Mafalda Maria Migueis Bragança (791E-D19B-28A0)

Curriculum Vitae

Mafalda Maria Migueis Bragança

Mafalda Bragança began her academic career in 2016, by obtaining a bachelor's degree in biochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FC-UL). Mafalda finished her BSc in 2019 with a score of 15/20 and was given an academic merit award her first year. In 2022, she successfully completed her master's degree in biochemistry, with a specialization in medical biochemistry, at FC-UL, having a final grade of 17/20. As an undergraduate student during her BSc, Mafalda gained invaluable experience in research methodologies in the areas of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, through a short-term internship at Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (iBB), Instituto Superior Técnico. In 2020, Mafalda started her MSc thesis with the project "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues" at the Cell Structure and Dynamics Laboratory, affiliated to BioISI - Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute at FC-UL, under the supervision of Professor Federico Herrera. In her project, Mafalda studied a rare neurodegenerative disease (ARSACS), where she described the molecular phenotype of a glial cell model of this ataxia in terms of intermediate filaments expression profile, cytokine-induced neuroinflammation, endoplasmic reticulum stress and proliferation/viability of these cells. Mafalda participated in several scientific events, where she acquired a wealth of knowledge and developed her capacity for science communication. Her thesis results contributed to the publication of an article in the international journal Cells, with the title "Sacsin Deletion Induces Aggregation of Glial Intermediate Filaments". Mafalda defended her thesis in March 2022, scoring a grade of 18/20 with the opponent Susana Solá from iMed.ULisboa, Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon. Until the end of September 2023, Mafalda was working as a clinical analysis technician in Joaquim Chaves Saúde. Mafalda won a FCT Doctoral Fellowship (2023.01388.BD) and is currently doing her PhD research project "miRNA Engineering of Neural-derived Exosomes as a Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease", since October 2023.

Read full resume ↓

Identification

Personal identification

Full name: Mafalda Maria Migueis Bragança
Date of birth: 1998/10/13
Gender: Female

Citation names

Migueis, Mafalda
Migueis, M.

Author identifiers

Ciência ID: 791E-D19B-28A0
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-4846-8046

Knowledge fields

Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry

Languages

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

Education

	Degree	Classification
2023/10/01 - 2027 Ongoing	Pharmacy (specialization in Cellular and Molecular Biology) (Doutoramento) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal "PhD project: "miRNA Engineering of Neural-derived Exosomes as a Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease". Supervisor: Professor Dora Brites; Co-supervisors: Professor Monica Garcia-Alloza and Doctor João Carlos Silva" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2024/12/17 - 2024/12/17 Concluded	Formação intitulada ''Atualização em Biossegurança: Laboratórios de nível 2 (BSL-2)'' (Outros) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
2024/11/02 - 2024/11/16 Concluded	Neuropathology and Innovative Therapeutic Interventions (Pós-Graduação) Major in PhD Advanced Course Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal	18
2024/10/28 - 2024/10/31 Concluded	Advanced Drug Delivery (Pós-Graduação) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
2024/10/14 - 2024/10/18 Concluded	Molecular Biomarkers and Technologies (Pós-Graduação) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal	18
2024/10/01 Concluded	FFUL-SPCAL Course on Laboratory Animal Sciences – Category B (Pratical Module) (Pós-Graduação) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências em Animais de Laboratório, Portugal	18
2024/04/17 Concluded	FFUL-SPCAL Course on Laboratory Animal Sciences – Category B (Theoretical Module) (Pós-Graduação) Major in FFUL-SPCAL Course on Laboratory Animal Sciences – Category B (Theoretical Module) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal Sociedade Portuguesa de Ciências em Animais de Laboratório, Portugal
2023/11/27 - 2023/12/04 Concluded	Stem Cell Technologies (Pós-Graduação) Major in PhD Advanced Course Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal	17
2019/09 - 2022/03 Concluded	Biochemistry (specialization in Medical Biochemistry) (Mestrado) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal "MSc project: "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues". Grade: 18/20; Supervisor: Professor Federico Herrera" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)	17
2022/01/18 - 2022/01/20 Concluded	Macro scripting in ImageJ - COLife & FCUL Virtual Course (Outros) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2016/09 - 2019/06 Concluded	Biochemistry (Licenciatura) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal	15
2013 - 2016 Concluded	Sciences and Technology (Ensino secundário) Agrupamento de Escolas Vergílio Ferreira, Portugal	16

Affiliation

Science

	Category Host institution	Employer
2023/10/01 - 2027	Researcher (Research)	Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
	PhD research project: "miRNA Engineering of Neural-derived Exosomes as a Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Alzheimer's Disease" at SCERG-iBB/IST (ULisboa), NeurAlz/INiBICA (University of Cadiz, Spain) and NeuroIn/iMed/FF (ULisboa), Portugal
2019/09 - 2022/03	Researcher (Research)	Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
	MSc dissertation project "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues" at Cell Structure and Dynamics Laboratory, FC-UL, Portugal
2019/03 - 2019/06	Research Trainee (Research)	Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
	Undergraduate internship in the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences (Supervisors: Prof. Gabriel Monteiro and Dr. Sofia Duarte) at Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal

Others

	Category Host institution	Employer
2022/01/10 - 2023/09/30	Clinical Analysis Technician	Joaquim Chaves Saúde, Portugal

Projects

Grant

	Designation	Funders
2023/10/01 - Current	Analyzing NeuroIMmune dysregulation in Alzheimer´s disease toward a Therapy with miRNA-loaded Exosomes (ANIMATE) PTDC/MED-NEU/2382/2021 PhD Student Fellow Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Investigação do Medicamento, Portugal	Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia Ongoing

Outputs

Publications

Conference poster	Migueis, M.; Lourenço, M.; Garcia, Gonçalo; Ianni, Marta; Salvador, William; Nogueira, Diogo; Rodrigues, Carlos A.V.; et al. "Therapeutic Potential of hNPC-Exosomes Loaded with miR-124 when delivered to the 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease". Paper presented in 6th Students Meeting of Mind-Brain College of ULisboa, 2024. Lourenço, Maria; Migueis, Mafalda; Ianni, Marta; Costa-Coelho, Tiago; Ferreira-Manso, Mafalda; Inteiro-Oliveira, Sara; Nuno Aleman-Serrano; et al. "Autophagy-Inflammation Interplay, and Synaptic Plasticity in the 5xFAD Mice". Paper presented in 6th Students Meeting of Mind Brain College of ULisboa, 2024. Migueis, Mafalda; Maria Lourenço; Ianni, Marta; Nogueira, Diogo; Rodrigues, Carlos A.V.; Costa-Coelho, Tiago; Garcia, Gonçalo; et al. "An Exosome-based Therapeutic Strategy targeting Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s Disease with miR-124". Paper presented in XXII National Congress of Biochemistry, 2024. Lourenço, Maria; Migueis, Mafalda; Garcia, Gonçalo; Ianni, Marta; Costa-Coelho, Tiago; Ferreira-Manso, Mafalda; Inteiro-Oliveira, Sara; et al. "Sex-Biased Autophagy-Inflammation Interplay in the Brain of 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease". Paper presented in XV iMed.ULisboa Postgraduate Students Meeting, 2024. Corraliza-Gomez, Miriam; Ianni, Marta; Migueis, Mafalda; Nogueira, Diogo; Rodrigues, Carlos; Brites, Dora. "Large-Scale Production of Exosomes for miRNA Loading and delivery to Regenerate Neuron-Glia Homeostasis". Paper presented in VII Symposium Portuguese Glial Network, 2024. Migueis, M.; Murtinheira, Fernanda; Diallo, Mickael; Herrera, Federico. "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues". Paper presented in V Symposium Portuguese Glial Network 2021, 2021.
Journal article	Murtinheira, Fernanda; Migueis, Mafalda; Letra-Vilela, Ricardo; Diallo, Mickael; Quezada, Andrea; Valente, Cláudia A.; Oliva, Abel; et al. "Sacsin Deletion Induces Aggregation of Glial Intermediate Filaments". Cells 11 2 (2022): 299. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells11020299. 10.3390/cells11020299
Thesis / Dissertation	"Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues". Master, Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, 2022.

Activities

Oral presentation

	Presentation title	Event name Host (Event location)
2024/11/21	hNPC-Exosomes Loaded with miR-124 Modulate Glial Activity and Neuroinflammation in the 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease	I Iberian Symposium of the Glial Networks Rede Glial; Red Glial Española
2024/07/11	Targeting Neuroinflammation And Autophagy With Upscaled miR-124-loaded Exosomes In The 5xFAD Mouse Model Of Alzheimer’s Disease	XV iMEd.ULisboa Postgraduate Students Meeting iMEd.ULisboa (Lisbon, Portugal)
2024/02/07	Optimizing Large-scale Exosome Production for miRNA Delivery as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy in Alzheimer's Disease	54th Meeting of the Portuguese Society of Pharmacology Portuguese Society of Pharmacology (Lisbon, Portugal)
2021/11/30	Poster communication of the MSc project "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues"	V Symposium of the Portuguese Glial Network, Coimbra (PORTUGAL) University of Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
2021/10/14	The role of sacsin in the pathological aggregation of intermediate filaments	XXI SPB National Congress of Biochemistry (Virtual) University of Évora (Évora, Portugal)
2021/02/19	Flash communication of the MSc project "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues"	3ª Encontro do Mestrado em Bioquímica (Virtual) Comissão Pedagógica do Mestrado em Bioquímica (Lisbon, Portugal)

Event participation

	Activity description Type of event	Event name Institution / Organization
2020/04/14 - 2020/04/14	FMUL talks - "Imunidade e Vacinação" (Webinar) Seminar	Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2019/10/17 - 2019/10/17	Biochemistry Masterclass Seminar "Retinal Degeneration and Gene Therapy" Seminar	Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2019/10/14 - 2019/10/16	XXI National Congress of Biochemistry "Tunning Biochemistry with Life and Society" (Virtual) Congress	Universidade de Évora, Portugal

Mentoring / Tutoring

	Topic	Student name
2022/06/12 - 2022/06/23	Teaching assistance of two interns from the University of Medicine of Lisbon based on the MSc dissertation project "Sacsin deletion disrupts the response of C6 rat glioblastoma cells to inflammatory cues"	Catarina Tracanas and Inês Augusto

Distinctions

Award

2023	FCT PhD Fellowship (2023.01388.BD) Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2019	FC-UL Academic Merit Award (1st year classification: 16/20) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal