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PhD student in the Doctoral Program in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine, Interdisciplinary Research Institute of University of Coimbra. Researching at Coimbra Institute of Biomedical Imaging (CIBIT) since 2020, in the field of autism spectrum disorder, neurodevelopment and sex difference. Has gained experience in molecular biology protocols, and has expertise in behavioral phenotyping and analysis of ultrasonic vocalizations, particularly in the assessment of social behavior in rodent models. Has one original research paper published as first-author, a review paper as co-first-author, and several poster and abstract presentations in national and international conferences. Frequently participates in outreach activities for science communication to lay audiences. Currently, holder of an FCT fellowship for the project "SENSEing AUTISM - Impact of sensory overload on repetitive behaviours and aggression in autism: focus on basal ganglia network", during which will carry experiments with behavioral testing, electrophysiology and optogenetics.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Helena Ferreira
Date of birth
1998/08/05
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • Ferreira H

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
5018-9017-ACCA
ORCID iD
0000-0003-4843-9728

Telephones

Mobile phone
  • (+351) 912923767 (Personal)

Addresses

  • Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Translational Research (CIBIT), Institute of Nuclear Sciences Applied to Health (ICNAS), University of Coimbra, Azinhaga de St Comba, Celas, 3000-548, - Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Basic Medicine - Neurosciences

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2)
Spanish; Castilian Intermediate (B1) Intermediate (B1) Intermediate (B1) Elementary (A2)
Education
Degree Classification
2023/10 - 2027/12
Ongoing
 Programa Doutoral em Biologia Experimental e Biomedicina (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Coimbra Instituto de Investigação Interdisciplinar, Portugal
2023/03 - 2023/03
Concluded
 Flow Cytometry and Cell Sorting - From basic concepts to artificial intelligence applied to data analysis (Outros)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2020/09 - 2022/10
Concluded
 Master in Biomedical Research (Mestrado)
Major in Neurobiology
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
"Mother-Offspring Relationship in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Influence on Development and Behavior" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 19.650
2021/07 - 2021/07
Concluded
 VIII Cell Culture and Tissue Training Course (Outros)
Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra Escola Superior de Tecnologia da Saúde de Coimbra, Portugal
2016/09 - 2020/07
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Licenciatura)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Portugal
"Longitudinal Study of Ultrasonic Vocalizations in Pup and Juvenile Tsc2+/- mice Revels Communication Abnormalities " (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18.267
2020/01 - 2020/02
Concluded
 Course in Laboratory Animal Science & Animal Procedure License (Diploma de especialização)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2019/01 - 2019/07
Concluded
 Erasmus+ Exchange Programme (Outros)
Universiteit Utrecht, Netherlands
2015/07 - 2015/07
Concluded
 Summer School (Outros)
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
Affiliation

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2020/01 - 2021/07 Internship Universidade de Coimbra Instituto de Ciências Nucleares Aplicadas à Saúde, Portugal
Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Research, Portugal
2021/04 - 2021/04 Laboratory Rotation Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
2019/09 - 2019/10 Internship Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2018/06 - 2018/09 Summer Internship Universidade de Coimbra Departamento de Engenharia Quimica, Portugal
2018/07 - 2018/07 Summer School Internship Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2023/10 - 2027/12 SENSEing AUTISM - Impact of sensory overload on repetitive behaviours and aggression in autism: focus on basal ganglia network
2023.00210.BD
PhD Student Fellow
Coimbra Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Research, Portugal

Institute of Psychiatry Department of Forensic Mental Health Science, United Kingdom
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Ferreira, Helena; Ferreira, Hugo; Santos, Sofia; Martins, João; Castelo-Banco, Miguel; Gonçalves, Joana. "Longitudinal study of ultrasonic vocalizations in mouse model of autism spectrum disorder". Paper presented in The Brain Prize Meeting 2021 - Neurodevelopmental disorders: mechanisms and pathways to treatment, Virtual Meeting, Copenhagen, 2021.
  2. Santos, Sofia; Ferreira, Helena; Ferreira, Hugo; Martins, João; Castelo-Branco, Miguel; Gonçalves, Joana. "Novel call found in the perinatal period of two mouse models as a potential biomarker for early development". Paper presented in The Brain Prize Meeting 2021 - Neurodevelopmental disorders: mechanisms and pathways to treatment, Virtual Meeting, Copenhagen, 2021.
    Editor
Conference poster
  1. Ferreira, Helena; João Martins; Miguel Castelo-Branco; Joana Gonçalves. Corresponding author: Joana Gonçalves. "Mother-offspring relationship in autism spectrum disorder: influence on development and behavior". Paper presented in 2nd Annual Meeting of CIBIT, 2023.
  2. Joana Gonçalves; Ferreira, Helena; João Martins; Miguel Castelo-Branco. "Maternal genotype as a predictor of severity of offspring autistic-like behavior". Paper presented in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: from Molecular Mechanisms to Social Inclusion Conference, 2022.
  3. Ferreira, Helena; Ana Catarina Sousa; Hugo Ferreira; Sofia Santos; José Sereno; João Martins; Miguel Castelo-Branco; Joana Gonçalves. "Sex-dependent cortical excitatory/inhibitory imbalance is associated with behavior alterations in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder". Paper presented in 6th Human Brain Project Student Conference, 2022.
  4. Ferreira, Helena; Hugo Ferreira; Sofia Santos; João Martins; Miguel Castelo-Branco; Joana Gonçalves. "Novel development-specific ultrasonic vocalization in mice". Paper presented in XVII Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Neuroscience, 2021.
  5. Ferreira, Helena; Ferreira, Hugo; Santos, Sofia; Martins, João; Castelo-Branco, Miguel; Gonçalves, Joana. "Biological sex evokes distinct behavior-communication deficits in a mouse model of autism spectrum disorder". Paper presented in FENS Regional Meeting 2021, 2021.
  6. Ferreira, Helena; Ferreira, Hugo; Santos, Sofia; Martins, João; Castelo-Branco, Miguel; Gonçalves, Joana. "Sex-specific differences on early pro-social behavior in a mouse model of tuberous sclerosis complex 2". Paper presented in European Neuroscience Conference for Doctoral Students 2021, 2021.
Journal article
  1. Sofia Santos; Ferreira, Helena; João Martins; Joana Gonçalves; Miguel Castelo-Branco. "Male sex bias in early and late onset neurodevelopmental disorders: Shared aspects and differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention Deficit/hyperactivity Disorder, and Schizophrenia". Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 135 (2022): 104577-104577. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104577.
    Open access • Published • 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104577
  2. Helena Ferreira; Ana Catarina Sousa; José Sereno; João Martins; Miguel Castelo-Branco; Joana Gonçalves. "Sex-Dependent Social and Repetitive Behavior and Neurochemical Profile in Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder". Metabolites 12 1 (2022): 71. https://doi.org/10.3390/metabo12010071.
    Open access • Published • 10.3390/metabo12010071
Activities

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2023/11/24 - 2023/11/24 Science communication activities with school children, for the National Day of Scientific Culture National Day of Scientific Culture
2017 - 2023 European Researcher's Night, with miniBIOQS (2017, 2018, 2021) and with CIBIT/ICNAS (2021, 2022, 2023) European Researchers' Night
2022/07 - 2022/07 Speaker at Round Table: Research in Neuroscience
Round table
 CIBIT Summer School 2022
Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Imagem Biomédica e Investigação Translacional, Portugal
2021/10 - 2022/06 Informal mentorship from an EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdoc EIPODS Inspire Mentoring Programme
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany
2022/02 - 2022/02 Science communication sessions for schools
Workshop
 Club Science
Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Imagem Biomédica e Investigação Translacional, Portugal
2020/07 - 2020/07 Colaborator at Coimbra's Science Museum, explaining and putting in practice scientific concepts for children aged 4-12 Exploratório Ciência Viva

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2021/03 - Current Portuguese Society for Neurosciences Adherent member
2021/03 - Current Federation of European Neuroscience Societies
2017/09 - 2022/09 miniBIOQS - Associação Ciência para Todos. Association life sciences students which organizes regular visits to hospitals, schools and museums for science demonstrations Active member and social media coordinator

Committee member

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization
2019/08 - 2021/08 University Olympics of Biochemistry. National event that gathers Biochemistry students from around the country to test their theoretical and practical knowledge
Coordinator
 Universidade de Coimbra Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Portugal
2017/04 - 2020/10 Pedagogy Committee & External Relations Committee of the Biochemistry Students Asociation, University of Coimbra
Member
Distinctions

Award

2022 Academic Merit
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2022 DGES Merit Scholarship
2021 Portuguese Society of Neurosciences National Scholarship, XVII SPN Meeting
Sociedade Portuguesa de Neurociências, Portugal
2020 Academic Merit
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2019 3% Best Students
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2018 3% Best Students
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2017 3% Best Students
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal