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I completed my BSc in Biology in July 2015 at Universidade do Algarve (UALG). During my undergraduate studies, I engaged in two hands-on research experiences: a 3-month volunteer internship with the Fisheries, Biodiversity and Conservation group at the Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), and a 5-month final-year BSc project at the Virology Lab (UAL), which I continued for an additional 6 months post-completion. Following this period, I explored roles outside of science, including tutoring students (5th to 11th grade) and working in catering- and tourism- related activities. My return to research began in 2018 when I was awarded two fellowships at the Genomics of Plant and Stress (GPlantS) group at ITQB: first for lab management (March–December 2018), then for research (January–September 2019). I contributed to the FCT-funded project “RicePIFs - How do Phytocrome Interacting Factors mediate the cross-talk between light and temperature signalling in rice?”, being involved on CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, molecular biology, plant genotyping, and cell/tissue culture. This work resulted in co-authorship of a publication in PNAS (2022) and four poster presentations at national and international meetings. In September 2019, I enrolled in the MSc program in Biochemistry for Health at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL), a joint initiative between FCT-UNL, ITQB, and FCM. During the first year, I completed the curricular program and initiated my MSc thesis on the “Structural and functional characterization of a human sulfurtransferase”, while being enrolled in other tasks. I co-authored two publications (Antioxidants, 2021; BBA - Molecular Basis of Disease, 2023), with a third manuscript in preparation. I also mentored 10 BSc and MSc students during their lab rotations, thesis projects, and science school activities. Beyond the lab, I have been active in science communication and outreach activities, contributing to events such as the ITQB Open Day, the Oeiras International Science Festival (FIC.A), and the European Researchers’ Night through organizing and participating in interactive exhibits on structural biology. In 2020, I led NOVA_LxPortugal’s team at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition. Our project, "Introducing Pseudomonas putida in the fight against the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus," was awarded a silver medal. I have also participated in seven scientific meetings and co-organized the virtual workshop “Biotechnology/Synthetic Biology Approaches to Forestry Management” (Sept 2020). In early 2022, I worked as a research assistant at Merck KGaA (iBET) to cover a maternity leave (Jan–May 2022). I successfully completed my MSc thesis with a final grade of 18/20. Since May 2024, I have been working as a research fellow in the Membrane Protein Crystallography (MPX) Lab at ITQB-NOVA under the supervision of Dr. Margarida Archer and Dr. João Brito, further pursuing my interests in protein biochemistry and structural biology.
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
João Miguel Ferreira Costa

Citation names

  • Costa, J.M.F

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
471F-BED3-A8DF
ORCID iD
0000-0002-4747-8891

Email addresses

  • jmcosta@itqb.unl.pt (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
French Elementary (A2) Elementary (A2) Elementary (A2) Elementary (A2) Elementary (A2)
Education
Degree Classification
2019/09/13 - 2025/04/14
Concluded
Bioquímica para a Saúde (Mestrado)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
"Functional and structural characterization of human thiosulfate sulfurtransferase" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
18
2012/10/10 - 2015/09/14
Concluded
Licenciatura em Biologia (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Algarve Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
"Expression of Blad, an anti-fungic protein, in N.Benthomiana mediated A.Tumefaciens and monotorization of protein accumulation" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
13
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution
Employer
2024/05/15 - Current Researcher (Research) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2022/01/01 - 2022/05/31 Contracted Researcher (Research) Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Portugal
Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica, Portugal
2019/01/01 - 2019/09/30 Researcher (Research) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2018/03/01 - 2018/12/31 Researcher (Research) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
(...)
2015/01/01 - 2015/08/31 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Universidade do Algarve Centro para os Recursos Biológicos e Alimentos Mediterrânicos, Portugal
2013/02/01 - 2013/04/28 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Universidade do Algarve Centro de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, Portugal
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2024/05/15 - Current Computational engineered proteins for Flavivirus diagnostics and vaccine development
IOVPoC-2022-08
Research Fellow
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica

Camara Municipal Oeiras
Ongoing
2019/01/01 - 2019/08/31 RicePIFs - How do Phytocrome Interacting Factors mediate the cross-talk between light and temperature signalling in rice?
02/SAICT/2017
Research Fellow
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Costa, J.M.F; Viana, F.T. Isabelle; Lins Neto, Roberto D; Margarida archer. "(Accepted) Characterization of computationally engineered antibody mimetic proteins against flaviviruses". Paper presented in 11th Meeting of Portuguese Synchrotron Radiation Users, 2025.
  2. Costa, J.M.F; Viana, F.T. Isabelle; Lins Neto, Roberto D; Margarida archer. "(Accepted) Characterization of computationally engineered antibody mimetic proteins against flaviviruses". Paper presented in 5th Meeting of Young Biophysicists, 2025.
  3. Catarina C. Monteiro; Cordeiro, André M.; Sofia Neves; Leitão, Guilherme; Costa, J.M.F; Lourenço, Tiago Filipe; Saibo, Nelson J.M.. "OsPIL15 and OsPIL16 are cooperative regulators of rice coleoptile elongation under dark". Paper presented in 12th ITQB PhD meeting, 2022.
  4. Catarina C. Monteiro; Cordeiro, A.M.; Sofia Neves; Guilherme Leitão; João Costa; Lourenço, Tiago; Saibo, Nelson J.M.. "OsPIL15 and OsPIL16 cooperate to modulate rice coleoptile elongation". Paper presented in Young Researchers Symposium on Plant Photobiology (YRSPP22), 2022.
  5. Catarina C. Monteiro; Cordeiro, A.M; Guilherme Leitão; João Costa; Lourenço, Tiago; Saibo, Nelson J.M. "OsPIL15 and OsPIL16 are key regulators of the etiolated coleoptile growth". Paper presented in 18th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics (ISRFG2021), 2021.
  6. Cordeiro, André M.; Monteiro, Catarina ; Leitão, Guilherme; Costa, João; Barros,Pedro; Lourenço, Tiago; Saibo, Nelson. ""OsPIL15 and OsPIL16 are key regulators of the etiolated coleoptile growth"". Paper presented in Plant Biology Europe (PBE), 2021.
Journal article
  1. Catarina A. Madeira; Carolina Anselmo; João M. Costa; Cátia A. Bonito; Ricardo J. Ferreira; Daniel J.V.A. Santos; Ronald J. Wanders; et al. "Functional and structural impact of 10 ACADM missense mutations on human medium chain acyl-Coa dehydrogenase". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease 1869 7 (2023): 166766-166766. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2023.166766.
    10.1016/j.bbadis.2023.166766
  2. Luis Andrade; Yunlong Lu; André Cordeiro; Costa, JMF; Philip A. Wigge; Nelson J. M. Saibo; Katja E. Jaeger. "The evening complex integrates photoperiod signals to control flowering in rice". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119 26 (2022): https://doi.org/10.1073%2Fpnas.2122582119.
    10.1073/pnas.2122582119
  3. Dalila Guedes Ferreira Henriques Fernandes; João Nunes; Catarina S. Tomé; Karim Zuhra; Costa, JMF; AMM Antunes; Alessandro Giuffrè; João Vicente. "Human Cystathionine y-Lyase Is Inhibited by s-Nitrosation: A New Crosstalk Mechanism between NO and H2S". Antioxidants (2021): https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/10/9/1391.
    10.3390/antiox10091391
Activities

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role)
Institution / Organization
2025/03/15 - 2025/03/15 ITQB Open X-ray crystallgraphy exposition and demonstration of three dimensional models (2025/03/15 - 2025/03/15)
Exhibition (Other)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2022/10/10 - 2022/10/16 2nd edition of Oeiras International Science Festiva ( FIC.A) at ITQB stand. Demonstration of x-ray crystallography methodology. (2022/10/10 - 2022/10/16) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2022/09/30 - 2022/09/30 European Researcher’s Night – Portuguese Edition Macromolecular X-ray Crystallography Unit exposition. (2022/10/30 - 2022/10/30)
Exhibition
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2021/10/12 - 2021/10/17 1st edition of Oeiras International Science Festival (FIC.A) at ITQB stand with a demonstration of scientific research in structural biology. (2021/10/12 - 2021/10/17) Camara Municipal Oeiras, Portugal

Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2020/09/24 - 2020/09/25 Biotechnology/ Synthetic Biology approaches to Forestry Management (Virtual) (2020/09/24 - 2020/09/25)
Meeting (Member of the Organising Committee)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event
Event name
Institution / Organization
2025/05/19 - 2025/05/23 Hands-on course on optimisation of samples for cryo-EM. Cryo-EM grid preparation and preliminary sample screening.
Workshop
Instruct-ERIC course on AF4 and SEC-MALS methods and their utilization in cryoEM sample preparation
Helsingin yliopisto - Viikin kampus, Finland
2024/10/18 - 2024/10/18 Career Management Skills for Early Stage Researchers: How to develop your skills , prototype and plan your career
Workshop
Career Management Skills for Early Stage Researchers
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2024/10/16 - 2024/10/18 Organized by students, this meeting is an opportunity for ITQB NOVA PhD students to present and discuss their work amongst each other and with other ITQB NOVA scientists.
Meeting
14th ITQB NOVA PhD Students Meeting
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2024/07/22 - 2024/07/26 Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in a One Health perspective – Mechanisms of bacterial antimicrobial and biocide resistance – AMR transfer and dissemination – Efflux-mediated AMR
Workshop
2nd Summer School on Antimicrobial and Biocide Resistance
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Portugal
2024/06/07 - 2024/06/07 The conference intends to unite synchrotron radiation users working in Portugal with scientists from European synchrotron facilities
Conference
10th National Meeting of Users of Synchrotron Radiation, June 7th 2024, FCT-UNL, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2024/05/23 - 2024/05/24 Conference on latest cutting-edge developments in structural biology, including the emerging methods in imaging technologies, artificial intelligence.
Conference
6th Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Conference
2021/06/08 - 2021/06/08 Innovation management principles applied to Scientific Research; Intellectual Property Management and business model building
Workshop
TIMB3 Innovation Management and Intellectual Property course (Virtual)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2020/11/13 - 2020/11/22 International genetically engineered machine (iGEM) competition. 2020, NovaLx team won silver medal.
Call
iGEM 2020: Virtual Giant Jamboree
iGEM Foundation, United States
2014/12/04 - 2014/12/05 IV Colóquio do Núcleo de Estudantes de Ciências Farmacêuticas (NECiFarm) da Universidade do Algarve
Symposium
IV Colóquio do Núcleo de Estudantes de Ciências Farmacêuticas (NECiFarm)
Universidade do Algarve Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2025/02/01 - 2025/06/01 Mentorship for Lusofona biochemistry bachelor project : Biophysical characterization and crystallization of an antibody-mimetic protein against zika virus Rafael Costa (BSc student)
2025/02/01 - 2025/06/01 Mentorship for Lusofona biochemistry bachelor project : Biophysical characterization and crystallization of an antibody-mimetic protein against Chikungunya virus Iara Silva (BSc student)
2025/02/03 - 2025/02/07 Mentorship for laboratory rotation of Biochemistry for Health Master Degree: Biophysical characterization and crystallization of a antibody-mimetic protein against zika virus Davide Medina (MSc student)
2025/02/03 - 2025/02/07 Mentorship for laboratory rotation of Biochemistry for Health Master Degree: Biophysical characterization and crystallization of a antibody-mimetic protein against zika virus Duarte Januário (MSc student)
2024/07/21 - 2024/07/24 Mentorship done within Summer Science 2024 at ITQB NOVA: Crystallization of Sulfide quinone oxidoreductase Pedro Capucho (BSc student)
2024/07/21 - 2024/07/24 Mentorship done within Summer Science 2024 at ITQB NOVA: Crystallization of Sulfide quinone oxidoreductase Margarida Brás (BSc student)
2021/03/01 - 2021/06/30 Mentorship done within CoLabs - Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico Gabriel Boer da Costa (Master student)
2021/03/01 - 2021/06/30 Mentorship done within CoLabs - Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico Mariana Moura Henrique (Master student)
2021/03/01 - 2021/03/04 Mentorship for laboratory rotation of Biochemistry for Health Master Degree: From plasmid to protein: cloning of a gene into a backbone, heterologous expression and protein purification. Bárbara Fernandes ( Master Student)
2018/09/01 - 2019/01/31 Mentorship within laboratory rotation of Biotechnology master degree ,Instituto Super Técnico (IST) : Plant tissue culture training: Agrobacterium Tumefaciens mediated transformation of Oryza Sativa Nipponbare using CRISPR/CAS9 Laura Custódio ( Master student)
Distinctions

Award

2020 Silver Medal awarded to NOVALxPortugal Team at iGEM 2020
iGEM Foundation, United States