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My scientific career started in 2015 when I had the opportunity to pursue my PhD studies under the supervision of Prof. Rui Castro and Prof. Cecília Rodrigues at iMed.ULisboa. The focus of my research was on the role of mitochondria-targeting microRNAs in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and the potential therapeutic effects resulting from their modulation, in both the liver and skeletal muscle. After my PhD, I started my post-doctoral studies, investigating the role of miRNA-containing extracellular vesicles released from the adipose tissue during NAFLD pathogenesis. In this work, I am exploring the potential of extracellular vesicles miRNAs as key communication vehicles between different tissues. With the arise of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, I conducted a multicenter European study, where I am assessing the humoral immune response of two-dose COVID-19 vaccines among patients with different hepatic aetiologies from 6 different EU countries. In 2023, I have just enrolled in the MSc. in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, with specialization in Multi-Omics for Life and Health Sciences, from Universidade NOVA de Lisboa.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
André Daniel Lopes Simão

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
8718-8151-41E0
ORCID iD
0000-0002-5986-1089
Researcher Id
M-9767-2018
Scopus Author Id
56041784600

Websites

Education
Degree Classification
2023/09/01 - 2025
Ongoing
 Biologia Computacional e Bioinformática (Mestrado)
Major in Multi-Omics for Life and Health Sciences
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
2015/01/01 - 2019/09/23
Concluded
 Farmácia (Doutoramento)
Major in Cellular and Molecular Biology
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
"Role of Mitochondria-Targeting miRNAs in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Approved with Distinction and Honors
2008 - 2013
Concluded
 Ciências Farmacêuticas (Mestrado integrado)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal
"miRNAs in Liver Diseases" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 16 in 20 (300 ECTS)
Outputs

Publications

Book chapter
  1. Simão, André L.; Borralho, Pedro M.; Steer, Clifford J.; Castro, Rui E.; Rodrigues, Cecília M. P.. "Isolation of Mitochondria from Liver and Extraction of Total RNA and Protein: Analyses of miRNA and Protein Expression". In Methods in Molecular Biology, 1-15. Springer US, 2021.
    10.1007/978-1-0716-1433-4_1
  2. Rodrigues PM.; Lapitz A.; Simão AL.; Perugorria MJ.; Arrese M.; Castro RE.; Bañales JM.. "Extracellular Vesicles in Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: Key Players in Disease Pathogenesis and Promising Biomarker Tools". 2020.
    10.1007/978-3-030-37173-9_9
Journal article
  1. Rodriguez-Agudo, Ruben; Gonzalez-Recio, Irene; Serrano-Macia, Marina; Bravo, Miren; Petrov, Petar; Blaya, Delia; Herranz, Jose Maria; et al. "Anti-miR-873-5p improves alcohol-related liver disease by enhancing hepatic deacetylation via SIRT1". JHEP Reports (2024): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100918.
    10.1016/J.JHEPR.2023.100918
  2. Pedro M. Rodrigues; Marta B. Afonso; Simão AL.; Tawhidul Islam; Maria M. Gaspar; Colm J. O'Rourke; Monika Lewinska; et al. "miR-21-5p promotes NASH-related hepatocarcinogenesis". Liver International (2023): https://doi.org/10.1111/liv.15682.
    10.1111/liv.15682
  3. Simão AL.; Palma, Carolina Santos; Izquierdo-Sanchez, Laura; Putignano, Antonella; Carvalho-Gomes, Angela; Posch, Andreas; Zanaga, Paola; et al. "Cirrhosis is associated with lower serological responses to COVID-19 vaccines in patients with chronic liver disease". JHEP Reports (2023): 100697. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100697.
    10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100697
  4. Macias, Rocio I.R.; Monte, Maria J.; Serrano, Maria A.; González-Santiago, Jesús M.; Martín-Arribas, Isabel; Simão, André L.; Castro, Rui E.; et al. "Impact of aging on primary liver cancer: epidemiology, pathogenesis and therapeutics". Aging 13 19 (2021): 23416-23434. http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/aging.203620.
    10.18632/aging.203620
  5. Tudor Mocan; André L. Simão; Rui E. Castro; Cecília M. P. Rodrigues; Artur Slomka; Bingduo Wang; Christian Strassburg; et al. "Liquid Biopsies in Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Are We Winning?". Journal of Clinical Medicine 9 5 (2020): 1541-1541. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm9051541.
    10.3390/jcm9051541
  6. Afonso, M.B.; Rodrigues, P.M.; Mateus-Pinheiro, M.; Simão, A.L.; Gaspar, M.M.; Majdi, A.; Arretxe, E.; et al. "RIPK3 acts as a lipid metabolism regulator contributing to inflammation and carcinogenesis in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease". Gut (2020): https://gut.bmj.com/content/70/12/2359.
    10.1136/gutjnl-2020-321767
  7. Simão, A.L.; Afonso, M.B.; Rodrigues, P.M.; Gama-Carvalho, M.; Machado, M.V.; Cortez-Pinto, H.; Rodrigues, C.M.P.; Castro, R.E.. "Skeletal muscle miR-34a/SIRT1:AMPK axis is activated in experimental and human non-alcoholic steatohepatitis". Journal of Molecular Medicine 97 8 (2019): 1113-1126. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00109-019-01796-8.
    10.1007/s00109-019-01796-8
  8. Afonso, M.B.; Rodrigues, P.M.; Simão, A.L.; Gaspar, M.M.; Carvalho, T.; Borralho, P.; Bañales, J.M.; Castro, R.E.; Rodrigues, C.M.P.. "MiRNA-21 ablation protects against liver injury and necroptosis in cholestasis". Cell Death and Differentiation 25 5 (2018): 857-872. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41418-017-0019-x.
    10.1038/s41418-017-0019-x
  9. Rodrigues, P.M.; Afonso, M.B.; Carvalho, C.C.; Trindade, A.; Duarte, A.; Borralho, P.M.; MacHado, M.V.; et al. "MiR-21 ablation and obeticholic acid ameliorate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in mice". Cell Death and Disease 8 4 (2017): https://www.nature.com/articles/cddis2017172.
    10.1038/cddis.2017.172
  10. Afonso, M.B.; Rodrigues, P.M.; Simão, A.L.; Ofengeim, D.; Carvalho, T.; Amaral, J.D.; Gaspar, M.M.; et al. "Activation of necroptosis in human and experimental cholestasis". Cell Death and Disease 7 9 (2016): https://www.nature.com/articles/cddis2016280.
    10.1038/cddis.2016.280
  11. Afonso MB; Rodrigues PM; Simão AL; Castro RE. "Circulating microRNAs as Potential Biomarkers in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Hepatocellular Carcinoma.". (2016): http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/26950158.
    10.3390/jcm5030030
  12. Rodrigues, P.M.; Afonso, M.B.; Simão, A.L.; Borralho, P.M.; Rodrigues, C.M.P.; Castro, R.E.. "Inhibition of NF-kappaB by deoxycholic acid induces miR-21/PDCD4-dependent hepatocelular apoptosis". Scientific Reports 5 (2015): https://www.nature.com/articles/srep17528.
    10.1038/srep17528
  13. Ferreira, D.M.S.; Simão, A.L.; Rodrigues, C.M.P.; Castro, R.E.. "Revisiting the metabolic syndrome and paving the way for microRNAs in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease". FEBS Journal 281 11 (2014): 2503-2524. https://doi.org/10.1111/febs.12806.
    10.1111/febs.12806
  14. Ferreira, D.M.S.; Afonso, M.B.; Rodrigues, P.M.; Simão, A.L.; Pereira, D.M.; Borralho, P.M.; Rodrigues, C.M.P.; Castro, R.E.. "c-jun N-terminal kinase 1/c-jun activation of the p53/microRNA 34a/sirtuin 1 pathway contributes to apoptosis induced by deoxycholic acid in rat liver". Molecular and Cellular Biology 34 6 (2014): 1100-1120. https://doi.org/10.1128/MCB.00420-13.
    10.1128/MCB.00420-13