Biography
I am Head of the Biosystems and Data Science Group, created in 2021, and I have been a researcher at iBET since 2016.
My group uses data science to empower research in complex biological systems. We combine machine learning, mechanistic modelling, systems biology, and other advanced data analytics concepts and approaches to design data-driven strategies tailored to each specific research question, often integrating data from omics and process analytical technologies. Our research currently focuses on three major goals: improving bioprocesses for cell and gene therapy, enabling precision medicine, and boosting drug discovery with advanced data analytics.
I graduated in Biological Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal, in 2009 and completed my PhD in Bioengineering Systems from the MIT-Portugal Program in 2015. During my PhD, I developed and applied hybrid metabolic models to improve an antibody fragment production. I was also a co-founder of the biotech startup MediaOmics, where we developed a systems biology platform to customize culture media formulations.
I joined iBET in 2016 as a postdoctoral researcher in systems biotechnology at the Animal Cell Technology Unit and, since then, I have had the opportunity and pleasure to work complementarily with different teams and towards very distinct research goals, both within iBET and with our partners, by exploring data to unlock new insights.