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Sara Freitas-Ribeiro concluded her master’s in Bioengineering awarded by the School of Engineering of the University of Minho in 2017. During this period, she developed her master’s dissertation on the hypothermic preservation of cell sheets, in the 3B’s Research Group (3B’s), University of Minho, under the supervision of Prof. Rui L. Reis and Dr. Mariana Henriques. Her findings from this research were published in an original research paper. From 2017 to 2024 Sara conducted her Ph.D. in 3B’s, under the supervision of Dr. Rogério P. Pirraco and Prof. Rui L. Reis supported by a Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Ph.D. grant within the Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells doctoral program. Her thesis focused on advancing biopreservation strategies for tissue-engineered constructs, including both hypothermic and cryogenic methods, with the goal of optimizing clinical translatability. During this period, she has also been involved in the ERC CAPBED project. As a result, until this date, her track record includes, 10 peer-reviewed original papers (5 as first author) and 1 review paper. Additionally, she has presented her research as the first author at 3 international conferences and has contributed numerous poster presentations. Sara has also been actively involved in the organization of 3 conferences within the Gene2Skin project. Furthermore, she has contributed to the scientific community by serving as a scientific referee for 3 scientific journals, and involved in the organization of several science divulgation activities. Her dedication to advancing knowledge in the field of biopreservation and tissue engineering is evident through her extensive research contributions and scholarly activities.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Sara Cristina Freitas Ribeiro

Citation names

  • Freitas-Ribeiro, Sara
  • Ribeiro, Sara

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
B619-ED40-50CB
ORCID iD
0000-0003-3103-6703
Scopus Author Id
57211324357

Email addresses

  • sara.ribeiro@i3bs.uminho.pt (Professional)

Addresses

  • I3Bs - Research Institute on Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics of University of Minho, 4805-694 , São Claudio de Barco, Guimarães, Portugal (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Medical Biotechnology - Technologies Involving the Manipulation of Cells, Tissues, Organs or the Whole Organism
  • Medical and Health Sciences - Medical Biotechnology - Biomaterials

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
English Upper intermediate (B2) Upper intermediate (B2) Upper intermediate (B2) Advanced (C1) Upper intermediate (B2)
Education
Degree Classification
2017/09 - 2024/09/25
Concluded
 Engenharia de Tecidos, Medicina Regenerativa e Células Estaminais (Doutoramento)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"The Impact of Preservation Strategies on Tissue Engineering Constructs: Streamlining Future Clinical Application" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2017/09/01 - 2018/06/26
Concluded
 Estudos avançados em Engenharia de Tecidos, Medicina Regenerativa e Células Estaminais (Pós-Graduação)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
 17
2014/09 - 2017/03
Concluded
 Bioengenharia (Mestrado)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"Testing of commercially available compounds for the optimal hypothermic storage of cell sheets" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 17
2011/10 - 2014/07
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
"Culture techniques and cell characterization for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 13
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2025/01/16 - Current Contracted Researcher (Research) Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2017/09/01 - 2024/09/25 PhD Student Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal
Projects

Other

Designation Funders
2025/01/16 - Current Engineered Capillary Beds for Successful Prevascularization of Tissue Engineering Constructs
805411
Researcher
European Commission
2018/11/01 - 2024/09/25 Engineered Capillary Beds for Successful Prevascularization of Tissue Engineering Constructs
805411
PhD Student Fellow
European Commission
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Freitas-Ribeiro S; Moreira H; da Silva LP; Noro J; Sampaio-Marques B; Ludovico P; Jarnalo M; et al. "Long-Term Hypothermic Storage Preserves Angiogenic Potential of Prevascularized Spongy-Like Hydrogels". Paper presented in TERMIS-WC, 2024.
  2. Gomes CF; Rodrigues DB; Cruz-Moreira D; Noro J; Freitas-Ribeiro S; Reis RL; Pirraco RP. "Tuning collagen-based hydrogels for improved microvascularization of tissue engineering constructs". Paper presented in TERMIS-WC, 2024.
  3. Freitas-Ribeiro S; Diogo GS; Oliveira C; Martins A; Silva TH; Jarnalo M; Horta R; Reis RL; Pirraco, RP. "Vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges through cryopreserved adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction". Paper presented in HEALTH-UNORTE, 2023.
  4. Freitas-Ribeiro S; Diogo GS; Oliveira C; Martins A; Silva TH; Jarnalo M; Horta R; Reis RL; Pirraco, RP. "Cryopreserved human adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction for the growth factor-free vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges". Paper presented in Forecast final Conference, 2021.
  5. Freitas-Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Pires RA; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "The impact of hypothermic and cryogenic preservation on the ECM of cell sheets". Paper presented in Advanced cell therapies and tissue engineering, 2019.
  6. Freitas-Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Pires RA; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Novel methods for ECM preservation". Paper presented in Second Achilles Conference on Tendon biophysical environment, 2019.
  7. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Pires RA; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "The effect of low temperature preservation on the ECM of cell sheets". Paper presented in 1st Discoveries Forum on Regenerative and Precision Medicine, 2019.
  8. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Pires RA; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "The effect of hypothermic and cryogenic temperatures on the extracellular matrix of cell sheets". Paper presented in First Achilles Conference on Molecular and biological mechanisms of tendon homeostasis and repair, 2019.
  9. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Screening of new compounds for enhancing hASC cell sheets resilience to hypothermic and hypoxic insult". Paper presented in Gene2Skin Final conference on Cutting-edge basic and translational research in skin-related diseases and disorders,, 2018.
  10. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "New compounds for improving hASCs cell sheets resilience to hypothermic and hypoxic insult". Paper presented in TERMIS-WC, 2018.
  11. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Improving hASCs cell sheets resilience to hypothermic and hypoxic insult using new compounds". Paper presented in Gene2Skin Summer School, 2018.
  12. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Costa M; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Hypothermic Storage Of Confluent Human Adipose Stem Cells". Paper presented in Gene2Skin Winter School, 2017.
  13. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Costa M; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Hypothermic preservation of confluent Human Adipose Stem Cells". Paper presented in TERMIS-EU, 2017.
  14. Ribeiro S; Carvalho AF; Costa M; Cerqueira MT; Marques AP; Pirraco RP; Reis RL. "Hypothermic Storage of Confluent Human Adipose Stem Cells". Paper presented in Chem2Nature Second, 2017.
Journal article
  1. Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Andreia F. Carvalho; Daniel B. Rodrigues; Luís Martins; Ricardo A. Pires; Vera M. Mendes; Bruno Manadas; et al. "Cryogenic, but not hypothermic, preservation disrupts the extracellular matrix of cell sheets". Bioactive Materials (2025): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2024.12.019.
    10.1016/j.bioactmat.2024.12.019
  2. Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Helena Moreira; Lucília P. da Silva; Jennifer Noro; Belém Sampaio-Marques; Paula Ludovico; Mariana Jarnalo; et al. "Prevascularized spongy-like hydrogels maintain their angiogenic potential after prolonged hypothermic storage". Bioactive Materials (2024): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bioactmat.2024.02.035.
    10.1016/j.bioactmat.2024.02.035
  3. Francisca Frias; Beatriz Matos; Mariana Jarnalo; Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Rui L. Reis; R.P. Pirraco; Ricardo Horta. "Stromal Vascular Fraction Obtained From Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue: Ex-Obese and Older Population as Main Clinical Targets". Journal of Surgical Research 283 (2023): 632-639. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2022.11.012.
    10.1016/j.jss.2022.11.012
  4. Helena R. Moreira; Daniel B. Rodrigues; Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Lucília P. da Silva; Alain da S. Morais; Mariana Jarnalo; Ricardo Horta; et al. "Spongy-like hydrogels prevascularization with the adipose tissue vascular fraction delays cutaneous wound healing by sustaining inflammatory cell influx". Materials Today Bio 17 (2022): 100496-100496. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100496.
    10.1016/j.mtbio.2022.100496
  5. Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Rui L Reis; Rogério P Pirraco. "Long-term and short-term preservation strategies for TERM products: state of the art and emerging trends". PNAS Nexus (2022): https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac212.
    10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac212
  6. Helena R. Moreira; Daniel B. Rodrigues; Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Lucília P. da Silva; Alain da S. Morais; Mariana Jarnalo; Ricardo Horta; et al. "Integrin-specific hydrogels for growth factor-free vasculogenesis". npj Regenerative Medicine 7 1 (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41536-022-00253-4.
    Open access • 10.1038/s41536-022-00253-4
  7. Sara Ribeiro; Gabriela S. Diogo; Catarina Oliveira; Albino Martins; Silva, Tiago H.; Mariana Jarnalo; Ricardo Horta; Rui L. Reis; R.P. Pirraco. "Growth Factor-Free Vascularization of Marine-Origin Collagen Sponges using Cryopreserved Stromal Vascular Fractions from Human Adipose Tissue". Marine Drugs (2022): https://www.mdpi.com/1660-3397/20/10/623.
    10.3390/md20100623
  8. Diogo, G.S.; Marques, C.F.; Freitas-Ribeiro, S.; Sotelo, C.G.; Pérez-Martin, R.I.; Pirraco, R.P.; Reis, R.L.; Silva, T.H.. "Mineralized collagen as a bioactive ink to support encapsulation of human adipose stem cells: A step towards the future of bone regeneration". Materials Science and Engineering C (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85121580543&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.msec.2021.112600
  9. Diogo, G.S.; Carneiro, F.; Freitas-Ribeiro, S.; Sotelo, C.G.; Pérez-Martín, R.I.; Pirraco, R.P.; Reis, R.L.; Silva, T.H.. "Prionace glauca skin collagen bioengineered constructs as a promising approach to trigger cartilage regeneration". Materials Science and Engineering C 120 (2021): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85095804916&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.msec.2020.111587
  10. Sara Freitas-Ribeiro; Andreia Filipa Carvalho; Marina Costa; Mariana Teixeira Cerqueira; Alexandra Pinto Marques; Rui Luís Reis; Rogério Pedro Pirraco. "Strategies for the hypothermic preservation of cell sheets of human adipose stem cells". PLOS ONE (2019): https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222597.
    Published • 10.1371/journal.pone.0222597
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2022/06/29 Cryopreserved adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction for the growth factor-free vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges TERMIS-EU 2022
(Kraków, Poland)
2022/05/24 Cryopreserved adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction for the vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges Workshop MicSeaOnMed
(Guimarães, Portugal)
2016/11/26 Hypothermic preservation of Cell Sheets of Human Adipose Stem Cells IFACTS
(San Diego, Califórnia , United States)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2024/11/26 - 2024/11/26 This is not magic this is science! - World Science Day activities for young students and children. (2024/11/26 - 2024/11/26)
Other (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal
2024/05/15 - 2024/05/29 This is not magic this is science! - Science month for young students and children. (2024/05/15 - 2024/05/29)
Other (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal
2023/05/04 - 2023/05/04 This is not magic this is science! - Science day for young students and children. (2023/05/04 - 2023/05/04)
Other (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal
2018/10/23 - 2018/10/24 Gene2Skin Final Conference (2018/10/23 - 2018/10/24)
Conference (Member of the Organising Committee)
2018/06/16 - 2018/06/16 3Bs Family day - open day for staff's family members (2018/06/16 - 2018/06/16)
Other (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal
2018/06/06 - 2018/06/08 Gene2Skin Summer School - Biomaterials and molecular mechanisms in the context of skin regeneration (2018/06/06 - 2018/06/08)
Conference (Member of the Organising Committee)
2017/11/13 - 2017/11/17 Gene2Skin Winter School - Skin tissue disorders and advanced TE/genetic-based treatment strategies (2017/11/13 - 2017/11/17)
Conference (Member of the Organising Committee)

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2023/10/01 - 2023/10/04 Vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges through cryopreserved adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction
Conference
 HEALTH-UNORTE Conference
2023/04/14 - 2023/04/21 Proteomics Approaches in Life Sciences
Other
Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2022/04/13 - 2022/04/16 From 3D Light to 3D Electron Microscopy
Workshop
European Molecular Biology Laboratory Grenoble, France
2021/10/27 - 2021/10/29 Cryopreserved human adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction for the growth factor-free vascularization of blue shark collagen sponges
Conference
 Forecast final Conference
2019/11/14 - 2019/11/16 The impact of hypothermic and cryogenic preservation on the ECM of cell sheets
Conference
 Advanced cell therapies and tissue engineering
2019/11/04 - 2019/11/08 Novel methods for ECM preservation
Conference
 Second Achilles Conference on Tendon biophysical environment,
2019/09/05 - 2019/09/07 The effect of low temperature preservation on the ECM of cell sheets
Conference
 1st Discoveries Forum on Regenerative and Precision Medicine,
2019/07/03 - 2019/07/08 The effect of hypothermic and cryogenic temperatures on the extracellular matrix of cell sheets.
Conference
 First Achilles Conference on Molecular and biological mechanisms of tendon homeostasis and repair,
2018/10/14 - 2018/10/18 Screening of new compounds for enhancing hASC cell sheets resilience to hypothermic and hypoxic insult.
Conference
 Gene2Skin Final conference on Cutting-edge basic and translational research in skin-related diseases and disorders,
2018/06/07 - 2018/06/12 Improving Hasc Cell Sheets Resilience To Hypothermic And Hypoxic Insult Using New Compounds
Conference
 Gene2Skin Summer School
2017/11/12 - 2017/11/16 Hypothermic Storage Of Confluent Human Adipose Stem Cells
Conference
 Gene2Skin Winter School
2017/10/01 - 2017/10/03 Gene2Skin scientific retreat
Meeting
2017/06/05 - 2017/06/08 Hypothermic Storage of Confluent Human Adipose Stem Cells,
Conference
 Chem2Nature Second School

Committee member

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization
2024/04/26 - 2024/05/25 Member of electoral commission for representatives of the students and non-academic employees in the Unit Council of I3Bs
Member
 Universidade do Minho Instituto de Investigação em Biomateriais Biodegradáveis e Biomiméticos, Portugal

Journal scientific committee

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2024/04/22 - Current Biomaterials science The Royal Society of Chemistry
2020/05/19 - Current Journal of Advanced Research Elsevier
2019/12/09 - Current Stem Cells Translational Medicine Oxford University Press

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2025/01/23 - Current Development and Characterization of a Membrane-Based Nanocarrier System for Anti-Inflammatory Drug Delivery Ana Francisca Silva
2024/01/08 - 2024/06/25 Development of collagen hydrogels for tissue engineering aplications Mariana Silva
2024/04/22 - 2024/06/21 Production and characterization of collagen hydrogels for Tissue Engineering applications Inês Machado
Distinctions

Other distinction

2017 PhD scholarship (PD/BD/135252/2017)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal