Catarina Duarte, PhD (team leader)

PhD in Physical- Chemistry from the New University of Lisbon (Portugal).
Senior Researcher Scientist of Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica IBET, reaponsible for the  Nutraceuticals & Controlled  Delivery Laboratory, since its foundation. Large experience in projects planning and management, namely  R&D projects involving technology transfer to food and pharmaceutical industries.

Actual interests centred on the development of clean processes (extraction of bioactive compounds from natural raw material, impregnation and encapsulation of pharmaceuticals in bio-carriers) involving alternative green solvents such as biocompatible solvents (water and ethanol), pressurised water and supercritical fluids.

The current activities include:

- production of nutraceutical - antioxidant extracts from herbal material 
- extraction of highly pure, biologically active substances from natural products
- development of bioactivity tests
- preparation of improved delivery systems

Manuel Nunes da Ponte, PhD

Professor of Physical Chemistry, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal
Large expertise in Thermodynamics of Liquid Solutions and on Supercritical Fluid Extraction.

Director of the NOVA Chemistry Department (1994-97); Director of Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, (1999-2002). One of the Directors of IBET1, from 1993 to 2006, and currently one of the Directors of REQUIMTE, the Portuguese Centre of Excellence for Green Chemistry.

Co-ordinator of the recently launched Marie Curie Research Training Network SuperGreenChem (2004-2008) on Chemical Reaction in Supercritical Fluids, which includes 15 research groups from nine European countries

 
Ana Nunes

Chemical Engineer, PhD student.
Specialist in developing clean extraction and reaction processes involving alternative green solvents such as biocompatible solvents (water and ethanol), pressurised water and supercritical fluids.
Student
 

Ana Matias

Chemical Engineer, PhD student.  Specialist in extraction of bioactive compounds from natural raw material, and development  and optimization of bioactivity tests, using chemical and biochemical assays.

Raquel Sousa

Chemical Engineer, PhD student.  Specialist in supercritical fluid technology, namely in the development of extraction and precipitation processes involving pressurized CO2.Experience in the development of new controlled delivery systems involving lipid systems and biopolymers.  

Teresa Serra

Biological Engineer, PhD student.  Specialist in extraction of bioactive compounds from typical Portuguese fruits and legumes. Experience in the chemical characterization of the natural extracts, assays concerning to antioxidant capacity and bioactivity tests using human cell lines. 

 Raquel Frade

Ph.D. in biology entitled “Purification and characterization of a new inhibitor of the nuclear-factor-kB pathway”, St. Andrews University, Scotland.
Expertise in cell-based screening assays, purification of natural samples using reverse-phase chromatography, cell culture and molecular biology.