PhD Program

The scientific impact of the work developed by iMM PhD students is reflected in the quality of their publications in high-impact journals and the attribution of several prestigious awards, of which some examples are listed below:

Selected Publications:

Stability of hybrid vs. vaccine immunity against BA.5 infection over 8 months. João Malato, Ruy M Ribeiro, Eugénia Fernandes, Pedro Pinto Leite, Pedro Casaca, Carlos Antunes, Válter R Fonseca, Manuel Carmo Gomes, Luis Graca. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 2023; 23(2):148-150. doi: 10.1016/S1473-3099(22)00833-7.

Risk of BA.5 infection among persons exposed to previous SARS-CoV-2 variants. João Malato, Ruy M Ribeiro, Pedro P Leite, Pedro Casaca, Eugénia Fernandes, Carlos Antunes, Válter R Fonseca, Manuel C Gomes, Luis Graca. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2022. 387(10):953-954. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2209479.

N6-methyladenosine in poly(A) tails stabilize VSG transcripts. Idálio J Viegas, Juan Pereira de Macedo, Lúcia Serra, Mariana De Niz, Adriana Temporão, Sara Silva Pereira, Aashiq H Mirza, Ed Bergstrom, João A Rodrigues, Francisco Aresta-Branco, Samie R Jaffrey, Luisa M Figueiredo. Nature. 2022; 604(7905):362-370. doi: 10.1038/s41586-022-04544-0.

Epigenetic reprogramming by TET enzymes impacts co-transcriptional R-loops. João C Sabino, Madalena R de Almeida, Patrícia L Abreu, Ana M Ferreira, Paulo Caldas, Marco M Domingues, Nuno C Santos, Claus M Azzalin, Ana Rita Grosso, Sérgio Fernandes de Almeida. Elife. 2022; 11:e69476. doi: 10.7554/eLife.69476.

Trypanosoma brucei triggers a broad immune response in the adipose tissue. Henrique Machado, Tiago Bizarra-Rebelo, Mariana Costa-Sequeira, Sandra Trindade, Tânia Carvalho, Filipa Rijo-Ferreira, Barbara Rentroia-Pacheco, Karine Serre, Luisa M Figueiredo. PLoS Pathogens. 2021; 17(9):e1009933. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1009933.

IL-17 triggers the onset of cognitive and synaptic deficits in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Helena C. Brigas, Miguel RIbeiro, Joana E. Coelho, …, Bruno Silva-Santos, Luísa V. Lopes, Julie C. Ribot. Cell Reports. 2021; 36(109574). doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109574.

Plasmodium translocon component EXP2 facilitates hepatocyte invasion. João Mello-Vieira, Francisco J Enguita, Tania F de Koning-Ward, Vanessa Zuzarte-Luís, Maria M Mota. Nature Communications. 2020; 11(1):5654. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19492-4.

Trypanosoma brucei infection protects mice against malaria. Margarida Sanches-Vaz, Temporão A, Luis R, Nunes-Cabaço H, Mendes AM, Goellner S, Carvalho T, Figueiredo LM, Prudêncio M. PLoS Pathogens. 2019; 15(11):e1008145.

Meningeal γδ T cell-derived IL-17 controls synaptic plasticity and short-term memory. Miguel Ribeiro, Helena C. Brigas, Temido-Ferreira M, Pousinha PA, Regen T, Santa C, Coelho JE, Marques-Morgado I, Valente CA, Omenetti S, Stockinger B, Waisman A, Manadas B, Lopes LV, Silva-Santos B, Ribot JC. Science Immunology. 2019; 4(40). doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aay5199 * These authors contributed equally to this work.

Age-related shift in LTD is dependent on neuronal adenosine A2A receptors interplay with mGluR5 and NMDA receptors. Mariana Temido-Ferreira, Diana G. Ferreira, Vânia L. Batalha, Inês Marques-Morgado, Joana E. Coelho, Pedro Pereira, Rui Gomes, Andreia Pinto, Sara Carvalho, Paula M. Canas, Laetitia Cuvelier, Valerie Buée-Scherrer, Emilie Faivre, Younis Baqi, Christa E. Müller, José Pimentel, Serge N. Schiffmann, Luc Buée, Michael Bader, Tiago F. Outeiro, David Blum, Rodrigo A. Cunha, Hélène Marie, Paula A. Pousinha, Luísa V. Lopes. Molecular Psychiatry. 2018; 25:1876-1900. doi: 10.1038/s41380-018-0110-9.

Tumor-associated neutrophils suppress pro-tumoral IL-17+ γδ T cells through induction of oxidative stress. Sofia Mensurado, Rei M, Lança T, Ioannou M, Gonçalves-Sousa N, Kubo H, Malissen M, Papayannopoulos V, Serre K, Silva-Santos B. PLoS Biology. 2018; 16(5):e2004990. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.2004990

Neuronal regulation of type 2 innate lymphoid cells via neuromedin U. Vânia Cardoso, Julie Chesné, Hélder Ribeiro, Bethania García-Cassani, Tânia Carvalho, Tiffany Bouchery, Kathleen Shah, Nuno L. Barbosa-Morais, Nicola Harris, Henrique Veiga-Fernandes. Nature. 2017; 549(7671):277-281. doi: 10.1038/nature23469549:277-281 * These authors contributed equally to this work.

IL-23 drives differentiation of peripheral γδ17 T cells from adult bone marrow-derived precursors. Pedro H Papotto, Gonçalves-Sousa N, Schmolka N, Iseppon A, Mensurado S, Stockinger B, Ribot JC, Silva-Santos B. EMBO Reports. 2017; 18(11):1957-1967. doi: 10.15252/embr.201744200

α-Synuclein interacts with PrPC to induce cognitive impairment through mGluR5 and NMDAR2B. Diana G. Ferreira, Temido-Ferreira M, Miranda HV, Batalha VL, Coelho JE, Szego ÉM, MarquesMorgado I, Vaz SH, Rhee JS, Schmitz M, Zerr I, Lopes LV, Outeiro TF. Nature Neuroscience. 2017; 20(11):1569-1579. doi: 10.1038/nn.4648

Human blood Tfr cells are indicators of ongoing humoral activity not fully licensed with suppressive function. Valter R. Fonseca , Agua-Doce A, Maceiras A, Pierson W, Ribeiro F, Romão V, Pires A, Silva S, Fonseca JE, Sousa A, Linterman M, Graça L. Science Immunology. 2017; 2(14). pii: eaan1487. doi: 10.1126/sciimmunol.aan1487

Trypanosoma brucei metabolism is under circadian control. Filipa Rijo-Ferreira, Pinto-Neves D, Barbosa-Morais NL, Takahashi JS, Figueiredo LM. Nature Microbiology. 2017; 2:17032. doi: 10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.32

Atomic force microscopy as a tool to evaluate the risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients. Ana Filipa Guedes, Carvalho FA, Malho I, Lousada N, Sargento L, Santos NC. Nature Nanotechnology. 2016; 11(8):687-692. doi: 10.1038/nnano.2016.52

Selected Prizes/ Awards:

Tiago Figueira, Miguel Castanho Lab
Portuguese Biophysics Society (SPBf) Young Biophysicist 2019 Prize (Structure−Stability−Function Mechanistic Links in the Anti-Measles Virus Action of Tocopherol-Derivatized Peptide Nanoparticles)

Sara Baptista, Maria Mota Lab
Honor – Ambassador Next Einstein Forum for Cabo Verde 2018

Debanjan Mukherjee, Maria Mota Lab
Honor of scientific excellence in the field of Cellular, Molecular and Immunoparasitology. 67th Annual Meeting American Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2018, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Mariana Alves, Joaquim Ferreira Lab
Nunes Corrêa Verdades de Faria Awards 2018 (Medical Progress Applied to the Elderly)

Sofia Mensurado, Bruno Silva-Santos Lab
Fundo iMM-Laço: A Caminho da Cura 2017 (Manipulação da ingestão de metionina para promover a eficácia da imunoterapia em cancro da mama)

Ana Filipa Guedes, Nuno Santos Lab
Prémio Pulido Valente Ciência 2017 (Atomic force microscopy as a tool to evaluate the risk of cardiovascular diseases in patients)

Inês Gomes, Luís Costa Lab
LPCC/Pfizer Award 2016 (Effect of the loss-of-function R450W mutation in the receptor activator of NF-κB (Bank) in the host immune response to breast cancer)