Alexandra do Carmo Gomes Gonçalves (4411-CEB8-767D)

Curriculum Vitae

Alexandra do Carmo Gomes Gonçalves

Alexandra Gomes-Gonçalves graduated in Biochemistry (2015), and has an MSc degree in Applied Biochemistry, with a specialization in Biomedicine (2018), from the University of Minho. After completing her master's degree, she became a volunteer researcher at the Center for Molecular and Environmental Biology, University of Minho, where she studied the effect of alternative carbon sources, as well as the role of carboxylic acid transporters, on the pathogenicity of fungi of the genus Candida. She was then a research fellow at the Institute for Research in Life and Health Sciences (ICVS), University of Minho, where she studied the function of immunomodulatory cytokines in the immune response. Currently, she is attending the Doctoral Program in Molecular and Environmental Biology (PDBMA) at the University of Minho, where she aims to understand the role of alternative carbon sources, and carboxylate transporters, on the metabolism of Candida albicans, being a member of the MetaFungal project (DOI 10.54499/METAFUNGAL PTDC/BIAMIC/5246/2020). Throughout the years, she acquired expertise and knowledge in several state-of-the-art approaches, including genetic engineering strategies, gene fusions using the CRISPR-Cas9 system, fluorescence microscopy, antifungal drug resistance, and biofilm formation in medical devices. Alexandra Gomes-Gonçalves is the co-author of two publications and presented her work at national/international scientific meetings (3 oral presentations, and 11 poster communications), tutored/collaborated in the supervision of 2 students, and was involved in the organization of scientific events. She was awarded 1 project scientific fellowship, 2 Erasmus+ Traineeship Placement scholarships, and an FCT PhD studentship. Her main interests are focused on Micology, Microbiology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Immunology

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Alexandra do Carmo Gomes Gonçalves

Citation names

Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra
Gonçalves, Alexandra

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 4411-CEB8-767D
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4595-5575
Scopus Author Id: 57214094785

Email addresses

id9986@alunos.uminho.pt (Professional)
alexandra.cg.goncalves@gmail.com (Personal)

Addresses

Universidade do Minho . Rua da Universidade, Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Braga, Portugal (Professional)

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Microbiology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Cell Biology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Mycology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology
Medical and Health Sciences - Basic Medicine - Immunology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences - Bioinformatics

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)	Advanced (C1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2021/10/01 - 2025/09/30 Ongoing	Programa Doutoral em Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (Doutoramento) Major in Biologia Celular e Saúde Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal "Metabolic Induced Regulation in Candida albicans pathogenesis: the role of carboxylic acids and carboxylate transporters" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2015/10 - 2018/03/26 Concluded	Bioquímica Aplicada (Mestrado) Major in Biomedicina Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal "Impact of alternative carbon sources on Candida pathogenesis" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	18
2012 - 2015 Concluded	Bioquímica (Licenciatura) Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal "n/a" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	14

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2019/11/01 - 2020/10/31	Researcher (Research)	Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e Saúde, Portugal
	Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e Saúde, Portugal
2018/05/01 - 2019/07/31	Research Trainee (Research)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2022/04/06 - 2022/07/01	Erasmus+ Traineeship Placement - Development of the project “Metabolic Induced Regulation in Candida albicans pathogenesis: the ATO transporters” under orientation of Professor Patrick Van Dijck	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Centrum voor Levensmiddelen- en Microbiële Technologie, Belgium

2017/03/01 - 2017/05/31	Erasmus+ Traineeship Placement - Development of the project “Impact of alternative carbon sources on Candida glabrata pathogenesis” under orientation of Professor Patrick Van Dijck	Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium

2015/03/10 - 2015/07/12	Undergraduate Researcher in the project “Sinaptic Tau Proteín: an unknown target for anesthetics function or malfunction?”, Orientador Doutor Ioannis Sotiropoulos	Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e Saúde, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2019/11/01 - 2020/10/31	Microbiota na imunidade contra cancro: novas avenidas para imunoterapia PTDC/MED-ONC/28658/2017 Research Fellow Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Ciências da Vida e Saúde, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2021/10/01 - Current	MetaFungal - Metabolism of Carboxylic Acids in Fungal Infections PTDC/BIA-MIC/5246/2020 Researcher Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing

Outputs

Publications

Conference poster	Ghasemi, Faezeh; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Ataíde, Patrícia; Alves, João; Isabel, Soares-Silva; Alves, Rosana; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; et al. "Differential affinity and expression patterns among Candida albicans Ato family members". Paper presented in I CBMA Open Day & II PhD\|Bio Symposium, February 02, 2024, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, 2024. Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Van Genechten, Wouter; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Ghasemi, Faezeh; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Ariño, Joaquin; et al. "Transcriptional response of Candida albicans cells to the presence of lactic acid and environmental pH". Paper presented in I CBMA Open Day & II PhD\|Bio Symposium, 2024. Ghasemi, Faezeh; Ataíde, Patrícia; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Alistair Brown; et al. "Expression and Subcellular Localization Patterns of Ato2 transport protein of Candida albicans". Paper presented in UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days, January 30-31, 2024; University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, 2024. Patrícia Ataíde; Ghasemi, Faezeh; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Brown, Alistair; et al. "Fungi and Nutrition: Expression and Subcellular Localization Patters of Ato2 Transport Protein of Candida albicans". Paper presented in UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days, January 30-31, 2024; University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, 2024. Ghasemi, Faezeh; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Ataíde, Patrícia; Alves, João; Isabel, Soares-Silva; Alves, Rosana; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; et al. Corresponding author: Ghasemi, Faezeh. "Candida albicans Acetate transporter orthologues (ATOs): docking and expression studies". Paper presented in UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days, January 30-31, 2024; University of Minho, Braga, Portugal,, 2024. Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Van Genechten, Wouter; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Ghasemi, Faezeh; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Ariño, Joaquin; et al. "Transcriptomic analysis of C. albicans cells in distinct metabolic conditions". Paper presented in UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days, 2024. Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Ghasemi, Faezeh; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Fernandes, Vitor; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Van Genechten, Wouter; Patrick Van Dijck; Paiva, Sandra. "Metabolic Induced Pathogenesis in Candida albicans: the role of ATO transporters and carboxylic acids". Paper presented in I Symposium PhDBio, 2023. Alves, Rosana; Fernandes, Vitor; Ghasemi, Faezeh; P. Ribeiro, Inês; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Pedro Fernandes; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; et al. Corresponding author: Alves, Rosana. "Pathogenic microorganisms and nutrition". Paper presented in European Researcher's Night, 2022. Alves, Rosana; Fernandes, Vitor; Ghasemi, Faezeh; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Cláudia Barata-Antunes; Casal, Margarida; Isabel João soares Silva; et al. Corresponding author: Alves, Rosana. "Exploring the role of nutrient transporters in Candida pathogenesis". Paper presented in EMBO MEETING, 2022. Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Van Dijck, Patrick; Paiva, Sandra. "Presence of alternative carbon sources modulates Candida glabrata biofilm development on medical devices". Paper presented in V Simpósio PDBMA, 2019. Gonçalves, Alexandra; Alves, Rosana; Casal, Margarida; Van Dijck, Patrick; Paiva, Sandra. "Candida glabrata biofilm development on medical devices is modulated by the presence of alternative carbon sources". Paper presented in MICROBIOTEC’17 – Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2017.
Journal article	Barbosa, Ana Margarida; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Castro, António G.; Torrado, Egídio. "Immune System Efficiency in Cancer and the Microbiota Influence". Pathobiology (2021): 1-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000512326. Published • 10.1159/000512326 Alves, Rosana; Kastora, Stavroula L.; Gomes-Gonçalves, Alexandra; Azevedo, Nuno; Rodrigues, Célia F.; Silva, Sónia; Demuyser, Liesbeth; et al. "Transcriptional responses of Candida glabrata biofilm cells to fluconazole are modulated by the carbon source". npj Biofilms and Microbiomes 6 1 (2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41522-020-0114-5. 10.1038/s41522-020-0114-5
Thesis / Dissertation	Paiva, Sandra; Van Dijck, Patrick; Gonçalves, Alexandra do Carmo Gomes. "Impact of alternative carbon sources on Candida pathogenesis". Master, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/1822/55588.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2023/09/14	The role of alternative carbon sources in the expression of ATO transporters in Candida albicans	38th Small Meeting in Yeast Transport and Energetics (SMYTE23) (Blankenberge, Belgium)
2019/09/11	Acetate assimilation is an integral part of Candida glabrata survival in the human host	37th Small Meeting on Yeast Transport and Energetics (Nove Hrady, Croatia)
2018/06/09	Alternative carbon sources modulate Candida glabrata biofilm development on medical devices	XXI Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras "Professor Nicolau van Uden" Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (Braga, Portugal)

Supervision

	Thesis Title Role	Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2019/05/02 - 2019/07/01	Análise da expressão de transportadores membranares de ácidos monocarboxílicos em levedura Co-supervisor	Bioquímica (Degree) Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2023/07/11 - 2023/07/13	CellMeD - Meeting in Cellular Membrane Dynamics (2023/07/01 - 2023/07/13) Congress (Member of the Organising Committee)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Departamento de Biologia, Portugal International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal
2022/09/30 - 2022/09/30	European Researcher's Night Participation in the organization of the activity " Pathogenic microorganisms and nutrition " (2022/09/30 - 2022/09/30) Festival (Other)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2021/09/24 - 2021/09/24	European Researcher's Night (2021/09/24 - 2021/09/24) Festival (Other)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2019/09/27 - 2019/09/27	European Researcher's Night (2019/09/27 - 2019/09/27) Festival (Other)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2019/06/03 - 2019/06/14	4th Advanced Course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease" (2019/06/03 - 2019/06/14)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2019/06/11 - 2019/06/12	1st Workshop on quantitative microscopy for studying membrane dynamics (2019/06/11 - 2019/06/12) Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)	International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Departamento de Biologia, Portugal
2018/07/02 - 2018/07/13	3rd Advanced course on Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease (2018/07/02 - 2018/07/13)	Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2018/07/10 - 2018/07/12	2nd Small Meeting on Endocytic Trafficking and Signaling (2018/07/10 - 2018/07/12) Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)	International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal Universidade do Minho Departamento de Biologia, Portugal
2015/04/21 - 2015/04/22	Secretary of the organizing committee of "VI Jornadas da Bioquímica", organized by the students of the Bachelor in Biochemistry (2015/04/21 - 2015/04/22) Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)	Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2023/07/02 - 2023/07/14	Practical session tutor at the Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease"	Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease", 6th edition
2023/03/01 - 2023/06/19	Supervision of final degree project in Environmental Sciences	Débora Sofia Fernandes Ferreira
2019/06/03 - 2019/06/14	Practical session tutor at the Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease"	Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease", 4th edition
2018/07/02 - 2018/07/13	Practical session tutor at the Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease"	Advanced course "Protein Degradation and Trafficking in Health and Disease", 3rd edition, University

Distinctions

Award

2021	FCT PhD Fellowship Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal

Other distinction

2022	Erasmus+ Traineeship Placement
2017	Erasmus+ Traineeship Placement