Identification
Personal identification
- Full name
- SARA SILVA PEREIRA
Citation names
- SILVA PEREIRA, SARA
Author identifiers
- Ciência ID
- 8B17-CF8D-E8CD
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-6590-6626
Email addresses
- sarapereira@ucp.pt (Professional)
Websites
- https://silvapereiralab.com (Professional)
Knowledge fields
- Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences - Bioinformatics
- Agrarian Sciences - Veterinary Sciences
- Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences - Parasitology
- Medical and Health Sciences - Medical Biotechnology - Technologies Involving the Manipulation of Cells, Tissues, Organs or the Whole Organism
Languages
Language | Speaking | Reading | Writing | Listening | Peer-review |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portuguese | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | |
English | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | Proficiency (C2) | |
Spanish; Castilian | Upper intermediate (B2) | Advanced (C1) | Intermediate (B1) | Upper intermediate (B2) | |
French | Elementary (A2) | Upper intermediate (B2) | Upper intermediate (B2) | Upper intermediate (B2) |
Education
Degree | Classification | |
---|---|---|
2018/06/04
Concluded
|
PhD Veterinary Parasitology (Doctor of Philosophy)
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
"Variant Surface Glycoprotein Diversity in African Trypanosomes" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
|
n/a |
2014/07/01
Concluded
|
Biomedical Sciences BSc (Hons) (Bachelor)
King's College London, United Kingdom
"The evaluation of different tasks for the identification of cognitive loading." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
|
2:1 |
Affiliation
Science
Category Host institution |
Employer | |
---|---|---|
2023/09/01 - Current | Invited Auxiliary Researcher (Research) | Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal |
Católica Biomedical Research Centre, Portugal | ||
2018/10/02 - 2023/08 | Postdoc (Research) | Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal |
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal | ||
2017/09/01 - 2018/09/30 | Research Assistant (Research) | University of Liverpool, United Kingdom |
University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health, United Kingdom | ||
2018/06/01 - 2018/06/30 | Visiting Researcher (Research) | International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya |
International Centre for Insect Physiology and Ecology, Kenya | ||
2018/03/01 - 2018/04/01 | Visiting Researcher (Research) | Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho - Câmpus de Jaboticabal, Brazil |
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho Câmpus de Jaboticabal Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Brazil | ||
2016/08/26 - 2016/10/10 | Visiting Researcher (Research) | International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya |
International Livestock Research Institute, Kenya | ||
2012/09/20 - 2013/07/31 | Research Trainee (Research) | London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom |
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, United Kingdom |
Projects
Grant
Designation | Funders | |
---|---|---|
2025/06/01 - 2026/05/31 | Development of 3D bovine blood-brain-barrier model to characterize parasite-induced brain inflammation
e04dba16-e5e9-44c8-a91a-a803d7de7f5c
Principal investigator
|
|
2024/02/01 - 2026/01/31 | Customizable in-vitro platforms for studying pathogen-vasculature interactions
1143548048
Principal investigator
|
Ongoing
|
2022/09/20 - 2023/12/19 | Bioengineering 3D bovine microvessels to understand cerebral trypanosomiasis
SEG9333
Post-doc
EMBL Barcelona, Spain
|
EMBO Press
Ongoing
|
2019/12/01 - 2022/03/31 | TRYPTISSUE-Characterising Trypanosoma tissue tropism: new perspectives for variant surface glycoproteins
839960
Principal investigator
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
European Commission
Ongoing
|
2016/02/22 - 2018/09/30 | Variant antigen profiling: a novel genomic tool for diagnosis and surveillance of animal African trypanosomiasis.
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/RCUK/BBSRC/BB2%FM0228112%F1/GB
PhD Student Fellow
University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health, United Kingdom
|
UK Research and Innovation
Concluded
|
2014/08/01 - 2015/04/30 | An Analytical Tool to Transform Genomic Approaches to Nagana
00000
PhD Student Fellow
University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health, United Kingdom
|
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Concluded
|
Contract
Designation | Funders | |
---|---|---|
2024/09/01 - 2027/08/31 | Partnership for Excellence on Lymph-Angiocrine Signaling in Ischemic Disorders - PLASID
101159643
Researcher
Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal
|
Ongoing
|
2023/09/01 - 2026/08/31 | 3DTrypSeq - High-resolution, high-throughput systems for decoding parasite sequestration
127903
Principal investigator
Católica Biomedical Research Centre, Portugal
|
Obra Social La Caixa
Ongoing
|
2023/03/12 - 2024/09/11 | 3DTryp - Characterisation of Trypanosoma sequestration to endothelial cells
2022.02187.PTDC
Principal investigator
Católica Biomedical Research Centre, Portugal
|
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
|
2022/01/01 - 2023/12/31 | The impact of parasite sequestration in trypanosomiasis severity
1ª Edition
Principal investigator
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
Fundação Bial
Ongoing
|
2017/10/01 - 2020/01/09 | Rethinking impossible: scrutinizing variant antigen gene expression to develop a vaccination strategy for animal trypanosomiasis
00000
Post-doc
University of Liverpool, United Kingdom
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Brazil |
University of Liverpool
Concluded
|
Outputs
Publications
Conference poster |
|
Journal article |
|
Newsletter article |
|
Thesis / Dissertation |
|
Working paper |
|
Activities
Oral presentation
Presentation title | Event name Host (Event location) |
|
---|---|---|
2024/04/04 | Cytoadhesion of Trypanosoma congolense to bioengineered 3D bovine microvessels | British Society for Parasitology Spring Meeting
British Society for Parasitology (Liverpool, United Kingdom)
|
2023/09/19 | Cytoadhesion of Trypanosoma congolense to bioengineered 3D bovine microvessels | Molecular Parasitology Meeting
(Woods Hole, United States)
|
2023/04/02 | T. congolense cytoadhesion and its mammalian host response | ICVS Seminar Series - Life and Health Sciences Research Institute
(Braga, Portugal)
|
2023/02/14 | T. congolense cytoadhesion and its mammalian host response | Symposium on African Livestock Trypanosomiasis
(Arusha, Tanzania)
|
2022/11/16 | Sticky parasites, reactive hosts, and how they drive acute cerebral trypanosomiasis | Earlham Institute Seminar Series
Dr Ross Low (Norwich, United Kingdom)
|
2022/11/09 | Sticky parasites, reactive hosts, and how they drive acute cerebral trypanosomiasis | Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, University of Glasgow
Juan Quintana (United Kingdom)
|
2022/09/16 | Trypanosome sequestration and immune response drive acute cerebral disease | Kinetoplastid Molecular and Cell Biology Meeting
(Woods Hole, United States)
|
2022/06/07 | A beautiful mess: sticky parasites in reactive hosts | Seminar Series at CEDOC, Chronic Diseases Research Center
(Lisbon, Portugal)
|
2022/01/15 | Immunopathology and parasite sequestration cause cerebral trypanosomiasis | EMBL The Next Generation in Infection Biology
(Germany)
|
2021/10/08 | Immunopathology and parasite sequestration cause severe cerebral trypanosomiasis in animals. | Molecular Parasitology Meeting 2021
(United States)
|
2019/09/16 | Trypanosoma congolense cytoadheres to the brain vasculature | Molecular Parasitology Meeting 2019
(Woods Hole, United States)
|
2018/07/17 | The Marvellous World of Variant Antigen Profiling: from the field to the lab… and back again | iMM Parasitology Seminar Series
Instituto de Medicina Molecular (Lisboa, Portugal)
|
2017/12/04 | Variant antigen profiling: A tool for genome-wide analysis of VSG diversity in Trypanosoma congolense and Trypanosoma vivax | Trypanosomatid parasites: from the field to the lab
Institut Pasteur (Paris, France)
|
2017/11/11 | Variant antigen profiling in Trypanosoma vivax: a high-throughput approach to antigenic diversity in natural populations | Annual Meeting of the Brazilian Society for Protozoology
Brazilian Society for Protozoology (Caxambu, Brazil)
|
2017/04/17 | Variant antigen profiling: a tool for genome-wide analysis of VSG diversity in Trypanosoma congolense | Kinetoplastid Molecular and Cell Biology Meeting
(Woods Hole, United States)
|
Supervision
Thesis Title Role |
Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization |
|
---|---|---|
2024/01/29 - Current | Dissecting the molecular evolution signatures of sequestration-associated gene families in trypanosomatids
Supervisor
|
Biologia Celular e Molecular (Degree)
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
|
2023/11/01 - Current | Identification and characterization of molecular mediators of parasite sequestration
Supervisor
|
Biotecnologia (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
|
2023/10/01 - 2024/01/31 | Characterisation of the trypanosome sequestration machinery
Supervisor
|
Engenharia Biomédica (Degree)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
|
2021/09/01 - 2023/09/05 | Tissue tropism and parasite virulence in recently isolated Trypanosoma brucei strains
Co-supervisor
|
¿ MSc Biomedical Research (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
|
2023/05/02 - 2023/07/31 | Cytoadhesion of Trypanosoma congolense to bioengineered 3D bovine microvessels
Supervisor
|
Engenharia Biomédica (Degree)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal
|
2019/09/01 - 2020/06/30 | Longitudinal analysis of adipocyte and liver gene expression during T. brucei infection
Co-supervisor
|
Masters Degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (Master)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
|
Event organisation
Event name Type of event (Role) |
Institution / Organization | |
---|---|---|
2022/02 - 2023/08/31 | Co-Organiser of iMM's Parasitology Seminar Series (2022/02)
Seminar (Co-organisor)
|
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal |
2021/09 - 2021/10/15 | Organisation of public engagement activity for Tropical College at FIC.A: Festival Internacional da Ciência 2021.
This activity involved developing age-appropriate activities to teach about tropical diseases, in particular vector-borne
diseases, vaccines, and antigenic variation. (2021/10/09)
Festival (Co-organisor)
|
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal Colégio Tropical da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal |
2017/03/01 - 2017/03/18 | Public engagement activity entitled “Gotta catch ‘em all: How does antigenic variation work?” during the “Meet the Scientists”
event at the World Museum of Liverpool, UK (aimed at children and teenagers) in 2017 (2017/03/18 - 2017/03/18)
Exhibition (Member of the Organising Committee)
|
University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health, United Kingdom |
Event participation
Activity description Type of event |
Event name Institution / Organization |
|
---|---|---|
2018/06 - Current | Workshop on best practices to raising your research profile and social media.
Workshop
|
Raising your Research Profile
University of Liverpool Department of Infection Biology, United Kingdom
|
2024/02/15 - 2024/02/16 | Dynamic Cell Culture with Microfluidics - from unicellular to complex systems: A workshop consisting of 5 hours of theoretical
and networking sessions and 5 hours of practical sessions on microfluidics and microfabrication.
Workshop
|
Dynamic Cell Culture with Microfluidics - from unicellular to complex systems
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal
|
2024/01/31 - 2024/02/09 | CONGENTO Course on Modules 9, 10 and 11 ("Upgrade Course") according to FELSASA Function B for animal experimentation and
project design.
Workshop
|
CONGENTO Course on Modules 9, 10 and 11 ("Upgrade Course")
Congento Consortium for Genetically Tractable Organisms, Portugal
|
2022/05/03 - 2022/05/03 | Roundtable in Diversity and Inclusion
Round table
|
XV CAML·V NeurULisboa PhD Students Meeting
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal |
2021/07/05 - 2021/07/10 | Course (25h) of Single-Cell RNA Sequencing organised as part of the Ribomed Summer School.
Workshop
|
Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Course
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
2021/04/23 - 2021/04/23 | Getting Ready for Horizon Europe: workshop on European funding (3.5h) by Hyperion Ltd
Workshop
|
Getting Ready for Horizon Europe
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
2021/01/11 - 2021/01/25 | Leadership and Management Skills Course for Postdocs: 21-hour course provided by HFP consulting
Workshop
|
Leadership and Management Skills Course for Postdocs
HFP Consulting, Germany
|
2020/09/29 - 2020/10/02 | EMBO Project Management for Scientists: A course to learn key concepts in project management, both for planning and managing
work, and for working effectively with people.
Workshop
|
EMBO Project Management for Scientists
European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany
|
2020/09/19 - 2020/09/19 | The danger of sticky parasites! Talk and Q&A
http://soapboxscience.org
Festival
|
Soapbox Science Lisbon 2020
Soapbox Science, United Kingdom
|
2019/06 - 2019/06 | Theoretical and practical workshop on genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9 at i3S (20h)
Workshop
|
Workshop on genome editing using CRISPR-Cas9
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
|
2018/10 - 2018/12 | Certification on Laboratory Animal Science (FELASA B)
Workshop
|
Laboratory Animal Science (FELASA B)
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
2018/02/27 - 2018/02/28 | Workshop on culture and transfection methods for T. congolense (3h).
Workshop
|
Culture and transfection methods for T. congolense
University of Bristol Faculty of Life Sciences, United Kingdom
|
2016/03 - 2016/03 | 8-hour course on measurement and analysis of mRNAs, lncRNAs and miRNAs using NGS (RNA-seq).
Workshop
|
Measurement and analysis of mRNAs, lncRNAs and miRNAs using NGS (RNA-seq)
Nowgen Centre, United Kingdom
|
2015/09 - 2015/09 | Pathogen Genomics Course (20h) to learn about big data analysis.
Workshop
|
Pathogen Genomics Course
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, United Kingdom
|
2014/09 - 2014/12 | 3-months in-person course on Advanced Statistics for researchers.
Workshop
|
Advanced Statistics for Life Sciences
University of Liverpool Institute of Integrative Biology, United Kingdom
|
2014/09 - 2014/12 | 3-months course on basics of computer programming for life sciences (Perl, Unix, Python, MySQL).
Workshop
|
Programming for Life Sciences
University of Liverpool Institute of Integrative Biology, United Kingdom
|
2014/09 - 2014/09 | Working with Parasite Databases Workshop (40h) organised by the VEuPathDB and GeneDB teams at the Wellcome Sanger Institute,
UK. We learnt the basics of bioinformatics to analyse parasitic big data.
Workshop
|
Working with Parasite Databases Workshop
Wellcome Sanger Institute, United Kingdom
|
2011/01 - 2011/06 | Course on the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 (equivalent to FELASA B, Laboratory Animal Science course), organised
by the Universities’ Training Group.
Workshop
|
Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986
King's College London, United Kingdom
|
Ad Hoc journal article review
Journal title (ISSN) | Publisher | |
---|---|---|
2024 - Current | PloS Pathogens | |
2023 - Current | Biology | |
2022 - Current | Frontiers Veterinary Science | |
2021 - Current | Cellular Microbiology | |
2021 - Current | Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária | |
2019 - Current | Microbiome | |
2018 - Current | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
Association member
Society Organization name | Role | |
---|---|---|
2015 - Current | British Society for Parasitology | Full Member |
2015 - 2019 | The Genetics Society (UK) | Full Member |
Committee member
Activity description Role |
Institution / Organization | |
---|---|---|
2022/01 - Current | Member of the iMM's Diversity and Inclusion Working group
Member
|
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal |
2021/06/01 - Current | Youth Representative of the World Federation of Scientific Workers at UNESCO | World Federation of Scientific Workers, France |
2021/01/01 - Current | iMM Point of Contact for the Tropical College of the University of Lisbon (CTROP) - Digital Platforms workgroup
Member
|
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal Colégio Tropical da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal |
2020/01/02 - Current | User Representative of the iMM Histology & Comparative Pathology Facility.
Member
|
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal |
2016/04/01 - 2018/09/30 | Athena SWAN PhD and Post-doc representative
Member
|
University of Liverpool Institute of Infection and Global Health, United Kingdom |
Course / Discipline taught
Academic session | Degree Subject (Type) | Institution / Organization | |
---|---|---|---|
2023/10/26 - Current | Animal Models in Biomedical Research | MSc Organismal and Evolutionary Biology (Mestrado) | Fundação da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal |
2022/07/11 - 2022/07/15 | Untangling parasite sequestration using interdisciplinary approaches | Advanced Course in Pathogen Multiomics and Bioinformatics | Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Farmácia, Portugal |
2019/05/01 - 2019/05/05 | Parasitology Week of the Biology at the Host Microbe Interface PhD program | (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) | Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal |
2015/01/10 - 2016/06/01 | Quantitative Skills for Life Sciences, Year 1 BSc | Quantitative Skills for Life Sciences (Bachelor) | University of Liverpool School of Life Sciences, United Kingdom |
Interview (newspaper / magazine)
Activity description | Newspaper / Forum | |
---|---|---|
2024/09/23 | E se a doença do sono chegar à Europa? Esta cientista estuda o parasita para o combater melhor — enquanto há tempo | Obsevador |
2021/12/03 | Follow-up on the project awarded with Prémio Maria de Sousa by Fundação Bial and the prize-awarding ceremony. | Público |
2021/11/24 | Interview about Prémio Maria de Sousa by Fundação Bial, on the the impact of parasite sequestration in trypanosomiasis severity. | Público |
Journal scientific committee
Journal title (ISSN) | Publisher | |
---|---|---|
2021/10 - Current | Revista Brasileira de Parasitologia Veterinária (1984-2961) | Colégio Brasileiro de Parasitologia Veterinária |
2021/07 - Current | Cellular Microbiology (1462-5822 ) | Wiley-Hindawi |
2018/12/18 - Current | PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (1935-2735) | Public Library of Science |
2018/10/09 - Current | Microbiome (2049-2618) | Springer (Biomed Central Ltd.) |
Mentoring / Tutoring
Topic | Student name | |
---|---|---|
2021/07 - 2021/09 | Molecular and Computational Biology | Madalena Almeida |
2021/03 - 2021/06 | Computational Biology | Tiago Costa |
Distinctions
Award
2024 | 2024 L'Oréal Portugal Medal of Honor for Women in Science
L'Oréal-UNESCO, Portugal
|
2022 | Lídia Silva Santos Postdoctoral Achievement Award
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
|
2022 | Prémio Maria de Sousa
Fundação BIAL, Portugal
|
2021 | Prémio Maria de Sousa (25,000€)
Fundação Bial, Portugal
|
2019 | Best Turbo Talk/Poster Award (200$)
Molecular Parasitology Meeting, United States
|
2017 | Walter Colli Award
Sociedade Brasileira de Protozoologia, Brazil
|
2017 | Genetics Society Junior Investigator Travel Grant (750£)
Genetics Society, United Kingdom
|
2017 | ParaTryp Travel Award (500$)
ParaTryp Research Organization, United States
|
2016 | BSP International Training and Fieldwork Award (1,500£)
British Society for Parasitology, United Kingdom
|
2016 | British Society for Parasitology Travel Award (500£)
British Society for Parasitology, United Kingdom
|