Maria Inês Rodrigues Alfaiate (4413-66E3-0DE2)

Curriculum Vitae

Maria Inês Rodrigues Alfaiate

Maria I. R. Alfaiate is a research fellow at Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra, Portugal. She has a bachelor in Biology and a Master in Biochemistry, both by the University of Coimbra. Her master thesis focused on the analysis of the efficacy and safety of spermicides with cationic surfactants as active principles. Currently, she works as an investigator in a project that research the impact of heavy metals exposure in male fertility, meanwhile analyzing the toxicity of phthalates in human sperm. She is co-authored of one submitted scientific paper and has attended multiple scientific meetings where she presented her work in poster or oral presentation format. The most frequent terms in the context of her scientific outputs are: Male (in)fertility; Endocrine disruptors; Biology of reproduction; Sperm quality and function; Male reproductive health; Chemical contraception.

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Maria Inês Rodrigues Alfaiate

Citation names

Alfaiate, MIR

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 4413-66E3-0DE2
ORCID iD: 0000-0003-4503-9972

Email addresses

maria.alfaiate@cnc.uc.pt (Professional)

Addresses

Universidade de Coimbra, IIIUC, Azinhaga de Santa Comba, Celas, 3004-504, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

http://www.cnbc.pt/ (Professional)

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Reproductive Biology
Medical and Health Sciences - Clinical Medicine - Andrology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemical Research Methods
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biology
Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Cell Biology

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English	Proficiency (C2)	Proficiency (C2)	Advanced (C1)	Proficiency (C2)	Advanced (C1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2021/07 - 2025/06 Ongoing	Biologia Experimental e Biomedicina (Doutoramento) Major in Biology of Reproduction Universidade de Coimbra Instituto de Investigação Interdisciplinar, Portugal
2023/10/23 - 2023/10/27 Concluded	Biotech Transfer Step-by-Step (Outros) Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Inovação em Biomedicina e Biotecnologia, Portugal
2022/03 - 2022/05 Concluded	InnoCore – Core Technologies for Education and Innovation in Life Sciences (Outros) Fundación Parque Tecnológico de Ciencias de la Salud de Granada, Spain
2021/01/18 - 2021/01/29 Concluded	Curso de Formação em Estatística com SPSS (Outros) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal	Aprovado
2019/10/04 Concluded	How to Get Published (Outros) Elsevier, Netherlands
2017/08/18 - 2019/09/12 Concluded	Biochemistry (Mestrado) Major in Sem especialização Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal "Analysis of the Efficacy and Safety of Spermicides with Benzalkonium Cholride and Myristalkonium Chloride as Active Principles" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	18
2019/02/12 - 2019/05/27 Concluded	English for Academic Purposes II (Outros) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Letras, Portugal	17
2018/09/04 - 2018/09/04 Concluded	Introduction to Laboratory Safety, organized by Lab Safety Workplace (Outros) Lab Safety Workplace, Portugal
2018/04/30 Concluded	Princípios OCDE das Boas Práticas Laboratoriais (BPL) (Outros) CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Portugal
2018/03/08 - 2018/03/08 Concluded	Gestão de Hospitalares Perigosos - Triagem e Acondicionamento (Outros) Ambiwaste, Portugal
2014/09/11 - 2017/06/26 Concluded	Biology (Licenciatura) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Portugal	14

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2019/12/02 - Current	Researcher (Research)	Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2018/09/01 - Current	Research Trainee (Research)	CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2021/07/01 - Current	Role of cholesterol in male fertility: Modulation of store-operated channels to improve sperm function 2020.05337.BD PhD Student Fellow	Ongoing
2021/01 - Current	Reproduction@Estarreja: is female reproductive potential at risk? OHM-E/2020/Proj.5 OHM-E/2020/Proj.5 Researcher LabEx DRIIHM - Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux, France	LabEx DRIIHM - Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux Ongoing

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2019/12/02 - Current	MEN’S HEALTH ESTARREJA – evaluation of the reproductive health of men living in a heavily industrialized area OHM-E/2019/Proj.3 Research Fellow Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal	LabEx DRIIHM - Dispositif de Recherche Interdisciplinaire sur les Interactions Hommes-Milieux Ongoing
2020/01/01 - 2021/06/30	HEALTHYAGING 2020 CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012 Research Fellow	Concluded
2020/10 - 2021/02	BioBlock COVID 53456 Researcher	Ongoing
2018/09 - 2019/07/31	INNOTECH 2015 INNOTECH 2015 Other Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal	Laboratoire INNOTECH International Concluded

Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract	Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. Corresponding author: Alfaiate, MIR. "No loss, no gain: Lack of cholesterol efflux and tyrosine phosphorylation in overweight and obese men". Paper presented in 57th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Prague, 2023. Published Tavares, Renata S.; Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João. Corresponding author: Tavares, Renata S.. "It takes two to tango: The involvement of certain environmental endocrine-disrupting chemicals in male infertility aetiology". Paper presented in 56th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Bare, 2022. Published Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Carola, Carolina; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. "Effects of heavy metal contamination in male reproductive status - A preliminary study". Paper presented in 21st European Testis Workshop, 2021. Published Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Ana Teresa Almeida Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. "Empowering women: In vitro safety and efficacy of cationic surfactants as active principles for potential vaginal contraceptives.". Paper presented in European Journal of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Coimbra, 2019. Published
Conference poster	António Santos, Rita; Alfaiate, MIR; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. Corresponding author: Tavares, Renata S.. "And what about antidepressants: do they affect human spermatozoa?". Paper presented in 57th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), 2023. Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. Corresponding author: Alfaiate, MIR. "No loss, no gain: Cholesterol efflux and sperm function deficit after capacitation in overweight and obese men". Paper presented in European Testis Workshop, 2023. Tavares, Renata S.; Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Carola, Carolina; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João. Corresponding author: Tavares, Renata S.. "It takes two to tango: The involvement of endocrine disruptors in male infertility aetiology". Paper presented in Fertility 2023, 2023. Tavares, Renata S.; Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Carola, Carolina; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João. Corresponding author: Tavares, Renata S.. "It Takes Two to Tango: the Involvement of Certain Environmental Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Male Infertility Aetiology". Paper presented in 56th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI), 2022. Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Carola, Carolina; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João. "Effects of heavy metal contamination in male reproductive status - A preliminary study". Paper presented in 21st European Testis Workshop, 2021. Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Ana Teresa Almeida Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. "MEN’S HEALTH ESTARREJA evaluation of the reproductive health of men living in a heavily industrialized area". Paper presented in 7 eme Colloque de Restitution do OHM Estarreja, 2020. Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Ana Paula Sousa; Ana Teresa Almeida Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. "Empowering women: in vitro safety and efficacy of cationic surfactants as active principles for potential vaginal contraceptives". Paper presented in 53rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), 2019. António Santos, Rita; Alfaiate, MIR; Ana Paula Sousa; Ana Teresa Almeida Santos; Ramalho-Santos, João; Tavares, Renata S.. "Avaliação da Segurança e Eficácia de Surfactantes Catiónicos para Potencial Utilização em Contracetivos Vaginais". Paper presented in 7º Congresso Português de Medicina da Reprodução, 2019.
Journal article	Alfaiate, MIR; António Santos, Rita; Silva, Andreia; Ana Paula Sousa; Almeida-Santos, Teresa: AT Santos; Gendron, Célia; Jabbour, Violaine; et al. "Comparative in vitro study on the local tolerance and efficacy of benzalkonium chloride, myristalkonium chloride and nonoxynol-9 as active principles in vaginal contraceptives". The European Journal of Contraception and Reproductive Health Care (2021): Published • 10.1080/13625187.2021.1900563
Thesis / Dissertation	Alfaiate, MIR. "Analysis of the Efficacy and Safety of Spermicides with Benzalkonium Chloride and Myristalkonium Chloride as Active Principles". Master, Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, 2019.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2023/06/24	No loss, no gain: Lack of cholesterol efflux and tyrosine phosphorylation in overweight and obese men	57th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI) European Society of Clinical Investigation (Prague, Czech Republic)
2023/06/24	And what about antidepressants: do they affect human spermatozoa?	57th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI) European Society of Clinical Investigation (Prague, Czech Republic)
2023/06/18	No loss, no gain: Cholesterol efflux and sperm function deficit after capacitation in overweight and obese men	European Testis Workshop 2023 (Montreux, Switzerland)
2022/11/24	Environmental Pollution: The Implication Of Certain Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals In Male Fertility Aetiology	30th World Congress on Controversies in Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility (COGI) (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2022/06/05	Poluição Ambiental: O Envolvimento De Determinados Disruptores Endócrinos (EDs) Na Etiologia Da Infertilidade Masculina	Sociedade Portuguesa de Andrologia (SPA) Sociedade Portuguesa de Andrologia (Portugal)
2022/06	It Takes Two to Tango: the Involvement of Certain Environmental Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals in Male Infertility Aetiology	56th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI) European Society of Clinical Investigation (Bari, Italy)
2021/06	Os Efeitos da exposição a Metais Pesados na Saúde Reprodutiva Masculina - Dados Preliminares	XVII Congresso Nacional da Sociedade Portuguesa de Andrologia / XV Reunião Ibérica de Andrologia Medicina Sexual e Reprodução Sociedade Portuguesa de Andrologia (Portugal)
2021/05	Effects of Heavy Metal Contamination in Male Reproductive Status - A Preliminary Study	European Testis Workshop 2020 (ETW) - Postponed to May 2021 European Testis Workshop (Virtual)
2021/01/22	Men's Health Estarreja - Evaluation of the reproductive health of men living in a heavily industrialized area	8eme Colloque de Restitution OHM OHM (Virtual, Portugal)
2021/01/22	REPRODUCTION@ESTARREJA: Is Female Reproductive Potential At Risk?	eme Colloque de Restitution OHM OHM (Portugal)
2019/09/20	Capacitar a mulher: análise in vitro da segurança e eficácia de surfatantes catiónicos como princípios ativos a utilizar em contracetivos vaginais.	9° Reunião Nacional da Sociedade Portuguesa da Contraceção Sociedade Portuguesa de Contraceção (Lisboa, Portugal)
2019/05/22	Empowering women: in vitro safety and efficacy of cationic surfactants as active principles for potential vaginal contraceptives	53rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) (Coimbra, Portugal)

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2023/09/01 - Current	European Researchers' Night (2023/09/29) Other (Other)	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Inovação em Biomedicina e Biotecnologia, Portugal
2023/01/02 - Current	Quorum, Theater, Part of the Equality Days (2023/05/30) Festival (Other)	Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2023/02/01 - 2023/10/31	Member of the organization committee of the “Workshop Reprodução e Fertilidade” (2023/09/12 - 2023/09/30) Workshop (Member of the Organising Committee)	Associação Portuguesa de Professores de Biologia e Geologia (APPBG), Portugal
2018/03/03 - 2018/03/04	Member of the organization committee of the Meet.Lab II, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Organization of the workshop "Avaliação da Qualidade Seminal & Estratégias Contracetivas", by Doutora Renata Tavares. (2017/03/03 - 2017/03/03) Congress (Member of the Organising Committee)	Núcleo de Estudantes de Biologia, Associação Académica de Coimbra (NEB\|AAC), Portugal
2017/03/03 - 2017/03/03	Member of the organization committee of the Meet.Lab I, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Organization of the workshop "Desenvolvimento e Prevenção da Fertilidade", by Doutora Paula Mota. (2016/03/03 - 2016/03/03) Congress (Member of the Organising Committee)	Núcleo de Estudantes de Biologia, Associação Académica de Coimbra (NEB\|AAC), Portugal
2016/04 - 2016/04	Member of the organization committee of the XIX Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Biologia (ENEB) (2016/04 - 2016/04) Meeting (Member of the Organising Committee)	Núcleo de Estudantes de Biologia, Associação Académica de Coimbra (NEB\|AAC), Portugal

Event participation

	Activity description Type of event	Event name Institution / Organization
2020/09/20 - 2020/09/30	Attended the ESCI Virtual Meeting 2020 \| Covid19 Edition.	ESCI Virtual Meeting 2020 \| Covid19 Edition European Society for Clinical Investigation, Netherlands
2020/07/08 - 2020/07/12	SSR Virtual – Society for the Study of Reproduction Congress	SSR Virtual Society for the Study of Reproduction, United States
2020/07/05 - 2020/07/08	ESHRE virtual 36th Annual Meeting Congress	ESHRE virtual 36th Annual Meeting European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, Belgium
2020/03/01 - 2020/05/31	Volunteering at the Clinical Analysis Lab of the University of Coimbra for SARS-CoV2 detection in oronasal samples Other	Universidade de Coimbra Laboratório de Análises Clínicas, Portugal
2019/09/30 - 2019/12/06	Volunteer Internship in Embryology and Andrology Laboratories at CHUC Other	Volunteer Internship in Embryology and Andrology Laboratories at CHUC Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra - CHUC, Portugal
2019/10/04 - 2019/10/04	Participation in the workshop: How to Get Published, organized by Elsevier Workshop	How to Get Published Elsevier, Netherlands
2019/09/27 - 2019/09/27	Science dissemination activitie "Noite Europeia dos Investigadores" Exhibition	Noite Europeia dos Investigadores (NEI) Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2019/07/02 - 2019/07/02	Women Health Forum - Coimbra A debate in the scope of Global Health, with a special focus on Women Leadership and Women and Girl's health in the context of vulnerable populations. Symposium	Women Health Forum Coimbra Health - Coimbra Academic Clinical Center CHUC-UC, Portugal Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra - CHUC, Portugal
2019/07/02 - 2019/07/02	Participation in the workshop: Sexual and Reproductive Rights: A public health approach towards women empowerment Workshop	Women Health Forum Coimbra Health - Coimbra Academic Clinical Center CHUC-UC, Portugal Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra - CHUC, Portugal
2019/06/03 - 2019/06/03	Science dissemination activitie "Escola Ciência Viva" Workshop	Escola Ciência Viva Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2019/05/20 - 2019/05/20	Participation in the workshop: Mitochondrial Assay, organized by BiOLOG Workshop	Mitochondrial Assay BiOLOG, Inc., United States
2018/09/28 - 2018/09/28	Science dissemination activitie "Noite Europeia dos Investigadores" Exhibition	Noite Europeia dos Investigadores (NEI) Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2018/09/14 - 2018/09/15	II Jornadas Internacionais de Andrologia Reprodutiva. Congress in Urology/Andrology in PMA centers. Congress	II Jornadas Internacionais de Andrologia Reprodutiva Sociedade Portuguesa de Andrologia, Portugal
2018/04/23 - 2018/04/26	Participation in the workshop: R Workshop, organized by JEST Workshop	R Workshop Junior Enterprise for Science and Technology - JEST, Portugal
2017/11/01 - 2017/12/31	Laboratory rotation in the Biology of Reproduction and Stem Cells group (CNC\|UC) Other	Laboratory rotation CNC - Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Portugal
2017/07/01 - 2017/08/31	Summer volunteer internship, in biology and conservation of marine living resources, working with barnacle’s larvae (Pollicipes pollicipes) in CIEMAR, University of Évora. Collection and monitoring of barnacle’s larvae in the “Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina”. Other	Summer volunteer internship Universidade de Évora Laboratório de Ciências do Mar, Portugal
2015/11/14 - 2015/11/14	Encontro de Bioética 2015. Debate of bioetic politics in Portugal and its impact in science researche Meeting	Encontro de Bioética 2015 Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Committee member

	Activity description Role	Institution / Organization
2023/09/11 - 2023/09/30	Workshop Reprodução e Fertilidade for High School professor, in collaboration the Associação Portuguesa de Professores de Biologia e Geologia (APPBG) Member	Associação Portuguesa de Professores de Biologia e Geologia (APPBG), Portugal

Course / Discipline taught

	Academic session	Degree Subject (Type)	Institution / Organization
2023/09 - Current	Análise Funcional do Gâmeta Masculino	(Outros)	Associação Portuguesa de Professores de Biologia e Geologia (APPBG), Portugal
2023/11/06 - 2023/11/07	Sperm quality and function	Biologia da Reprodução (Mestrado)	Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2023/03/01 - 2023/03/08	“A (in)fertilidade humana: da investigação à prática clínica.” Curso Avançado Biotecnologia e Saúde: Do Laboratório à Indústria	(Ensino secundário)	Associação Portuguesa de Professores de Biologia e Geologia (APPBG), Portugal
2020/10/10 - 2020/10/10	Estratégias e mecanismos de ação de espermicidas: como transformar o potencial de fertilização em potencial contracetivo	Estratégias e mecanismos de ação de espermicidas: como transformar o potencial de fertilização em potencial contracetivo (Outros)	Núcleo de Estudantes de Biologia, Associação Académica de Coimbra (NEB\|AAC), Portugal

Distinctions

Award

2022	Best poster presentation ar the 56th anual Scientific meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI)
2022	InnoCore Challenge: Core Technologies for Education and Innovation in Life Sciences Erasmus Plus, Belgium
2019	Best free oral communication at the 9th Meeting of Sociedade Portuguesa da Contracepção Sociedade Portuguesa da Contracepção, Portugal