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I completed my PhD at the Computational Molecular Evolution Group, University of Vigo, in 2022, driven by a deep passion for Population and Evolutionary Genetics. My scientific journey began in Portugal with a BSc in Biology, where I discovered a fascination for Genetics and Genomics, leading me to pursue a Master's in Genetics. It was during my Master's dissertation that I realized the profound connection between Genetics and Evolution—a pivotal moment that solidified my decision to build a career in Evolutionary Genetics. In 2017, I began my PhD in Spain, focusing on the evolutionary history of modern humans and its influence on current genetic diversity. My work equipped me with expertise in biostatistics (e.g., PCA and approximate Bayesian computation) and bioinformatics (Bash, Python, R). I also enriched my training with research stays at the Genetic Diversity Research Group (i3S, University of Porto, Portugal) and the Anthropology, Population Genetics, and Evolutionary Simulations Group (University of Geneva, Switzerland). In late 2022, I joined the PlantEvol group at BIOPOLIS/CIBIO-InBIO under the guidance of Raquel Tavares and Gabriel Marais to work on the PlantGenomYX project (ANR-20-CE20-0015-01). My research delves into the evolution of plant sex chromosomes and the genomics of sex determination in dioecious plants, particularly Silene latifolia. This complex and fascinating field has broadened my knowledge of plant biology, evolution, and sex determination systems—topics I am now deeply passionate about.
Read full resume ↓
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Catarina Isabel Araújo Branco

Citation names

  • Branco, Catarina

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
7617-0C96-E2E2
ORCID iD
0000-0002-6669-2519

Email addresses

  • catarinabranco@cibio.up.pt (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Evolutionary Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Genetics and Heredity
  • Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences - Bioinformatics
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Spanish; Castilian Beginner (A1) Upper intermediate (B2) Beginner (A1) Elementary (A2) Beginner (A1)
Galician Elementary (A2) Upper intermediate (B2) Beginner (A1) Upper intermediate (B2) Beginner (A1)
Education
Degree Classification
2018/02 - 2022/09
Concluded
 PhD Programme in Methodology and Applications in Life Science (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain

Universidade de Vigo Departamento de Bioquímica Xenética e Inmunoloxía, Spain

Universidade de Vigo Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Spain
"Influence of the last glacial period on genetic diversity gradients of modern humans" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Sobresaliente Cum Laude
2017
Concluded
 Genética Molecular Comparativa e Tecnológica (Mestrado)
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente, Portugal
"Consequences of admixture and LGM on current genetic diversity gradients of American humans" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18
2015
Concluded
 Biologia (Licenciatura)
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente, Portugal
"Human-animal interaction: evaluation of the behavior and flight distance of the sheep breed Churra da Terra Quente" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 13
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/11/01 - Current Postdoc (Research) Biometrie et Biologie Evolutive, France
Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal
(...)
2019/02 - 2022/09 Researcher (Research) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain
(...)
2021/09 - 2021/12 Visiting Researcher (Research) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
Université de Genève, Switzerland
(...)
2020/09 - 2020/12 Visiting Researcher (Research) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
2018/05/01 - 2019/04/30 Contracted Researcher (Research) Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain
Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain
(...)
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2022/11/01 - 2023/05/31 PlantGenomYX: Identifying the sex-determining genes in the dioecious plant Silene latifolia
ANR-20-CE20-0015-01
Post-doc
Biometrie et Biologie Evolutive, France

Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Paris Saclay, France
Agence nationale de la recherche
Ongoing
2019/10 - 2022/09 Influence of the last glacial period on the genetic diversity of modern humans
SFRH/BD/143607/2019
PhD Student Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2018/11/20 - 2022/04/30 Modeling protein evolution to design therapies against pathogens.
ED431F 2018/08
Researcher
Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain
 Xunta de Galicia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of admixture and Last Glacial Maximum on current American genetic diversity gradients". Paper presented in XI Jornadas de Genética e Biotecnologia (XI Meeting of Genetics and Biotechnology), Vila Real, 2017.
    Published
Conference poster
  1. Branco, Catarina. "Identifying the sex-determining genes on the giant Y chromosome of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia". Paper presented in Sex Unfolded: Sex, Asex, Sexes (Conférences Jacques-Monod), 2023.
  2. Branco, Catarina. "Identifying the sex-determining genes on the giant Y chromosome of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia". Paper presented in Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution Meeting 2023, 2023.
  3. Branco, Catarina. "Identifying the sex-determining genes on the giant Y chromosome of the dioecious plant Silene latifolia". Paper presented in Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops Training and Research Workshop, 2023.
  4. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of diverse past evolutionary processes on the genetic gradients of current Asians". Paper presented in ISCB-Latin America SoIBio BioNetMX Symposium 2020, Online, 2020.
  5. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Computational analyses of the influence of evolutionary processes on the spatial genetic variation of Asian Modern Humans". Paper presented in Bioinformatics Open Days 2020, 2020.
  6. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of the last glacial period on genetic gradients of current Asians". Paper presented in Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution Meeting 2019, 2019.
  7. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Influence of the Last Glacial Period and Admixture on Genetic Gradients of current Asians". Paper presented in 3rd Annual Meeting CINBIO, 2019.
  8. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Influence of Diverse Evolutionary Processes on Genetic Gradients of American Modern Humans". Paper presented in Annual meeting 2018, Portuguese Society of Genetic, 2018.
  9. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of Admixture and Last Glacial Maximum on Principal Component Analyses of The Americas". Paper presented in 18th Portugaliæ Genetica, 2018.
  10. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Principal Component Analyses of American Modern Humans". Paper presented in XLI Jornadas Portuguesas de Genética, 2017.
Journal article
  1. David Ferreiro; Catarina Branco; Miguel Arenas. "Selection among site-dependent structurally constrained substitution models of protein evolution by approximate bayesian computation". Bioinformatics (2024): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bioinformatics/btae096.
    10.1093/bioinformatics/btae096
  2. Branco, Catarina; Kanellou, Marina; González-Martín, Antonio; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of the Last Glacial Period on the Genetic Diversity of Southeast Asians". Genes 13 2 (2022): 384. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes13020384.
    10.3390/genes13020384
  3. Ferreiro, David; Núñez-Estévez, Bernabé; Canedo, Mateo; Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Evaluating Causes of Current Genetic Gradients of Modern Humans of the Iberian Peninsula". Genome Biology and Evolution 13 4 (2021): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evab071.
    10.1093/gbe/evab071
  4. Del Amparo, Roberto; Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Jesús; Vicens, Alberto; Arenas, Miguel. "Analysis of selection in protein-coding sequences accounting for common biases". Briefings in Bioinformatics 22 5 (2021): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bib/bbaa431.
    10.1093/bib/bbaa431
  5. Catarina Branco; Nicolas Ray; Mathias Currat; Miguel Arenas. "Influence of Paleolithic range contraction, admixture and long-distance dispersal on genetic gradients of modern humans in Asia". Molecular Ecology 29 12 (2020): 2150-2159. https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fmec.15479.
    10.1111/mec.15479
  6. Arenas, Miguel; Gorostiza, Amaya; Baquero, Juan Miguel; Campoy, Elena; Branco, Catarina; Rangel-Villalobos, Héctor; González-Martín, Antonio. "The Early Peopling of the Philippines based on mtDNA". Scientific Reports 10 1 (2020): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61793-7.
    10.1038/s41598-020-61793-7
  7. Branco, Catarina; Arenas, Miguel. "Selecting among Alternative Scenarios of Human Evolution by Simulated Genetic Gradients". Genes 9 10 (2018): 506. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/genes9100506.
    Open access • 10.3390/genes9100506
  8. Arenas, Miguel; Araujo, Natalia M.; Branco, Catarina; Castelhano, Nadine; Castro-Nallar, Eduardo; Pérez-Losada, Marcos. "Mutation and recombination in pathogen evolution: Relevance, methods and controversies". Infection, Genetics and Evolution 63 (2018): 295-306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.meegid.2017.09.029.
    10.1016/j.meegid.2017.09.029
  9. Branco, Catarina; Velasco, Miguel; Benguigui, Macarena; Currat, Mathias; Ray, Nicolas; Arenas, Miguel. "Consequences of diverse evolutionary processes on american genetic gradients of modern humans". Heredity 121 6 (2018): 548-556. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41437-018-0122-x.
    Published • 10.1038/s41437-018-0122-x
Preprint
  1. Carol Moraga; Catarina Branco; Quentin Rougemont; Paris Veltsos; Pavel Jedlicka; Aline Muyle; Melissa Hanique; et al. "The Silene latifolia genome and its giant Y chromosome". 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.21.558754.
    10.1101/2023.09.21.558754
Report
  1. Branco, Catarina; Severiano Silva. 2015. Human-animal interaction: evaluation of the behavior and flight distance of the sheep breed Churra da Terra Quente. https://catalogo.biblioteca.utad.pt/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=70970.
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Influence of the Last Glacial Period on the genetic diversity of modern humans". PhD, Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11093/3933.
  2. Branco, Catarina. ""Consequences of admixture and LGM on current genetic diversity gradients of American humans"". Master, 2017. https://repositorio.utad.pt/handle/10348/8828.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024/07/24 The sexual system of the dioecious species Laurus azorica XX International Botanical Congress
Sociedade Botanica Espanola (Madrid, Spain)
2024/03/22 The Two-Mutations Model and the evolution of Silene latifolia sex chromosomes 20th Portugaliæ Genetica: DNA - Ancient and New
Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (Porto, Portugal)
2023/11/22 Identifying sex-determining genes on the giant Y chromosome of Silene latifolia 3rd EUGLOH Plant Science Meeting
University of Porto (Porto, Portugal)
2021/07 Influence of the sea level variation on the genetic diversity of Southeast Asian populations II International Meeting of the Portuguese Society of Genetics
University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Online
2021/07 Influence of the Last Glacial Period on the genetic diversity of current Southeast Asians Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution Meeting 2021
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, Online
2020/12 Genetic Consequences of the Last Glacial Period on modern humans from Southeast Asia XVI National Meeting of Evolutionary Biology
Portuguese Society for Evolutionary Biology, Online
2019/11 Influence of environmental and evolutionary processes on the genetic gradients of current Asians XV National Meeting of Evolutionary Biology
CIIMAR (Matosinhos, Portugal)
2017/04 Consequences of admixture and Last Glacial Maximum on current American genetic diversity gradients XX National Meeting of Biology Students
University of Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)
2015/10 Human-Animal interaction: Evaluation of behavior and flight distance of Churra da Terra Quente sheep (Ovis aries) in a park test 9th Meeting of Biology
University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Vila Real, Portugal)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2024/04/08 - 2024/08/02 Characterizing the sex chromosomes of Laurus azorica, an endemic plant species from the Azores islands
Co-supervisor
École nationale des travaux publics de l'Etat, France

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2024/05/13 - 2024/05/17 Organizing committee for the third edition of the Workshop in "Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops”https://www.cibio.up.pt/en/events/evolutionary-genomics-for-plant-models-and-crops/ (2024/05/13 - 2024/05/17)
Workshop (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal

Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2023/05 - 2023/05 Organizing committee for the workshop "Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops". I helped organising this workshop focused on the major on- going research topics in plant evolutionary genomics, covering both methodological and biological questions, fundamental and applied perspectives, model plants and crops. I was the responsible to help the attendees with all the questions and scientific animation. https://www.cibio.up.pt/en/events/training-and-research-workshop-in-evolutionary-genomics-for-plant-models-and-crops-2/ (2023/05 - 2023/05)
Workshop (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2014/10/22 - 2014/10/23 9th Biology Days. The Biology Days at the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro occur every year and are organised by students and professors. It is a great opportunity to share knowledge, experience and improve the students' network. My role in the committee was mainly related with the logistics necessary to have a successful meeting. (2014/10/22 - 2014/10/23)
Congress (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Escola de Ciências da Vida e do Ambiente, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2024/05/13 - 2024/05/17 Workshop participation. I attended the workshop 'Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops' that focuses on the major on-going research topics in plant evolutionary genomics, covering both methodological and biological questions, fundamental and applied perspectives, model plants and crops.
Workshop
 Workshop in Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops
Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal

Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2024/04/04 - 2024/04/08 Workshop participation During this workshop, we discussed tools to study crops and to identify genes importants in the domestication process/adaptation to the local environment. This workshop has a strong hands-on component and research mini-projects proposed by experts from Univ. Montpellier. https://www.cibio.up.pt/en/events/bigomics-high-throughput-genetic-diversity-analyses-of-tropical-crops/
Workshop
 BigOmics - High Throughput Genetic Diversity Analyses of Tropical Crops
Université de Montpellier, France
2024/03/21 - 2024/03/22 Congress about 20th Portugaliæ Genetica: DNA - Ancient and New
Congress
 20th Portugaliæ Genetica: DNA - Ancient and New
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
2023/11/23 - 2023/11/24 Attended the training course: Epigenetics: concepts and techniques - an introduction An introductory course to concepts and methodologies in epigenetics in ecology and evolution. https://www.cibio.up.pt/en/events/epigenetics-concepts-and-techniques-an-introduction/
Workshop
 Epigenetics: concepts and techniques - an introduction
Université de Montpellier, France

Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal
2023/05 - 2023/05 Workshop participation "Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops". This workshop focused on the major on-going research topics in plant evolutionary genomics, covering both methodological and biological questions, fundamental and applied perspectives, model plants and crops.
Workshop
 Evolutionary Genomics for Plant Models and Crops
Associação BIOPOLIS - Rede de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Biologia Evolutiva, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2021/07/12 - 2021/07/16 This course focused on the available tools to infer the demographic history using genomic data.
Workshop
 Inferring Demographic History from Population Genomics Data
Physalia-courses, Germany
2021/01 - 2021/01 This was an introductory course on how to write documents with LaTeX.
Workshop
 Introductory course to LaTeX
Universidade de Vigo - Campus Lagoas Marcosende, Spain
2020/06 - 2020/06 This course focused on the programming language Python.
Workshop
 Course in Introduction to Python Programming
ACME Galicia, Spain
2019/05 - 2019/05 This course focused on the computer cluster FINISTERRAE II of Galicia (Spain).
Workshop
 Course in Advanced use of FINISTERRAE II
Galician Supercomputing Center, Spain
2017/04 - 2017/04 This workshop was an introduction to R programming designed and organised by students.
Workshop
 Workshop in Introduction to R programming
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
2017/04 - 2017/04 This course was focused on statistical methods from R applied to research in health sciences.
Workshop
 Module 1: Introduction to applied statistics with R,
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal

Ad Hoc journal article review

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2024 - Current Biological Reviews
2022 - Current Scientific Reports (2045-2322)
2022 - Current Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Evolutionary and Population Genetics (2296-701X)
2021 - Current Genes (2073-4425)
2021 - Current Frontiers in Genetics (1664-8021)
Distinctions

Award

2021 Graduate Student Excellence Award 2021
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution, United States
2020 Best poster presentation at ISCB-Latin America SoIBio BioNetMX Symposium 2020
International Society for Computational Biology, United States
2017 Merit Grant
Direcçao Geral do Ensino Superior, Portugal