António Roldão

António Roldão is the Head of Cell-based Vaccine Development Laboratory at Animal Cell Technology (ACT) Unit (Health & Pharma Division, iBET), since 2014 and Coordinator of Late-stage R&D Bioproduction Unit. António graduated in Chemical Engineering at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa, and holds a PhD in Engineering and Technology Sciences, Systems Biology from ITQB-NOVA.

Working in Animal Cell Technology since 2004, his PhD focused on the design and implementation of in silico mathematical models for process control and optimization of a human vaccine candidate, namely Rotavirus-VLPs. António’s work pioneered the area as for the first time a comprehensive, integrative view of the production system was capture in mathematical and thermodynamic equations. In his Post-Doc in Jens Nielsen lab at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden (2010-2014), the top cited scientist working in metabolic engineering of yeast cells for generation of novel products, António was a senior researcher and director of fermentation infrastructure. In 2014 he moved back to iBET. Since 2015, he is also senior researcher at iNOVA4Health – Advancing Precision Medicine at iBET.

Current Research, with funding from Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal), EU framework programs and the pharmaceutical industry, is driven by the aim to develop novel complex biologics with impact in Human and Animal Health and directed to both developed and developing countries. The basis for António’s work lies on the use and integration of multidisciplinary technologies such as synthetic biology, evolutionary and bioprocess engineering, and bottom-up systems biology to fasten the generation of the products he’s interested in, particularly VLP-based vaccines against infectious and/or neglected diseases (e.g. Influenza, Dengue or haemorrhagic fever).