Ana Catarina de Jesus Pais Pereira (6410-E56A-1BEA)

Curriculum Vitae

Ana Catarina de Jesus Pais Pereira

Ana Catarina Pereira (AC Pereira) was awarded with a competitive Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) PhD grant (SFRH/BD/148653/2019) and since 2020 she is a PhD student at the Health Sciences Program from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra (UC), Portugal. The experimental work has been conducted at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC), a partner of the Associated Laboratory Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB), at UC. Previously, she has obtained a master's degree in 2018 in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Faculty of Science and Technology, UC, after conclusion the bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Algarve (UAlg), Portugal, in 2016. As Master and Bachelor student, respectively, AC Pereira was awarded two Merit scholarships, one by the UC in 2018 and the other by the UAlg in 2016. Until now, she published 9 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 4 original papers and 5 reviews and the scientific impact of her research is reflected in the H index (7) and number of citations (260) (Google Schoolar). She presented her work in 11 oral inter(national) scientific meetings and is author of 12 poster communications. AC Pereira received twice the best oral communication award at scientific meetings, namely at the 1st Annual Meeting in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Coimbra, Portugal (2019) and at the 56th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Bari, Italy (2022). She was enrolled as a team member in the FCT's funded project "The ups and downs of cellular stress: the" MAM hypothesis "for Bipolar disorder pathophysiology" (PTDC/MED-NEU/28214/2017). AC Pereira has supervision experience as tutor of a master's project in Cellular and Molecular Biology, and supervised practical classes of Cell Regulation and Research Methods and Techniques from the master’s degree in Biomedical Research, at the Faculty of Medicine, UC. AC Pereira actively participated in several science communication projects and activities, such as the European Night of Researchers (2018), the Brain Awareness Week (2018-2019, 2021-2022), co-authored the Cartoon "A Bipolar Journey" published in the national Público online newspaper in the International Day of Bipolar Disorder 2021 (30 March), and collaborated in the video entitled "Bipolar disorder: another side" promoted by the theater company Marionet (2022) and CNC. The specific aim of her PhD research project was to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric diseases namely bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, focusing on the dysregulation of cellular stress responses, with a special emphasis on the endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria communication and its impact on innate immunity and lipid profile, among other crucial cellular events. The ultimate goal is to disclose novel targets for therapeutic intervention and biomarkers for early diagnosis. Keywords: Bipolar Disorder; Schizophrenia; Endoplasmic Reticulum; Mitochondria; Mitochondria-Associated Membranes (MAMs); NLRP3 inflammasome; lipidomics.

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Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Ana Catarina de Jesus Pais Pereira

Citation names

Ana Catarina Pereira (Pereira. AC)

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 6410-E56A-1BEA
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-3269-0865

Email addresses

anacatarinajpp@gmail.com (Professional)

Addresses

Rua Larga - Faculdade de Medicina, 1ºandar - POLO I Universidade de Coimbra, 3004-504 Coimbra, 3004-504, Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal (Professional)

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Cell Biology
Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences
Medical and Health Sciences - Basic Medicine - Neurosciences

Languages

Language	Speaking	Reading	Writing	Listening	Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)	Upper intermediate (B2)
French	Intermediate (B1)	Intermediate (B1)	Elementary (A2)	Intermediate (B1)	Intermediate (B1)

Education

	Degree	Classification
2020/01/01 - 2024/07/16 Concluded	Doctoral Programme in Health Sciences (Doutoramento) Major in Biomedical Sciences Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal "DISRUPTION OF MITOCHONDRIA-ASSOCIATED MEMBRANES IN BIPOLAR DISORDER: FROM MOLECULAR MECHANISMS TO NOVEL THERAPEUTIC TARGETS " (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	Approved with distinction and honor
2016 - 2018 Concluded	Master's degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology (Mestrado) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia, Portugal "Deregulated inflammasome in Bipolar Disorder (BD): a matter of stress?" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	19 valores
2013/09/09 - 2016/07/18 Concluded	Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Sciences (Licenciatura) Major in Biomedical Sciences Universidade do Algarve Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal "S-nitrosilação da proteina 14-3-3 pelo NO em células estaminais neurais adultas do Hipocampo HC7 (Monografia)" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	16 valores

Affiliation

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2020/01/01 - Current	PhD Student (SFRH/BD/148653/2019)	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
	Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal (...)
2018/12/17 - 2019/12/17	Research fellow (Master's holder) projecto of HEALTHYAGING 2020 (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012)	Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
	Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal

Projects

Contract

	Designation	Funders
2020 - 2022	"The ups and downs of cellular stress: the" MAM hypothesis "for Bipolar disorder pathophysiology" PTDC/MED-NEU/28214/2017 PhD Student Fellow	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded
2018/12/01 - 2019/12	"HEALTHYAGING 2020" CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000012) CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-028214 Research Fellow CNC.IBILI, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Concluded

Outputs

Publications

Journal article

Resende, Rosa; Fernandes, Tânia; Pereira, Ana Catarina; Marques, Ana Patrícia; Pereira, Cláudia Fragão. "Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria Contacts Modulate Reactive Oxygen Species-Mediated Signaling and Oxidative Stress in Brain Disorders: The Key Role of Sigma-1 Receptor". Antioxidants & Redox Signaling 37 10-12 (2022): 758-780. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/ars.2020.8231.
Published • 10.1089/ars.2020.8231
Conte, Fernanda Lopes; Ana Catarina Pereira (Pereira. AC); Brites, Gonçalo; Ferreira, Isabel; Silva, Ana Cristina; Sebastião, Ana Isabel; Matos, Patrícia; et al. "Exploring the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiallergic potential of Brazilian propolis in monocytes". Phytomedicine Plus 2 2 (2022): 100231. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phyplu.2022.100231.
Published • 10.1016/j.phyplu.2022.100231
Ana Catarina Pereira; Jessica De Pascale; Rosa Resende; Susana Cardoso; Isabel Ferreira; Bruno Miguel Neves; Mylène A. Carrascal; et al. "ER-mitochondria communication is involved in NLRP3 inflammasome activation under stress conditions in the innate immune system". Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences 79 4 (2022): https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-022-04211-7.
Published • 10.1007/s00018-022-04211-7
Ana Catarina Pereira (Pereira. AC); Madeira, Nuno; Morais, Sofia; Macedo, António; Maria Teresa Cruz Rosete; Cláudia Maria Fragão Pereira. "Mitochondria Fusion upon SERCA Inhibition Prevents Activation of the NLRP3 Inflammasome in Human Monocytes". Cells 11 3 (2022): 433-433. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11030433.
Open access • Published • 10.3390/cells11030433
Pereira, Ana Catarina; Oliveira, Joana; Silva, Sónia; Madeira, Nuno; Pereira, Cláudia M.F.; Cruz, Maria T.. "Inflammation in Bipolar Disorder (BD): Identification of new therapeutic targets". Pharmacological Research 163 (2021): 105325. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105325.
Published • 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105325
Ana Catarina Pereira (Pereira. AC); Resende, R.; Fernandes, T.; Pereira, A.C.; De Pascale, J.; Marques, A.P.; Oliveira, P.; et al. "Mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum and innate immune dysfunction in mood disorders: Do Mitochondria-Associated Membranes (MAMs) play a role?". Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease 1866 6 (2020): 165752-165752. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbadis.2020.165752.
Published • 10.1016/j.bbadis.2020.165752
Santos, Ana Isabel; Lourenço, Ana Sofia; Simão, Sónia; Marques da Silva, Dorinda; Santos, Daniela Filipa; Onofre de Carvalho, Ana Paula; Pereira, Ana Catarina; et al. "Identification of new targets of S-nitrosylation in neural stem cells by thiol redox proteomics". Redox Biology 32 (2020): 101457-101457. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.redox.2020.101457.
Published
Pereira, Claudia F.; Santos, Armanda E.; Moreira, Paula I.; Pereira, Ana Catarina; Sousa, Fabio J.; Cardoso, Sandra M.; Cruz, M. Teresa. "Is Alzheimer's disease an inflammasomopathy?". Ageing Research Reviews 56 (2019): 100966. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.arr.2019.100966.
Published • 10.1016/j.arr.2019.100966
Ana Catarina Pereira (Pereira. AC). "The ups and downs of cellular stress: the "MAMs hypothesis" for Bipolar disorder pathophysiology". International Journal of Clinical Neurosciences and Mental Health (2017): http://dx.doi.org/10.21035/ijcnmh.2017.4(suppl.3).s04.
Published • 10.21035/ijcnmh.2017.4(suppl.3).s04

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2024/05/24	Endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria communication and DISC1 dysfunction in schizophrenia	SINAL 2024 University of Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
2023/12	The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-mitochondria communication in schizophrenia	Mitochondria in Aging, Cancer and Cell Death (MAC) University of Coimbra (Coimbra , Portugal)
2023/06	Dysfunction of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contacts in bipolar disorder	57th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) University of Prague (Praga , Czech Republic)
2023/02	Impairment of Mitochondria-Associated Membranes (MAMs) in Bipolar disorder	53rd Meeting of the Portuguese Society of Pharmacology (SPF) University of Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
2023	Alterations in the contacts between endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria in Bipolar disorder	MitoPorto University of Porto (Porto, Portugal)
2022/06	Mitochondria-associated membranes (MAMs) and sterile inflammation in Bipolar disorder	56th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI) University of Bari (Bari, Italy)
2022	Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)-Mitochondria contacts and inflammation in Bipolar disorder	52st Meeting of the Portuguese Pharmacology Society Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal)
2021	Effect of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress on ER-mitochondria contacts in the innate immune system	51st Meeting of the Portuguese Pharmacology Society Universidade de Lisboa (online , Portugal)
2021	Inflammation in bipolar disorder (BD): Identification of new therapeutic targets	XV Congresso Nacional de Psiquiatria Sociedade Portuguesa de Psiquiatria (online, Portugal)
2019/11/15	ER stress-induced sterile inflammation in Bipolar disorder	1st Annual Meeting in Pharmaceutical Sciences Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Farmácia (Coimbra , Portugal)
2019/02/07	Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria contacts in inflammasome activation during cellular stress conditions	XLIX Reunião Sociedade Portuguesa de Farmacologia, Porto 2019). Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Farmácia (Porto, Portugal)

Event organisation

	Event name Type of event (Role)	Institution / Organization
2019/02/18 - 2019/02/18	Science communication : "Escola Ciência Viva" - atividades/conversas sobre patologias Inflamatória e Imunidade - Região Centro de Portugal - Rómulo de Carvalho UC. (2019/02/18 - 2019/02/18) Workshop (Co-organisor)	CNC.IBILI, Portugal

Event participation

	Activity description Type of event	Event name Institution / Organization
2022/03/30 - 2023/03/30	Radio interview" Cérebro e a doença bipolar" (Rádio UC, University of Coimbra) in the international day of Bipolar Disorder, March 30, 2022; Other	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2022/09/30 - 2022/09/30	International Brain Week 2022 - "Feira do Cérebro", Baixa Coimbra, University of Coimbra, 30 september, 2022. Exhibition	International Brain Week 2022 Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2022/09 - 2022/09	Video about bipolar disorder entitled "Doença bipolar: Um outro lado" in collaboration with the theater company Marionet.	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal Teatro Marionet, Portugal
2022/05/20 - 2022/05/20	International Brain Week 2021 -"Feira do Cérebro" Jardim Botânico, University of Coimbra Exhibition	International Brain Week 2021 Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2022/02/23 - 2022/02/23	Science communication: "Doença bipolar: Um problema de comunicação?", Oficina de Teatro da licenciatura de Estudos Artísticos da UC Seminar	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2022/01/18 - 2022/01/18	Science communication challenge: "Circadian Rhythms in Bipolar disorder: time to inflammate?", The overview effect- BEB challenge Call	BEB day 2022-The overview effect BEB doctoral program , Portugal
2021 - 2021	Poster communication: "Mitochondrial calcium rise in thapsigargin-treated THP-1 monocytes is independent of NLRP3 inflammasome activation" Congress	12th World Meeting on Pharmaceutics, Biopharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, online
2021 - 2021	Poster communication: "Endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria coupling and inflammation in bipolar disorder" Congress	XVII Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Neuroscience, Coimbra Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2021 - 2021	Science communication: "International Brain Week 2021" - Seminar "Pandemic and bipolar Disorder"- Escola Secundária Miguel Torga, Agrupamento Escolas Damião de Goes, Colégio Guadalupe, May 2021. Seminar	International Brain Week 2021 Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2021 - 2021	Cartoon "Bipolar Journey" published in Público newspaper in the international day of Bipolar Disorder, March 30, 2021;	Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2020/03/20 - 2020/05/31	Volunteer work at the COVID-19 Laboratory, Clinical Analysis Laboratory at Univ. Coimbra (LAC-UC), March-May 2020. Other	Laboratório COVID-19 Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2019/09/29 - 2019/09/29	Science communication: "International Brain Week 2019"– (activities / lectures - Externato Menino Jesus, Coimbra), Região Centro de Portugal; Exhibition	International Brain Week 2019 CNC.IBILI, Portugal
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "Mitochondria-Associated Membranes: the putative link between cellular stress and inflammasome activation in Bipolar Disorder " Congress	National Meeting of the Portuguese Society for Psychiatry and Mental Health
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "The role of endoplasmic reticulum stress in the innate immune system in Bipolar Disorder" Congress	27th European Congress of Psychiatry, Warsaw
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum-Mitochondria contacts in NLRP3 inflammasome activation in Bipolar Disorder" Congress	19th World Congress of Psychiatry, Lisbon, Portugal
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "Role of Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)-mitochondria Ca2+ transfer in NLRP3 inflammasome activation in human monocytes" Congress	8th ECS Workshop Calcium Signalling in Aging and Neurodegenerative Diseases, Coimbra, Portugal
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "Role of endoplasmic reticulum-mitochondria contacts in stress-induced sterile inflammation in Bipolar disorder" Congress	3rd BEB/Bluepharma Award, Coimbra, Portugal
2019 - 2019	Poster communication: "Role of ER stress-induced NLRP3 activation in Bipolar Disorder" Conference	CIBB meeting, Coimbra, Portugal
2018 - 2018	Science communication: "European Researchers' Night 2018" Exhibition	European Researchers' Night (Jardim Botânico, University of Coimbra), 28 September 2018; Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2018 - 2018	Poster communication: "Role of Mitochondria-Associated Membranes in the endoplasmic reticulum stress response in the innate immune system" Congress	MitoPorto Universidade do Porto, Portugal
2018 - 2018	Science communication: "International Brain Week 2018" (activities / lectures - Central Region) Exhibition	International Brain Week 2018 Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2016 - 2016	Poster communication "Identification of neurogenic S-nitrosylation targets in neural stem cells" Congress	1st Annual CBMR Meeting Universidade do Algarve Algarve Biomedical Center, Portugal

Journal scientific committee

	Journal title (ISSN)	Publisher
2024/03/01 - 2024/04/01	Biomedicine & pharmacotherapy Journal (0753-3322)	Elsevier
2023/12 - 2023/12	Journal of Affective Disorders ( 0165-0327)	Elsevier
2020/04/20 - 2020/05/11	Experimental Brain Research (1432-1106)	Springer-Verlag

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2022/02 - 2022/02	Tutor of Applied Research II, Medicine	Carina Rafaela
2021 - 2021	Tutor of Research Methods and Techniques	3 alunos
2018/10 - 2019/06	Practical tutor of thesis project of Master Student in Cell and Molecular Biology	Jessica De Pascale
2018/10/01 - 2018/10/05	Tutor of Cellular Regulation Practical Classes	5 alunos
2018/02/01 - 2018/05/01	Tutor of extracurricular internship in Integrated Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences	Bianca Abreu
2017/10/01 - 2017/11/30	Tutor of Research Methods and Techniques laboratory project	5 alunos

Distinctions

Award

2022	Best oral presentation award-56th Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society for Clinical Investigation (ESCI), Bari, Italy Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Consorziale Policlinico di Bari, Italy
2022	Best Poster communication Award, 4th Retreat of Neuroscience and Disease Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Inovação em Biomedicina e Biotecnologia, Portugal
2019	Best Oral communication Award, 1st Annual Meeting in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Drugs R&D PhD Symposium Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
2018	Merit scholarship by UC as a Master student Universidade de Coimbra Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Portugal
2013	Merit and excellence scholarship Universidade do Algarve Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Other distinction

2023	Travel grant attributed by the 57TH Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI)
2022	Travel grant awarded by the 56TH Annual Scientific Meeting of the European Society of Clinical Investigation (ESCI)
2021	Winner of a competitive FENS-Hertie Winter School grant “Multiscale Approaches to Probe Psychiatric Disorders”, 2021-cancelled due to Covid-19 pandemic.
2020	EIT Health Ageing PhD School scholarship attributed by the EIT Health PhD School
2019	PhD grant (SFRH/BD/148653/2019) awarded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), 2019. Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal