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Francisca de Castro Mendes has a degree in Nutritional Sciences from the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto, and obtained a master's degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto. In 2022 she completed her PhD in Public Health at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) with the project ¿Dietary neuroimmune modulation of asthma and respiratory health in children¿. She began her professional activity in 2017 as a research fellow at the Basic and Clinical Immunology Service at FMUP. In 2019 she obtained a PhD scholarship and a Fulbright Research Grant to carry out part of her PhD at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is part of the laboratory "Epidemiology of allergic diseases" (ITR, Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health).
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Ana Francisca Soares de Castro Mendes

Citation names

  • Francisca Castro Mendes

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
421A-83C0-3DF3
ORCID iD
0000-0002-2400-8408

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences - Nutrition, Dietetics
  • Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Upper intermediate (B2)
Spanish; Castilian Upper intermediate (B2) Upper intermediate (B2) Upper intermediate (B2) Upper intermediate (B2) Intermediate (B1)
Education
Degree Classification
2018/06/18 - 2022/03/28
Concluded
 Saúde Pública (Doutoramento)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
"Dietary neuroimmune modulation of asthma and respiratory health in children" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2016/09/26 - 2018/07/25
Concluded
 Biologia Celular e Molecular (Mestrado)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"Exhaled breath condensate microRNAs as potential biomarkers to identify and endotype asthma in school aged children" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2010/09/29 - 2015/10/05
Concluded
 Ciências da Nutrição (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação, Portugal
"Papel Terapêutico da Coenzima Q10 na miopatia induzida por estatinas " (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023/10/01 - Current Postdoc (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Saúde Pública, Portugal
2017/05/01 - 2019/09/30 Researcher (Research) Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2016/01/11 - 2016/07/11 Research Trainee (Research) Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, Portugal
Centro de Investigação em Tecnologias e Serviços de Saúde, Portugal

Other Careers

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2016/01/11 - 2016/07/11 Nutricionista Estagiário (Técnico Nutricionista) Centro Hospitalar Tâmega e Sousa EPE, Portugal
Centro Hospitalar Tâmega e Sousa EPE, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2019/10/01 - 2021/12/31 Estudante doutoramento Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2017/05/01 - 2019/09/30 Health, Comfort and Energy in the Built Environment
NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000010
Research Fellow
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2023/10/01 - Current Development of an individual risk assessment tool for school-age asthma prediction
2022.07363.PTDC
Post-doc Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Mendes, Ana. "Exhaled breath condensate microRNAs as potential biomarkers to identify and endotype asthma in school-aged children". Paper presented in EAACI Congress 2018, 2018.
  2. Mendes, Ana. "Association between Air Pollution and Asthma: Modification by Dietary Inflammatory Potential". Paper presented in EAACI Allergy School on Aerobiology and Pollution 2018, 2018.
Journal article
  1. Mariana Farraia; Francisca Castro Mendes; Oksana Sokhatska; Tiago Rama; Milton Severo; Adnan Custovic; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Henrique Barros; André Moreira. "Component-resolved diagnosis in childhood and prediction of asthma in early adolescence: A birth cohort study". Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (2023): https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.14056.
    10.1111/pai.14056
  2. Mónica Rodrigues; Francisca de Castro Mendes; Patrícia Padrão; Luís Delgado; Renata Barros; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; André Moreira; Pedro Moreira. "Does the Mediterranean Dietary Pattern Promote Lower Sodium Urinary Excretion in Children?". Children (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/children10091478.
    10.3390/children10091478
  3. Mónica Rodrigues; Francisca de Castro Mendes; Patrícia Padrão; Luís Delgado; Inês Paciência; Renata Barros; João Cavaleiro Rufo; et al. "Mediterranean Diet and Airway Inflammation in School-Aged Children". Children (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/children10081305.
    10.3390/children10081305
  4. Mariana Farraia; Francisca Castro Mendes; Oksana Sokhatska; Milton Severo; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Henrique Barros; André Moreira. "Sensitization trajectories to multiple allergen components in a population-based birth-cohort". Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (2023): https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13963.
    10.1111/pai.13963
  5. Mónica Rodrigues; Francisca de Castro Mendes; Luís Delgado; Patrícia Padrão; Inês Paciência; Renata Barros; João Cavaleiro Rufo; et al. "Diet and Asthma: A Narrative Review". Applied Sciences (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/app13116398.
    10.3390/app13116398
  6. Mónica Rodrigues; Francisca de Castro Mendes; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; Luís Delgado; André Moreira; Pedro Moreira. "Diet Quality and Exhaled Breath Condensate Markers in a Sample of School-Aged Children". Children (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/children10020263.
    10.3390/children10020263
  7. Irene Carvalho; Bruno Peixoto; José Carlos da Silva Caldas; Ana Costa; Sofia Silva; Bárbara Moreira; Agostinho Almeida; et al. "Association between Elevated Iodine Intake and IQ among School Children in Portugal". Nutrients (2022): https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/21/4493.
    10.3390/nu14214493
  8. Mariana Farraia; Inês Paciência; Francisca Castro Mendes; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Mohamed H. Shamji; Ioana Agache; André Moreira; Oliver Pfaar. "Cost-effectiveness analysis of house dust mite allergen immunotherapy in children with allergic asthma". Allergy (2022): https://doi.org/10.1111/all.15321.
    10.1111/all.15321
  9. Mariana Farraia; Inês Paciência; Francisca Castro Mendes; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Mohamed Shamji; Ioana Agache; André Moreira. "Allergen immunotherapy for asthma prevention: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized controlled studies". Allergy (2022): https://doi.org/10.1111/all.15295.
    10.1111/all.15295
  10. Francisca Castro Mendes; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; Luís Delgado; André Moreira; Pedro Moreira. "Dietary Acid Load Modulation of Asthma-Related miRNAs in the Exhaled Breath Condensate of Children". Nutrients (2022): https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14061147.
    10.3390/nu14061147
  11. Francisca de Castro Mendes; Kirstie Ducharme-Smith; Gustavo Mora-Garcia; Saleh A. Alqahtani; Maria Stephany Ruiz-Diaz; Andre Moreira; Rodrigo Villegas; Vanessa Garcia-Larsen. "Household Food Insecurity, Lung Function, and COPD in US Adults". Nutrients 13 6 (2021): 2098-2098. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13062098.
    10.3390/nu13062098
  12. Francisca de Castro Mendes; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Mariana Farraia; Diana Silva; Patrícia Padrão; Luís Delgado; et al. "Increasing Vegetable Diversity Consumption Impacts the Sympathetic Nervous System Activity in School-Aged Children". Nutrients (2021): https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13051456.
    10.3390/nu13051456
  13. Tiago Azenha Rama; Carla Martins; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; Francisca Castro Mendes; Milton Severo; et al. "Bronchodilator responsiveness in healthy children: Insights from a cross-sectional study". Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 32 2 (2021): 371-373. https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13326.
    10.1111/pai.13326
  14. Francisca de Castro Mendes; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Mariana Farraia; Diana Silva; Patrícia Padrão; Luís Delgado; et al. "Higher diversity of vegetable consumption is associated with less airway inflammation and prevalence of asthma in school-aged children". Pediatric Allergy and Immunology (2021): https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13446.
    10.1111/pai.13446
  15. Francisca Castro Mendes; Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; Pedro Cunha; Mariana Farraia; Luís Delgado; et al. "The inflammatory potential of diet impacts the association between air pollution and childhood asthma". Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 31 3 (2020): 290-296. https://doi.org/10.1111/pai.13185.
    10.1111/pai.13185
  16. Farraia, Mariana; Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Paciência, Inês; Castro Mendes, Francisca; Rodolfo, Ana; Rama, Tiago; Rocha, Sílvia M.; et al. "Human volatilome analysis using eNose to assess uncontrolled asthma in a clinical setting". Allergy (2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/all.14207.
    10.1111/all.14207
  17. Paciência, I; Cavaleiro Rufo, J; Silva, D; Mendes, F; Farraia, M; Delgado, L; Padrão, P; et al. "Effects of Indoor Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals on Childhood Rhinitis". Journal of Investigational Allergology and Clinical Immunology 30 3 (2019): http://dx.doi.org/10.18176/jiaci.0471.
    10.18176/jiaci.0471
  18. Inês Paciência; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; Carla Martins; Francisca Mendes; Tiago Rama; Ana Rodolfo; et al. "School environment associates with lung function and autonomic nervous system activity in children: a cross-sectional study". Scientific Reports (2019): https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51659-y.
    10.1038/s41598-019-51659-y
  19. Francisca Castro Mendes; Stelios Loukides; Inês Paciência; António Carlos Ferreira; Carla Martins; João Cavaleiro Rufo; Diana Silva; et al. "Development and validation of exhaled breath condensate microRNAs to identify and endotype asthma in children". PLOS ONE (2019): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224983.
    10.1371/journal.pone.0224983
  20. de Castro Mendes, Francisca; Paciência, Inês; Rufo, João Cavaleiro; Silva, Diana; Cunha, Pedro; Farraia, Mariana; Delgado, Luís; Moreira, Pedro; Moreira, André. "Asthma and body mass definitions affect estimates of association: evidence from a community-based cross-sectional survey". ERJ Open Research 5 4 (2019): 00076-2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00076-2019.
    10.1183/23120541.00076-2019
  21. Cunha, Pedro; Paciência, Inês; Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Castro Mendes, Francisca; Farraia, Mariana; Barros, Renata; Silva, Diana; et al. "Dietary Acid Load: A Novel Nutritional Target in Overweight/Obese Children with Asthma?". Nutrients 11 9 (2019): 2255. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu11092255.
    10.3390/nu11092255
  22. Farraia, M.; Cavaleiro Rufo, J.; Paciência, I.; Castro Mendes, F.; Delgado, L.; Laerte Boechat, J.; Moreira, A.. "Metabolic interactions in asthma". European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology 51 05 (2019): 196. http://dx.doi.org/10.23822/eurannaci.1764-1489.101.
    10.23822/eurannaci.1764-1489.101
  23. Paciência, Inês; Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Silva, Diana; Martins, Carla; Mendes, Francisca; Farraia, Mariana; Delgado, Luís; et al. "Exposure to indoor endocrine-disrupting chemicals and childhood asthma and obesity". Allergy (2019): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/all.13740.
    10.1111/all.13740
  24. Cavaleiro Rufo, João; Paciência, Inês; Mendes, Francisca Castro; Farraia, Mariana; Rodolfo, Ana; Silva, Diana; de Oliveira Fernandes, Eduardo; Delgado, Luís; Moreira, André. "Exhaled breath condensate volatilome allows sensitive diagnosis of persistent asthma". Allergy 74 3 (2018): 527-534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/all.13596.
    10.1111/all.13596
  25. Costa Leite, João; Keating, Elisa; Pestana, Diogo; Cruz Fernandes, Virgínia; Maia, Maria; Norberto, Sónia; Pinto, Edgar; et al. "Iodine Status and Iodised Salt Consumption in Portuguese School-Aged Children: The Iogeneration Study". Nutrients 9 5 (2017): 458. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu9050458.
    10.3390/nu9050458
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. Mendes, Ana. "Exhaled breath condensate microRNAs as potential biomarkers to identify and endotype asthma in school-aged children". Master, 2018.
  2. Mendes, Ana. "Papel terapêutico da CoQ10 na miopatia induzida por estatinas". Degree, 2015.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2020/09 The association between vegetable diversity intake and the sympathetic nervous system activity in school-aged children XIX Congresso de Nutrição e Alimentação da Associação Portuguesa de Nutrição
Associação Portuguesa de Nutrição
2019 Modification of effect between air pollution and lung function by the inflammatory potential of diet in children: evidence from a cross-sectional study European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Congress
(Lisboa, Portugal)
2018/09 Exhaled breath condensate microRNAs as potential biomarkers to identify and endotype asthma in school-aged children YesMeeting
(Porto, Portugal)
2018/01 Exhaled breath condensate microRNAs as potential biomarkers to identify and endotype asthma in school-aged children Winter School EAACI 2018
(Saas-Fee, Switzerland)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2018/07 - 2018/12 I created a crowdfunding campaign, to improve some functionalities and to integrate more information into the database of the application that I developed for type 1 diabetics, named "Carbo App". The campaign achieved its goals. (2018/09 - 2018/11)
Other

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2017 - Current European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, EAACI Junior member

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2019/03 "Mentes que brilham" was the title of the interview, which included questions about the application that I developed for type 1 diabetics, called “Carbo App” with the aim of optimizing the amount of fast insulin to be administrated, avoiding hypo and hyperglycemia. Revista Viver Saudável
Distinctions

Award

2019 Fulbright Grant for Research
Fulbright Portugal, Portugal
2018 3rd prize 13th Young European Scientist Meeting
2016 Forward Nutrition prize
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação, Portugal

Other distinction

2019 Abstract awarded with travel grant to attend the European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Congress, Lisbon
2018 Abstract awarded with travel grant to attend the European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology Congress, Berlin
European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Switzerland
2018 Abstract awarded with travel grant to attend the EAACI Winter School, Saas-Fee, Switzerland
European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Switzerland