Ana Rita Fortunato Sousa (A81B-E6BE-5113)

Curriculum Vitae

Ana Rita Fortunato Sousa

My research activities have focused on designing innovative immunomodulatory technologies to regulate inflammation and promote tissue repair. In 2016, I graduated in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Beira Interior, and in 2018, I completed a Master's in Oncology from the University of Porto. I conducted doctoral research to study the immunomodulatory and regenerative potential of cell-derived products as translational therapies. In 2024, I defended my PhD in Biotechnology, supervised by Prof. João Mano and Dr. Mariana Oliveira, at CICECO – University of Aveiro, in collaboration with Prof. Kara Spiller at Drexel University (USA). The main outcomes of my PhD research include: 1) centimetric living cell fibers as a biomaterial-free cell-delivery platform for tissue repair; 2) a cell encapsulation system to retrieve conditioned media with different immunomodulatory activities over time; and 3) methanol-fixed cell aggregates that modulate innate and adaptive immune cells in vitro, guiding immunomodulation in a wound healing mouse model. During my PhD path, I performed a 5-month research period in Prof. Kara Spiller’s laboratory (USA), exploring the immunomodulatory potential of methanol-fixed cell aggregates in primary human macrophages, leading to a first co-author publication in Advanced Materials (2024). As a PhD student, I published 5 articles (4 as first author/co-author) in journals such as Advanced Materials, Biomaterials, Advanced Healthcare Materials, and Trends in Molecular Medicine. My PhD work on methanol-fixed cell aggregates for immunomodulation also resulted in an international patent application (WO2024/013677A1) of which I am an inventor, and led to my recognition as an independent researcher through a FLAD Grant (€ 4K, 2023). As part of a team, I received a Dr. Bragança Parreira/Roche 2022 Grant from the Portuguese Society of Diabetology (€ 5K), an award from the University of Aveiro (€ 2K, 2023), and an honourable mention from the University of Coimbra (2023) for being among the Top 5 best projects of National Innovation. I also performed oral/poster communications at 8 national/international conferences (e.g., WBC 2020, Virtual; TERMIS EU 2023, UK). During my PhD journey, I informally mentored 3 Biotechnology master’s students (2021-2022), was involved in the ad hoc review for 1 article (Med, Cell Press, 2022), and participated in outreach activities and on social media platforms to disseminate my work to the general public.

Ler resumo completo ↓

Identificação

Identificação pessoal

Nome completo: Ana Rita Fortunato Sousa

Nomes de citação

Sousa, Ana
AR Sousa

Identificadores de autor

Ciência ID: A81B-E6BE-5113
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4869-1272
Google Scholar ID: 27ne3REAAAAJ&hl

Websites

https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=pt-PT&user=27ne3REAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&gmla=AOAOcb0jPbLvS_sLtAco2-37LF-0fplrWMZe-GlKksnXv6Fb-g_d7iIT1s1WszePGSIYZvPfOgWjlztmudo-ppxO29o (Académico)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-rita-sousa-216319112/ (Rede social)
https://x.com/RitaSousa__ (Rede social)

Domínios de atuação

Ciências Médicas e da Saúde - Biotecnologia Médica - Tecnologias que envolvem a Manipulação de Células,Tecidos,Órgãos ou todo o Organismo
Ciências Médicas e da Saúde - Biotecnologia Médica - Diagnóstico e Terapias de Base Genética
Ciências Médicas e da Saúde - Medicina Clínica - Oncologia

Idiomas

Idioma	Conversação	Leitura	Escrita	Compreensão	Peer-review
Inglês	Utilizador proficiente (C1)	Utilizador proficiente (C1)	Utilizador proficiente (C1)	Utilizador proficiente (C1)	Utilizador proficiente (C1)
Português (Idioma materno)

Formação

	Grau	Classificação
2019/11/01 - 2024/03/22 Concluído	Biotecnologia (Doutoramento) Especialização em Biotecnologia Médica Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal "Exploring Cells and their Abiotic Products as Materials for Immunomodulation and Biomedical Applications" (TESE/DISSERTAÇÃO)
2016/10/10 - 2018/11/06 Concluído	Oncologia (Mestrado) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal "Targeting metastatic colorectal cancer with PLGA nanoparticles carrying MACC1 siRNA" (TESE/DISSERTAÇÃO)	18/20
2013/09/30 - 2016/07/11 Concluído	Ciências Biomédicas (Licenciatura) Universidade da Beira Interior Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde, Portugal "Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields: A New Approach in Breast Cancer Treatment" (TESE/DISSERTAÇÃO)	14.47/20

Percurso profissional

Ciência

	Categoria Profissional Instituição de acolhimento	Empregador
2019/11/01 - 2024/03/22	Investigador (Investigação)	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
	Universidade de Aveiro CICECO, Portugal
2023/07/30 - 2023/12/31	Investigador visitante (Investigação)	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
	Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems, Estados Unidos
2019/01/15 - 2019/10/31	Investigador (Investigação)	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
	Universidade de Aveiro CICECO, Portugal

Projetos

Bolsa

	Designação	Financiadores
2019/11/01 - 2024/03/22	Pancreatic islet transplantation using biomaterial-mediated secretome of stem cells as long-lasting microenvironment modulator SFRH/BD/145765/2019 Bolseiro de Doutoramento Universidade de Aveiro CICECO, Portugal Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems, Estados Unidos	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluído
2023/07/30 - 2023/12/31	Modulation of immune cells phenotype by cell-based materials for regenerative medicine applications project 2023/0222 Bolseiro de Doutoramento Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems, Estados Unidos	Luso American Development Foundation Concluído
2019/01/15 - 2019/10/31	TranSphera - Cápsulas esféricas multicompartimentalizadas de alto rendimento para a transplantação de co-culturas multimodais de células estaminais derivadas de tecido adiposo e de ilhotas pancreáticas POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030770 Bolseiro de Investigação Universidade de Aveiro CICECO, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluído

Produções

Publicações

Artigo em revista	Sousa AR; Ana F. Cunha; Ana Santos-Coquillat; Estrada BH; Spiller KL; Barão M; Artur Filipe Rodrigues; et al. "Shape-Versatile Fixed Cellular Materials for Multiple Target Immunomodulation.". Advanced Materials (2024): https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202405367. Publicado • 10.1002/adma.202405367 Sousa AR; Gonçalves DC; Neves BG; Ana Santos-Coquillat; Oliveira MB; João F. Mano. "Encapsulated Mesenchymal Stromal Cells as Cyclic Providers of Immunomodulatory Secretomes: A Living on-Demand Delivery System.". Advanced Healthcare Materials (2024): https://doi.org/10.1002/adhm.202304012. Publicado • 10.1002/adhm.202304012 Sousa, Ana; Mano, Joao F.; Oliveira, Mariana B.. Autor correspondente: Oliveira, Mariana B.. "Engineering Strategies for Allogeneic Solid Tissue Acceptance". Trends in Molecular Medicine (2021): https://www.cell.com/trends/molecular-medicine/fulltext/S1471-4914(21)00089-7. 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.03.005 M. Birgul Akolpoglu; Yasemin Inceoglu; Ugur Bozuyuk; Sousa, Ana; Oliveira, Mariana B.; Mano, Joao F.; Seda Kizilel. Autor correspondente: Oliveira, Mariana B.. "Recent advances in the design of implantable insulin secreting heterocellular islet organoids". Biomaterials 269 (2021): 120627-120627. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120627. 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2020.120627 Sousa, Ana Rita; Martins-Cruz, Cláudia; Oliveira, Mariana B.; Mano, João F.. "One-Step Rapid Fabrication of Cell-Only Living Fibers". Advanced Materials (2019): 1906305. https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201906305. Publicado • 10.1002/adma.201906305 Sousa, Ana Rita; Oliveira, Ana Vanessa; Oliveira, Maria José; Sarmento, Bruno. "Nanotechnology-based siRNA Delivery Strategies for Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Therapy". International Journal of Pharmaceutics (2019): 118530. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.118530. 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2019.118530 Sousa, Ana Rita; Oliveira, Maria Jose; Sarmento, Bruno. "Impact of CEA-targeting Nanoparticles for Drug Delivery in Colorectal Cancer". Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (2019): http://dx.doi.org/10.1124/jpet.118.254441. 10.1124/jpet.118.254441
Poster em conferência	AR Sousa; D. Gonçalves; B. Neves; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano. "Simple strategy to maximize the therapeutic potential of cells". Trabalho apresentado em Ciência 2023, Aveiro, 2023. Sousa, Ana; C. Martins-Cruz; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano. "Fabrication of Scaffold-free All-Cellular Living Fibers". Trabalho apresentado em European Chapter of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS EU), Manchester, UK, 2023. D. Gonçalves; Sousa, Ana; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano. "The role of different stimuli on the immunomodulatory potential of mesenchymal stem cells". Trabalho apresentado em XLVIII Annual Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Immunology, (SPI), Aveiro, Portugal, 2023. Sousa, Ana; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano. "Development of cell-based immunomodulatory materials". Trabalho apresentado em Jornadas CICECO , University of Aveiro, Portugal, 2022. Sousa, Ana; Maria José Cardoso Oliveira; Bruno Filipe Carmelino Cardoso Sarmento. "Targeting metastatic colorectal cancer with PLGA nanoparticles carrying MACC1 siRNA". Trabalho apresentado em I3S Annual Meeting 2018, 2018.
Tese / Dissertação	"Exploring Cells and their Abiotic Products as Materials for Immunomodulation and Biomedical Applications". Doutoramento, Universidade de Aveiro, 2024. Sousa, Ana. "Targeting metastatic colorectal cancer with PLGA nanoparticles carrying MACC1 siRNA". Mestrado, Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, 2018.

Propriedade Intelectual

Patente

Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; AR Sousa. 2024. "Biomaterial for Immunomodulation, Process for its Production and uses Thereof".
Pendente

Outros

Outra produção

Figure in Social Media, Trends in Molecular Medicine 2021, "Transplantation: Keeping alloreactivity in check", COMPASS Research Group Instagram Web Page. 2021. AR Sousa; Mariana Braga de Oliveira; Joao Filipe Colardelle da Luz Mano. https://www.instagram.com/p/CP5HH-Tsknp/.

Atividades

Apresentação oral de trabalho

	Título da apresentação	Nome do evento Anfitrião (Local do evento)
2022/10/11	Cell-based materials for biomedical applications	Jornadas de Engenharia Biomédica Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2022/07/13	Development of cell-based immunomodulatory materials	Research Summit 2022 Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2021/07/07	Pancreatic islet transplantation using mesenchymal stem cells as a long-lasting microenvironment modulator	Research Summit 2021 Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2020/12/11	Fabrication of Scaffold-free Cell-Only Versatile Fibers	11th World Biomaterials Congress WBC (Virtual, Reino Unido)
2018/05/07	Targeting metastatic colorectal cancer with PLGA nanoparticles carrying MACC1 siRNA	2nd Symposium of the MSc in Oncology Instituto Português de Oncologia-Porto IPO-PORTO (Porto, Portugal)

Orientação

	Título / Tema Papel desempenhado	Curso (Tipo) Instituição / Organização
2022/10/01 - 2022/12/15	Introduction to the Bachelor Project focused on the use of cell-derived materials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine Coorientador	Licenciatura em Biotecnologia (Iniciação científica) Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Participação em evento

	Descrição da atividade Tipo de evento	Nome do evento Instituição / Organização
2023/11/29 - 2023/12/01	Immune Modulation and Engineering Symposium (IMES, Philadelphia, PA, USA) Congresso	Immune Modulation and Engineering Symposium (IMES) Drexel University, Estados Unidos
2023/02/28 - 2023/02/28	11th Edition of the Arrisca C Entrepreneurship Contest, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Concurso	Arrisca C Entrepreneurship Contest Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2021/11/15 - 2021/11/19	6th World Congress Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS 2021) Congresso	World Congress TERMIS, Maastricht, NL (Virtual)
2021/02/12 - 2021/02/12	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	Adjunct therapies, Module 2: Different adjunct therapies European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/02/11 - 2021/02/11	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	Adjunct therapies, Module 1: Rationale for adjunct therapies European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/02/11 - 2021/02/11	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	Diagnosis of type 1 diabetes: Incidence and diagnosis of type 1 diabetes European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/02/10 - 2021/02/10	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	Islet transplantation Module 1: An introduction to islet transplantation European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/02/10 - 2021/02/10	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes Module 1 - Introduction to the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/02/10 - 2021/02/10	EASD e-Learning Course Outro	The pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes Module 2 - Arresting type 1 diabetes European Association for the Study of Diabetes, Alemanha
2021/01/02 - 2021/01/03	Online Course Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Outro	Module 4: Late challenges in transplantation Universiteit Leiden, Países Baixos
2020/12/27 - 2021/01/02	Online Course Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Outro	Module 3: Early challenges in transplantation Universiteit Leiden, Países Baixos
2020/12/24 - 2020/12/27	Online Course Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Outro	Module 2: The procedure and the challenged patient Universiteit Leiden, Países Baixos
2020/12/04 - 2020/12/24	Online Course Clinical Kidney, Pancreas and Islet Transplantation Outro	Module 1: Before the transplant Universiteit Leiden, Países Baixos
2020/04/01 - 2020/04/20	Mentored by PhD supervisor in the process of grant writing: CellFi - Advancing The Regenerative and Translational Potential Of Cellular Fibers (FCT – PTDC/BTM-ORG/3215/2020) Outro	Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2019/10/10 - 2019/10/12	Disseminate the scientific work related to biomaterials engineering and their applications in tissue repair, performed in the research group of Professor João Mano, University of Aveiro, to the general society Exposição	Techdays 2019, Aveiro Câmara Municipal de Aveiro, Portugal
2017/05/08 - 2017/05/20	Cell Culture Basic Course Outro	Cell Culture Basic Course Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto Francisco Gentil Centro de Investigação, Portugal
2016/10/13 - 2016/10/13	7th Edition of the Angelini University Award, Entrepreneurship Contest, Portugal. Concurso	Angelini University Award Angelini Farmacêutica Lda, Portugal

Entrevista (jornal / revista)

	Descrição da atividade	Jornal / Forum
2022/12/16	Research highlight "New biomaterial created at UA is capable of modulating the immunological environment"	University of Aveiro, Research News Journal

Expedição científica

	Descrição da atividade	Instituição / Organização
2023/07/30 - 2023/12/31	PhD research period performed abroad to evaluate the immunomodulatory activity of cell-derived materials towards primary human macrophages	Drexel University School of Biomedical Engineering Science and Health Systems, Estados Unidos

Membro de associação

	Nome da associação	Tipo de participação
2024/06/12 - Atual	Portuguese Association for Cancer Research, ASPIC	Member of the Society
2024/06/11 - Atual	European Association for Cancer Research, EACR	Member of the Society
2023/02/06 - Atual	Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, TERMIS	Member of the Society
2023/02/01 - Atual	Portuguese Society for Immunology, SPI	Member of the Society

Outro júri / avaliação

	Descrição da atividade	Instituição / Organização
2022/12/01 - 2022/12/14	Mentored by PhD supervisor in the process of ad hoc review of one article on the following Medical Journal: Med (ISSN: 2666-6340); Publisher: Cell Press. (DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2023.05.002; https://www.cell.com/med/fulltext/S2666-6340(23)00142-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2666634023001423%3Fshowall%3Dtrue)	Cell Press, Estados Unidos

Tutoria

	Tópico	Nome do aluno
2022/06/01 - 2022/12/15	Intelligent hydrogels for cartilage regeneration	Diogo António Prudente Marques de Castilho
2021/09/01 - 2022/12/13	Immunomodulatory effect of different stimuli in mesenchymal stem cells	Diana Rafaela Costa Gonçalves
2021/01/01 - 2021/10/10	On-slide cell adhesion and cytocompatible (ultra)thin microparticles detachment	Manuel Luís da Silva Coelho
2020/01/01 - 2020/07/15	Development of cell encapsulation systems for niche modulation post-transplantation of islets of Langerhans	Bárbara Alexandra Rodrigues Costa
2019/10/01 - 2020/01/31	Curricular unit "Biomimetic Advanced Biomaterials",	Group of students from the Master in Bioptecnology/Biomedical Materials and Devices

Distinções

Prémio

2023	Participation Prize on the 11th Edition of the Arrisca C Contest 2023 Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
2022	Dr. Bragança Parreira / Roche 2022 Grant - Technologies for Diabetes Sociedade Portuguesa de Diabetologia, Portugal

Outra distinção

2023	FLAD Scholarship for Internships in the USA Luso American Development Foundation, Portugal
2023	Honorable Mention - Top 5 Best Projects of National Innovation in the Arrisca C Entrepreneurship Contest Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2019	PhD Scholarship - SFRH/BD/145765/2019 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2019	Master Scholarship - POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030770 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2018	Research Group Contribution 2018 – “Corino de Andrade’s Restlessness” Nanomedicines & Translational Drug Delivery Research Group, led by Professor Bruno Sarmento at the Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), University of Porto, Portugal., Portugal