Invited Speakers
HeartGenetics
Ana Teresa Freitas (PhD) is CEO and co-founder/shareholder of HeartGenetics, Genetics and Biotechnology SA, since 2013. She is also Full Professor at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon. She holds a PhD and a MSc in Electrical and Computer Engineering. She has a degree from the Advanced Management Program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Católica Lisbon – BES, School of Business and Economics. As a Full Professor at IST, she developed the Computational Biology field. She was the coordinator of the disciplinary field of Programming Methodology and Technology at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of IST. Her main scientific expertise is on the areas of Bioinformatics, Nutrigenetics, Metagenomics, Human genetics, Health Informatics, Algorithms and Data Mining. During her career she authored and co-authored more than 100 papers in international journals and conferences in the areas of computational biology, bioinformatics, computer aided design and magneto-optics.
In the context of the Computational Biology field in Europe, she was Vice-chair of ESFRI ELIXIR (http://www.elixir-europe.org/). ELIXIR unites Europe's leading life science organisations in managing and safeguarding the increasing volume of data being generated by publicly funded research.
Talk Title: Enhancing health and well-being personalization, through genetics
i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde
Raquel Soares is Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto where she is the coordinator of the Biochemistry Unit and the director of the Metabolism Clinical and Experimental doctoral program. She is also coordinator of the “Metabolism, nutrition and endocrinology” group at i3S- Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde.
Her main interest areas are Angiogenesis and Inflammation in diabetes, obesity and cancer; the association between metabolic diseases and cancer; Natural Polyphenols in disease prevention and therapeutics.
She is the author of more than 140 papers in ISI Journals and 13 book chapters. She edited a book entitled “Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Angiogenesis in Metabolic Syndrome”. During her career she was awarded 39 national and international projects and supervised 18 PhD students and 23 master students.
Ciência Viva
Ana Noronha is the Executive Director of Ciência Viva since 2007. She has coordinated initiatives on education and public engagement with science and technology, in particular regarding astronomy and space science, geology and ocean literacy. She has a large experience of participation in EU funded projects in FP7 and H2020 and is part of the Advisory Committee on Education of the European Space Agency. A physicist by training, she obtained her PhD in at Instituto Superior Técnico, in Lisbon.
Talk Title: From lab to society: a first person experience
Centre for Neurosciences and Cell Biology
João Ramalho-Santos concluded his PhD in Cellular Biology in the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra in 1997, where is now Full Professor. João Ramalho-Santos develops his research in CNC - Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of the University of Coimbra where he is the head of the Biology of Reproduction and stem Cell group. The group focuses on several aspects of Reproductive Biology, from gametogenesis to pluripotent stem cells, with a common focus on metabolism, energy production and mitochondrial function. He published more than 120 papers in ISI journals (h-factor 37, 45 in Google Scholar), and supervised more than 20 PhD students. He is also president of the CNC and coordinator of the Doctoral Program in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine.
He is a member of the editorial board of the Reproduction journal and member of committees on the European Testis Workshop, European Academy of Andrology, Society for Reproduction and Fertility and the Society for the Study of Reproduction. He was part of the National Ethics Council for the Life Sciences. He is the author of several scientific divulgation works in many formats and science themed fiction published in Nature and LabLit.com.
Talk Title: Infertility and Assisted Reproduction: From Biotechnology to Bioethics
