Workshop I - in vitro models as tools for novel therapies screening
Tuesday - 7th of February 09:15 - 11:00
Dr. Cristina Barrias
Dr. Cristina Barrias is Principal Investigator and Group Leader at Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/ Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica (i3S/INEB, University of Porto), and invited Associate Professor at Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS, University of Porto) and at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto (ISEP, Polytechnic of Porto).
Currently, Cristina Barrias is also a member of the Board of Directors of INEB and a member of the Council of the European Society for Biomaterials (ESB). Her group at focuses on (micro)tissue engineering for regenerative therapies and in vitro disease modeling. She has been working on the design of customized hydrogel 3D matrices and biofabrication tools to direct cellular self-organization into different types of micro-sized building blocks for bottom-up tissue engineering. These microsystems recapitulate complex tissue morphogenesis processes and are being used to investigate the dynamics of cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions in 3D, in pathophysiological contexts, and to decipher key biochemical and biomechanical regulators of cell response. Currently, this knowledge is being translated into the design of advanced 3D in vitro models and of improved therapies for tissue (re)vascularization.
Dr. Luis Diaz Gomez
Dr. Luis Diaz Gomez is an Assistant Professor at University of Santiago de Compostela.
In 2016, Luis Diaz Gomez received his Ph.D. in Pharmacy from the University of Santiago de Compostela, focusing on the development of biodegradable scaffolds enriched with autologous growth factors for bone and tendon regeneration. In 2017, he moved to Rice University (USA) as a postdoctoral fellow, working on new biofabrication strategies for complex tissue regeneration and in vitro 3D models. His research interests span tissue engineering strategies aimed at developing 3D platforms to study the effect of composition, structure and mechanical properties on tissue regeneration, and using 3D printing techniques to design graded, heterogeneous tissue. Particularly, he has developed 3D printing methods to create multimaterial porous scaffolds with discrete gradients and controlled distribution of compositions, and fiber engraving techniques to exert spatial control over scaffold microenvironment and cellular organization. He has published over 40 publications and 4 patent applications, and has been awarded with various scholarships during his early stage career.
Workshop II - Academia to industry transition: product and career perspective
Tuesday - 7th of February 11:30 - 13:00
Dr. Ana Cadete
Ana Cadete has more than 10 years of experience in thedrug delivery field and 6 working in the biotech and pharmaindustry.
She is currently a CMC Project Leader for earlyprograms at Sanofi, working in the development of novel vaccines in the newly mRN A Center of Excellence in theBoston area.
Previously, Ana was a senior scientist atModerna, where she designed novel LNPs for the deliveryof mRNA for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Ana has a Master Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from theUniversity of Lisbon and a PhD in Nanomedicine andPharmaceutical Innovation within the European JointDoctorate Program NANOFAR.
In 2016, Ana joined theLanger Lab at MIT to perform her postdoctoral research, working together with Novobiotic Pharmaceuticals and theBill and Melinda Gates Foundation.Ana is also a board advisor at IMFAHE, a foundationcreated to connect the emigrated talent with students fromPortuguese and Spanish Universities.
In 2020 she foundedThe Non-Conformist Scientist (@ncscientist), an online platform created to empower the young generation offemale scientists to become leaders and to communicatescience to the general public.
Dr. Teófilo Vasconcelos
Teófilo Vasconcelos is a pharmacist by training with a master in Pharmaceutical technology and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences. He has more than 20 years of experience in research and development at pharmaceutical industry.
Currently he is the Head of pharmaceutical sciences team being responsible for all the BIAL activities related to pharmaceutical sciences from Discovery to drug product life-cycle, crossing pre-clinical, clinical and Comercial formulation and process development. It is also responsible for the all the clinical trial supply associated to clinical trial materials and technology transfer (in and out). He is the principal investigator of the formulation patents associated to the two medicines containing new chemical entities fully developed in Portugal (Zebinix® and Ongentys®).
He also dedicated part of its carrier researching new drug delivery systems to improve oral drug bioavailability, in particular, solid dispersions being author of multiple publication resulting in more than 2500 citations.
