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Thematic Line

Marine Biotechnology

CIIMAR research topics include the investigation of the richness of Ocean resources for the discovery and characterization of new bioactive compounds with ecological, pharmaceutical or other industrial applications. The study of emerging toxins, development of biosensors for early detection systems, and development of bioremediation and phytoremediation tools for ecosystem recovery are other main goals of this research line.

Group Leader

Madalena Maria Magalhães Pinto is a retired Full Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy (FFUP). She was coordinator at two Research Centers (CEQOFFUP and CEQUIMED); and currently is Researcher and Team Leader of the Group of Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry at Interdisciplinary Center for Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto, Portugal. Previous roles include Head of the Laboratory of Organic and Pharmaceutical Chemistry and founder and Director of the Master’s Degree Course in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (FFUP). She was/is PI and member of several Research Projects, author/co-author of 6 patents, more than 260 research papers, 4 books and 14 book chapters. Her research focuses on Medicinal Chemistry, involving total synthesis and molecular modification of pharmacologically active compounds, based on molecular models of plant and marine sources (antifouling, antitumor, anticoagulant and antiplatelet, anti-inflammatory, antimalarial, antimicrobial, multidrug resistance reversal agents, etc.). She has a special interest in synthesis and bioenantioselectivity of chiral compounds, studies of structure-activity-properties relationship and molecular recognition of artificial receptors as new chiral stationary phases for liquid chromatography.

RESEARCH GROUPS:
Co-Team Leader
Group Leader

Pedro Leão is Principal Investigator and ERA Chair Holder in Blue Biotechnology and Bioengineering at CIIMAR, where he leads the Research Line in Marine Biotechnology and is the head of the Research Group “Cyanobacterial Natural Products”. He graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Porto in 2005 and went on to receive his MSc (2006) and PhD (2010) degrees from the same university. He undertook postdoctoral studies at CIIMAR, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Harvard University. He became an “FCT Investigator” in 2015 and started his group at CIIMAR in 2018 after receiving an ERC Starting Grant. His research focuses on the chemistry, biosynthesis and chemical ecology of cyanobacterial natural products.

RESEARCH GROUPS:
Team Leader
Group Leader

Ana Paula Mucha has a Degree in Aquatic Sciences (1993), a MSc in Ecology, Management and Modelling of Aquatic Resources (1997) and a PhD in Aquatic Sciences (2002). She has a research position at CIIMAR, University of Porto, Portugal, being member of the Board of Directors and the Principal Investigator of the ECOBIOTEC Team (Bioremediation and Ecosystems Functioning).

Also, she is an Invited Assistant Professor at the Department of Biology of Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto. She focuses her research on the relation between microorganisms and contaminants, aiming the development of bioremediation technologies for ecosystems recovery and environmental sustainability. She also explores the microbe-plant associations for the development of nature-based solutions for water management, and the microbe-animal interactions to increase environmental sustainability of aquaculture production.

She authored ca. 90 SCI papers including high profile journals in the field of Marine and Environmental Sciences. She has been involved in multiple regional, national and international projects, and presently coordinates CIIMAR participation in the European project “BIOSYSMO – BIOremediation systems exploiting SYnergieS for improved removal of Mixed pOllutants” (GAP-101060211). Also she coordinates the project “Ocean3R – Reduce pressures, restore and regenerate the NW-Portuguese ocean and waters” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000064), and the Research Line 4 (Marine biobanks as tools for marine biotechnology) in the structured program of R&D ATLANTIDA – Platform for the monitoring of the North Atlantic Ocean and tools for the sustainable exploitation of the marine resources” (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000040). In addition, she has been involved as supervisor in several national and European Master and PhD programmes, and presently she co-coordinates the FCUP team responsible for the M2ex-European Joint Doctorate “Exploiting metal-microbe applications to expand the circular economy” (European Union; Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 861088).

RESEARCH GROUPS:
Co-Team Leader
Research Groups

Biodiscovery for health

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Ralph Urbatzka
Ralph Urbatzka

Principal Investigator

Bioremediation and Microbes for Sustainability

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Ana Paula de Campos Mucha
Ana Paula Mucha

Principal Investigator

Blue Biotechnology, Environment and Health

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Vitor Manuel Oliveira Vasconcelos
Vitor Vasconcelos

Principal Investigator

Cyanobacterial Natural Products

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Pedro Nuno da Costa Leão
Pedro Leão

Principal Investigator

Emerging Biotechnology and Seafood Processing

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Narcisa Maria Mestre Bandarra
Narcisa Bandarra

Principal Investigator

Environmental Chemistry and Recovery

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Cristina Marisa Ribeiro de Almeida
Marisa Almeida

Principal Investigator

Evolutionary Genomics and Bioinformatics

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Agostinho Antunes
Agostinho Antunes

Principal Investigator

Marine Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry

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Madalena Maria de Magalhães Pinto
Madalena Pinto

Principal Investigator

Microbial Biodegradation and Bioprospecting

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Maria de Fátima Magalhães Carvalho
Maria de Fátima Carvalho

Principal Investigator

Other Thematic Lines

Biology, Aquaculture & Seafood Quality

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Global Changes and Ecosystems Services

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