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Rafaela Costa (RC) holds a B.Sc. degree (2019) and an M.Sc. degree (2021), both in Biochemistry and granted by the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (UP, Portugal). RC started her professional research career at CIIMAR (Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, Portugal) in 2022, in the field of aquaculture nutrition, becoming a member of the Feed and Seafood Quality team. There, RC held a contract under the international project SIDESTREAM, which focused on the utilization of polychaetes as novel ingredients for European seabass feed. After this project, RC was hired by ICBAS (School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of the UP) under the international project INFISHMIX, which focused on the incorporation of insects in diets for two economically relevant fish species - the Atlantic salmon and the European seabass. RC continued to develop her work at CIIMAR, in the Feed and Seafood Quality laboratory, and is currently in the first year of the Doctoral Programme in Animal Science of ICBAS, having been awarded an FCT Ph.D. scholarship in 2023. The Ph.D. project focuses on the optimization of the utilization of insect meals in diets for European seabass and will be developed in CIIMAR and WUR (Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands). RC is a co-author of four scientific research articles in the field of aquaculture nutrition, all published in Q1-ranked journals, and also presented her work at conferences in the field (e.g., Aquaculture Europe and AQUA). RC is an active member of the Feed and Seafood Quality team and has co-supervised two B.Sc. students thus far.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Rafaela Silva Costa

Citation names

  • Costa, Rafaela S.
  • Costa, Rafaela
  • Costa, R.S.

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
2E1C-1321-EE41
ORCID iD
0000-0002-7196-2616

Email addresses

  • rcosta@ciimar.up.pt (Professional)

Addresses

  • ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Rua Jorge Viterbo Ferreira, 228, 4050-313, Porto, Porto, Portugal (Professional)
  • Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões Avenida General Norton de Matos, S/N, 4450-208, Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Marine Biology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Spanish; Castilian Beginner (A1) Elementary (A2) Beginner (A1) Elementary (A2)
Education
Degree Classification
2023 - 2027
Ongoing
 Doctoral Programme in Animal Sciences (Specialization in Nutrition) (Doutoramento)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
2019 - 2021
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Mestrado)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"a-Ketoglutarate, amino acid homeostasis and lifespan in a yeast model of Niemann-Pick type C1" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18 (Dissertation classification: 19)
2016 - 2019
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"Effects of nanoplastics and lithium, alone and in combination, on the freshwater bivalve Corbicula fluminea" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 17 (Report classification: 19)
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023/02/21 - 2023/10 Researcher (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2022/04/21 - 2023/02/20 Researcher (Research) Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
2020/09 - 2021/12 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
2019/02 - 2019/09 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2023/02/21 - 2023/10 INFISHMIX - Combining insects for a novel circular strategy towards fish growth and robustness
PT-INNOVATION-0094
Researcher
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
Ongoing
2022/04/21 - 2023/02/20 SIDESTREAM - Secondary bio-production of low-trophic organisms utilizing side streams from the Blue and Green sectors to produce novel feed ingredients for European aquaculture
BLUEBIO/0005/2019
Researcher
Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2023/03 - Current InsectERA - A ERA da indústria dos insetos
C644917393-00000032
Team member
Universidade do Porto Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Costa, Rafaela S.; Pinho, Bia; Claro, Ana; Basto, Ana; Sá, Tiago; Monteiro, Marta; Murta, Daniel; et al. "Insect mixtures in practical diets for European seabass: Working towards flexibility in diet formulation". Paper presented in AQUA, Copenhagen, 2024.
  2. Costa, Rafaela S.; Monteiro, M.; Thoresen, L.; Kousoulaki, K.; Valente, L.M.P.. "Dietary replacement of fishmeal with polychaete meal (Alitta virens) impacts European seabass acute stress response". Paper presented in II TOXRUN International Congress, Porto, 2023.
  3. Costa, Rafaela S.; Monteiro, M.; Silva, J.; Kousoulaki, K.; Thoresen, L.; Valente, L.M.P.. "Feeding the future: The potential of polychaete meal for European seabass functional diets". Paper presented in Aquaculture Europe 2023, Vienna, 2023.
    Accepted
  4. Costa, Rafaela S.; Monteiro, Marta; Sá, Tiago; Kousoulaki, Katerina; Thoresen, Lars; Valente, L.M.P.. "Dietary replacement of fish meal by polychaete meal (Alitta virens): effects on European seabass growth performance and metabolism". Paper presented in 6th AquaImprove - Aquaculture Research Workshop, Matosinhos, 2022.
    Published
  5. Monteiro, M.; Costa, Rafaela S.; Sá, T.; Kousoulaki, K.; Thoresen L.; Valente, L.M.P.. "Exploring the potential of low trophic species Alitta virens to replace fish meal in diets for European sea bass". Paper presented in Aquaculture Europe 2022, 28-30 September 2022, Rimini, 2022.
    Published
  6. Costa, Rafaela S.; Martins, Telma S.; Pereira, Clara; Costa, Vítor. "Role of Gln3 and amino acids in the yeast model of Niemann-Pick type C1". Paper presented in IJUP21 - 14th Meeting of Young Researchers of University of Porto, Porto, 2021.
    Published
Conference paper
  1. Costa, Rafaela S.; Oliveira, Patrícia; Guilhermino, Lúcia. "Effects of Nanoplastics, Lithium, and Their Mixtures on Corbicula fluminea: Preliminary Findings". Paper presented in Geoethics & Groundwater Management Congress, Porto, 2020.
    Published • 10.1007/978-3-030-59320-9_57
Conference poster
  1. Costa, Rafaela S.; Basto, Ana; Sá, Tiago; Monteiro, Marta; Santos, Marisa; Murta, Daniel; Schrama, Johan W.; Valente, Luisa M.P.. "Introdução de uma mistura proteica de Hermetia illucens e Tenebrio molitor em dietas para robalo Europeu: impacto na digestibilidade a diferentes salinidades". Paper presented in 1º Congresso InsectERA, 2024.
  2. Costa, Rafaela S.; Basto, Ana; Sá, Tiago; Monteiro, Marta; Murta, Daniel; Santos, Marisa; Schrama, Johan W.; Valente, Luísa M.P.. "The impact of water salinity on the digestive capacity of European seabass fed diets containing an insect meal mixture". Paper presented in AQUA, 2024.
  3. Costa, Rafaela S.; Basto, Ana; Monteiro, Marta; Sá, Tiago; Fantatto, Rafaela; Ribeiro, Teresa; Vieira, Inês; et al. "In vivo assessment of water salinity impact on the ability of European Seabass to digest a diet containing insects". Paper presented in 8th International Conference on Food Digestion, 2024.
  4. Costa, R.S.; Basto, Ana; Sá, Tiago; Fantatto, Rafaela; Ribeiro, Teresa; Vieira, Inês; Santos, Marisa V.; Murta, Daniel; Valente, Luisa M.P.. "Mixture of processed protein from Black Soldier Fly and Yellow Mealworm larvae as protein source in diets for European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax". Paper presented in Aquaculture Europe, 2023.
  5. Martins, Telma S.; Costa, Rafaela S.; Lemos, Carolina; Pereira, Clara; Costa, Vítor. "Vacuolar membrane proteome and role of amino acids in the lifespan of a Niemann-Pick type C1 yeast model". Paper presented in XXI SPB National Congress of Biochemistry, 14-16 October 2021, Évora, 2021.
  6. Martins, Telma S.; Costa, Rafaela; Lemos, Carolina; Pereira, Clara; Costa, Vítor. "Regulation of the lysosome-like vacuole and amino acid homeostasis in the yeast model of Niemann-Pick type C1". Paper presented in 45th FEBS Congress, 3-8 July 2021, 2021.
Journal article
  1. Filipa-Silva, Andreia; Monteiro, Marta; Costa, Rafaela S.; Sá, Tiago; Marques, Alexandra; Valente, Luisa M.P.; Figueiredo-Silva, Claudia. "Comparative study of dietary selenium sources on gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata): Growth, nutrient utilization, stress response and final product quality". Aquaculture 595 (2025): 741508. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2024.741508.
    10.1016/j.aquaculture.2024.741508
  2. Monteiro, M.; Marques, A.; Costa, R.S.; Salgado, M.A.; Castro, C.; Conceição, L.; Valente, L.M.P.. "Beyond fish oil: Assessing the implications of alternative dietary lipid sources for turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) on growth, nutrient utilization and muscle quality". Aquaculture 578 (2024): 740073. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740073.
    10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740073
  3. Monteiro, M.; Costa, R.S.; Sousa, V.; Marques, A.; Sá, T.; Thoresen, L.; Aldaghi, S.A.; et al. "Towards sustainable aquaculture: Assessing polychaete meal (Alitta virens) as an effective fishmeal alternative in European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) diets". Aquaculture 579 (2024): 740257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740257.
    10.1016/j.aquaculture.2023.740257
  4. Monteiro, Marta; Rimoldi, Simona; Costa, Rafaela S.; Kousoulaki, Katerina; Hasan, Imam; Valente, Luisa M. P.; Terova, Genciana. "Polychaete (Alitta virens) meal inclusion as a dietary strategy for modulating gut microbiota of European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax)". Frontiers in Immunology 14 (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1266947.
    10.3389/fimmu.2023.1266947
  5. Martins, Telma S.; Costa, Rafaela S.; Vilaça, Rita; Lemos, Carolina; Teixeira, Vitor; Pereira, Clara; Costa, Vítor. "Iron Limitation Restores Autophagy and Increases Lifespan in the Yeast Model of Niemann–Pick Type C1". International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24 7 (2023): 6221. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms24076221.
    10.3390/ijms24076221
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2023/09/19 Feeding the future: The potential of polychaete meal for European seabass functional diets Aquaculture Europe 2023
(Vienna, Austria)
2023/04/27 Dietary replacement of fishmeal with polychaete meal (Alitta virens) impacts European seabass acute stress response II TOXRUN International Congress
(Porto, Portugal)
2022/10/19 Dietary replacement of fish meal by polychaete meal (Alitta virens): Effects on European seabass growth performance and metabolism 6th AquaImprove – Aquaculture Research Workshop
(Matosinhos, Portugal)
2021/05 Role of Gln3 and amino acids in the yeast model of Niemann-Pick type C1 IJUP’2021 – 14th Meeting of Young Researchers of University of Porto
University of Porto (Portugal)
2020/05 Effects of Nanoplastics, Lithium and Their Mixtures on Corbicula fluminea: Preliminary Findings 1st Congress on Geoethics and Groundwater Management (GEOETH&GWM'20)
(Porto, Portugal)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2023/09 - 2024/07 Exploring the impact of an insect mixture as a fishmeal substitute on European seabass growth performance and metabolic status
Co-supervisor
 Biologia (Degree)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2022/09 - 2023/07 Organismos de baixo nível trófico como novos ingredientes para aquacultura
Co-supervisor
 Biology (Degree)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2023/06/05 - 2023/06/09 Advanced Course in Fish Nutrition, Feeding and Health (32 hours), jointly organized by CIHEAM Zaragoza and the NewTechAqua project Advanced Course in Fish Nutrition, Feeding and Health
Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Zaragoza (CIHEAM Zaragoza), Spain