UCIBIO, FCT-NOVA
I completed a PhD in Biological Engineering by Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (FCT/UNL), Portugal, in 2004. Post-Doctoral activity was initiated in 2005, at the Associated Laboratory REQUIMTE (FCT/UNL) and Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET), working on projects financed by the companies Telener and 73100 Lda.. Currently, I am a Senior Researcher at the Biochemical Engineering Group (BIOENG), at UCIBIO-REQUIMTE, FCT/UNL, where I have established my own line of research on microbial polysaccharides. My interest for topics related with the area of Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology started during execution of my PhD work, wherein I developed a strategy for improved nutrient removal from wastewaters, based on the use of short aeration cycles (intermittent aeration). The objective was to save on aeration requirements, without compromising the process efficiency. In that sense, the work was successful in demonstrating the feasibility of using an SBR operated with short cycles, wherein the overall aeration time was considerably reduced, while achieving a high removal of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus from the synthetic effluent tested. Following the completion of my PhD degree, my research interests were focused in developing sustainable and cost effective bioprocesses for the generation of value-added microbial bioproducts, namely, polysaccharides, bioplastics and fine chemicals, based on the use of low-grade agro/food and industrial wastes and by-products. I also give great emphasis on the development of efficient and environmental friendly processes for the recovery of the bioproducts from microbial broth/biomass, as well as on the study of their properties, aiming to develop them into commercial products. This approach is in line with the circular economy concept and contributes to reduce the environmental impact of waste disposal currently done by many industrial sectors, by their conversion into value-added products. My Post-Doctoral work has already resulted in the development of several sustainable bioprocesses, based on the use of different wastes/by-products (e.g. glycerol from the biodiesel production, cheese whey, fruit and vegetable processing wastes, etc.) as feedstcoks for the production of different high-value bioproducts, including polysaccharides (e.g. FucoPol, GalactoPol, chitin-glucan complex, mannans, etc.), polyhydroxyalkanoates (e.g. poly(hydroxybutyrate), poly(hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate), medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoates, etc.) and fine chemicals (e.g. xylitol, phenazines, etc.). This clearly demonstrates my interest and contribution to the area of Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology. Most of the projects I have been engaged in were performed in collaboration with Industry partners envisaging bioprocesses’ scale-up and industrialization. This objective has been achieved, as demonstrated by the activities currently being undertaken by the company 73100 Lda. for scaling-up the patented bioprocesses I have developed and optimized over the last years. My scientific productivity is validated by the 64 papers I have published in international scientific periodicals (all indexed to Web of Science), most of which are in the first quartile (Q1).. My scientific publications also include 12 book chapters, 91 communications in Conferences and 5 International Patents. I have over 1500 citations and an h-index of 24, according to SCOPUS. I have supervised 7 PhD Theses and 26 Masters Theses concluded between 2007 and 2019. Currently, I supervise 6 PhD students and 3 Masters Students. My Research Team also includes 2 Research Assistants. My teaching activity, initiated in 2011, includes lecturing classes of the Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering areas, and the tutorial supervision of undergraduated students, at the Chemistry Department, at FCT/UNL.