Inês Cardoso Pereira awarded "Prémio Alberto Romão Dias"
Oeiras, 10 May 2024
Inês Cardoso Pereira, Professor at ITQB NOVA, has been awarded the 2024 Alberto Romão Dias Prize by Sociedade Portuguesa de Química (SPQ). The award recognizes scientists for the high quality, originality and autonomy of their research work carried out in Portugal in the field of Inorganic, Organometallic or Bioinorganic Chemistry. The prize was also attributed to FCT NOVA Professor Isabel Moura. The excellence of their scientific careers, their important contributions to the development of Bioinorganic Chemistry, their scientific leadership and their international recognition were praised by the jury.
Cardoso Pereira was proposed for the prize by several renowned members of SPQ, who highlighted her “outstanding pioneering work on the study of simple and complex redox metalloenzymes, which has significantly contributed to the recognition of Portuguese science in the field of Bioinorganic Chemistry”. One of the signatories of the proposal was ITQB NOVA’s Dean, João Crespo. “It’s an honor to have Inês Cardoso Pereira as a member of ITQB NOVA”, he says. “Her work was key in shaping the current landscape of bioinorganic chemistry in Portugal and is very well recognized internationally.”
“I’m humbled for having my work recognized by my peers”, says Inês Cardoso Pereira. “I am also very thankful for my students and collaborators, without whom the work that led to this prize would not have been possible. The beauty of understanding the chemistry behind biology is our driver”.
The prize will be awarded during the 2024 Inorganic & Bioinorganic Conference - 2024IBiCC, which takes place at the NOVA Rectory in Lisbon from May 16th to 18th. The award ceremony will take place on May 17th and both researchers will be giving a 25-minute lecture.
About Inês Cardoso Pereira
Inês Cardoso Pereira is Vice-President of the ITQB NOVA Institute Council, and a Full Professor at the institute. She is also the Director of the LS4Future Associated Laboratory, which brings together researchers from ITQB NOVA, IGC, iBET, IPOLisboa and NMS. In recent years, her work has been recognized several times, namely by her election to the European Molecular Biology Organization and the European Academy of Microbiology.
The researcher holds a degree in Applied Chemistry from the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT NOVA). She has a PhD from Oxford University, where she worked in the team led by Jack Baldwin on the study of the biosynthesis of antibiotics. Upon her return to Portugal she joined ITQB NOVA, where she worked as a post-doc in the team of the Institute's founder, António Xavier and Miguel Teixeira. She later went on to lead her own laboratory. She coordinated ITQB NOVA's PhD programme from 2008 to 2014, when she became Vice Dean of the institute. She was vice-Dean from 2014-2022. In 2022 she was elected for the Institute Council.
The Bacterial Energy Metabolism lab, led by Cardoso Pereira, is dedicated to the study of the physiology of anaerobic microorganisms, and to the application of biological systems in biocatalysis for a circular economy. Her research has a strong focus on environmental microorganisms that are important for the Sulfur cycle and components of the gut microbiota. Her group’s work has led to a revision of the metabolic pathways involved in the dissimilatory reduction of sulfate, a process with great environmental impact. In parallel, and with a more applied focus, they have also studied redox enzymes of anaerobic bacteria and the use of these enzymes or of the bacteria themselves in biohybrid systems for the production of Hydrogen and the reduction of CO2 from electricity or sunlight.
When she is not engaged in research or managing the LS4Future, Inês Cardoso Pereira enjoys playing Padel, cycling and spending time with her family and friends.
