partition of solutes in ionic-liquid-based aqueous biphasic systems - the multiple effects of ionic liquids
Passos, H; Dinis, TBV; Capela, EV; Quental, MV; Gomes, J; Resende, J; Madeira, PP; Freire, MG; Coutinho, JAP
2018, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 20, 13, 8411-8422.
Hydrogen bond basicity of ionic liquids and molar entropy of hydration of salts as major descriptors in the formation of aqueous biphasic systems
Passos, H; Dinis, TBV; Claudio, AFM; Freire, MG; Coutinho, JAP
2018, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 20, 20, 14234-14241.
Solubility and solvation of monosaccharides in ionic liquids
Teles, ARR; Dinis, TBV; Capela, EV; Santos, LMNBF; Pinho, SP; Freire, MG; Coutinho, JAP
2016, PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY CHEMICAL PHYSICS, 18, 29, 19722-19730.
One-step extraction and concentration of estrogens for an adequate monitoring of wastewater using ionic-liquid-based aqueous biphasic systems
Dinis, TBV; Passos, H; Lima, DLD; Esteves, VI; Coutinho, JAP; Freire, MG
2015, GREEN CHEMISTRY, 17, 4, 2570-2579.
Good's buffers as novel phase-forming components of ionic-liquid-based aqueous biphasic systems
Luis, A; Dinis, TBV; Passos, H; Taha, M; Freire, MG
2015, BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, 101, 142-149.
Characterization and development of aqueous biphasic systems enviosioning their application in the purification of nucleic acids
Teresa Beatriz Vide Dinis
2020, supervised by Martins, Mara Guadalupe Freire, Sousa, Fani Pereira.
Concentration of human pollution tracers with ionic liquids
Teresa Beatriz Vide Dinis
2015, supervised by Martins, Mara Guadalupe Freire, Esteves, Valdemar Inocêncio.