8th Portuguese Young Chemists Meeting (PYCheM)

8th Portuguese Young Chemists Meeting (PYCheM)

This biennial conference allows the gathering of young chemists and researchers from the most diverse nationalities and subfields of Chemistry so that they can share their work and scientific interests, attend lectures by recognized experts and expand their international research network. During the congress, the Portuguese Young Chemists Award (PYCA) is also awarded to a young (<35 years old) Portuguese or foreigner, recently doctorate, for the work carried out during his/her Ph.D.

 

Keynotes Lectures

Lillian Barros, Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO)- Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal

Lillian Barros is an assistant researcher at the Centro de Investigação de Montanha (CIMO), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança and vice-coordinator of CIMO and vice-director of the Associate Laboratory SusTEC. She obtained her degree in Biotechnology Engineering (2002) at the Institute Polytechnic of Bragança and obtained her PhD “Doctor Europeus” in Pharmacy (Nutrition and Bromatology) at the University of Salamanca (2008). She has published more than 600 indexed papers, within the highest impact factor journals in Food Science and Technology area and has a 71 h‐index. She has edited several books and book chapters, registered national and international patents, and is principal researcher of several national and international projects. Her scientific work has raised interest and has led to the supervision of several post-doc, PhD and master students. She has received awards from several different organizations. L.B scientific production has been very relevant and has reached top positions in the world rankings (Highly Cited Researcher in Clarivate since 2016). Her research targets are mainly in the identification, separation, and recovery of functional molecules from different natural products.

Maria José Tapia, Chemistry Department – Burgos University, Spain

Professor in the Chemistry Department of Burgos University (Spain) with an academic trajectory involving other Spanish Universities: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (degree in Chemistry), Basque Country University (PhD in Physical Chemistry) and a lecturer position in Navarra University. A long-term collaboration with University of Coimbra has allowed a fruitful scientific and academic exchange of Erasmus students.

The main research interest is focused in electronic spectroscopy working with a wide range of fluorescent probes: rhodamines, coumarins, b-carbolines, lanthanides, fluorenes, polyfluorenes, thiophenes or indolocarbazoles, both in solution or interacting with surfactants, liposomes, DNA or nucleotides, resulting in 54 published articles.

Sérgio Sousa, BioSIM, UCIBIO – Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, Portugal

Sergio F. Sousa is a Computational (Bio)chemist specialized in Computational Enzymatic Catalysis, Computer-Aided Drug Discovery and Molecular Recognition. He coordinates the BioSIM research lab (www.biosim.pt), part of UCIBIO and located at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto.

Sérgio F. Sousa holds a BSc in Chemistry and a PhD in Computational Chemistry by FCUP. He has over 124 publications in ISI Web of Science/Scopus journals and over 3700 citations in the field. He was awarded the Prémio de Estímulo à Investigação Gulbenkian 2009 for a Project entitled “Anti-target Docking: The Other Side of the Mirror”. He was also the Principal researcher in two projects focusing on the development of computational drug design methods: (1) “An innovative method to calculate drug-receptor binding free energies “PTDC/QUI-QUI/100372/2008”; (2) “Consensus Scoring – An Innovative Method to Find Leads for the Pharmaceutical Industry” (EXPL/QEQ-COM/1125/2013).

His work involves the application of hybrid QM/MM methods, Docking, Virtual Screening, and Molecular Dynamics Simulationsat the interface between chemistry and biology.”

Xavier Cattoën, Institut Néel, Grenoble, France

Dr Xavier Cattoën obtained his PhD from the University of Toulouse, France in 2004. He then moved to the ICIQ in Tarragona, Spain for 3 years of post-doc. He was apointed CNRS researcher in 2007, first at ICG Montpellier, before moving to the Institut Néel, Grenoble in 2013. His research aims at developing organosilica nanoparticles for application in nanomedicine. They can be made of silsesquioxanes, with the development of PMO nanoparticles for drug delivery, or can display a core-shell architecture with a crystalline organic core. The organic functions that are included can be either purely structural, or functional, leading to degradable or fluorescent nano-objects under two-photon excitation.

 

Plenary Lectures

António Candeias, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica da Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia – Universidade de Évora, Portugal

Licenciado em Química Tecnológica e pós-graduado em Química Aplicada ao Património Cultural pela Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Doutorado e Agregado em Química pela Universidade de Évora. Professor Catedrático do Departamento de Química e Bioquímica da Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Évora, foi Vice-Reitor para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento (maio 2018 – jan 2022) e Diretor do Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada (set 2018-maio 2022) da mesma Universidade. Especialista em Química de Superfícies e Ciências do Património, fundou o Laboratório HERCULES e foi seu diretor desde a sua criação em janeiro de 2009 até fevereiro de 2019. Atualmente, é investigador do Laboratório HERCULES, Coordenador da Cátedra City University of Macau em Património Sustentável, Coordenador Científico do Laboratório José de Figueiredo da Direção Geral de Património Cultural, Diretor da Plataforma Portuguesa da Infraestrutura Europeia de Investigação em Ciências do Património (infraestrutura ERIHS.pt) do Roteiro Nacional de Infraestruturas de Investigação de Interesse Estratégico e diretor do Laboratório Associado para a Investigação e Inovação em Património, Artes, Sustentabilidade e Território (IN2PAST). É membro do Conselho Nacional de Cultura como individualidade de mérito reconhecido. Coautor de mais de 300 artigos internacionais, dos quais 201 estão indexados na base de dados SCOPUS. Tem uma vasta experiência na coordenação de projetos em mecanismos de financiamento competitivos internacionais e nacionais (track record: > 10 Meuros).

João Paulo André, Department of Chemistry – University of Minho, Portugal

 João Paulo André, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Minho, has a degree in Chemistry (Educational Branch) from the University of Coimbra and earned his PhD from the University of Basel (Switzerland) in the field of Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry.

Education and public outreach, centered on the relations of science with music, literature and art, has been an important part of his academic activity in recent years. He is the author of Poções e Paixões – Química e Ópera, published by Gradiva (2nd edition, 2019), which has been included in the National Reading List (Plano Nacional de Leitura) and produced in braille and in an audio format by the National Library of Portugal. His most recent book, Irmãs de Prometeu – A Química no Feminino (Gradiva, 2022), tackles the history of science, focusing on the women who contributed to the development of chemistry.

 

Invited Lectures

Carla Vitorino, Faculty of Pharmacy – University of Coimbra, Portugal

Carla Vitorino (CV) (ORCID: 0000-0003-3424-548X) graduated in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2007 from the University of Coimbra (UC). In 2013, CV obtained the PhD degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the specialty of Pharmaceutics, by the same institution. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Coimbra. She has been working on the application of nanotechnology in drug permeation enhancement strategies for topical, transdermal and drug delivery systems to brain targeting, which has resulted in the publication of several scientific papers in peer-reviewed high impact journals. It brings together vast experience in pharmaceutical technology, standing out in the areas of nanotechnology and regulatory science. Her main research interests are nanotechnology, controlled release and the development of new drug delivery systems in a Quality by Design perspective.

João M. M. Rodrigues, Institute of Materials – University of Aveiro, Portugal

João M. M. Rodrigues studied Industrial Chemistry at Faculty of Science and Technology of University of Coimbra, where he received his first degree in 2007. Then he moved to University of Aveiro, where he completed his MSc and PhD degrees in Chemistry, in 2010 and 2015, respectively. His doctoral research, under the supervision of Prof. João Tomé and Prof. José Cavaleiro, were focused on organic, supramolecular and materials chemistry, exploring the synthesis of different porphyrin- and phthalocyanine-based sensors, functionalization of nanoparticles and optical fibers, for anion recognition. After PhD accomplishment, João M. M. Rodrigues pursued to expand his expertise in organic and supramolecular chemistry by moving to University of Hull, United Kingdom, in 2016, as a Post-Doctoral Researcher, for the development of porphyrin-monoclonal antibody conjugates for photodynamic therapy.

Since 2017 he is a Junior Researcher at CICECO – Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, joining the COMPASS RG, led by Prof. João F. Mano. His current research interest focuses on the precise modification and functionalization of natural-origin polymers, combination with small/active molecules, for the design and development of innovative bioinspired materials for biomedical applications, specially aimed at being used in bone tissue engineering.

Mafalda Sarraguça, LAQV @ REQUIMTE and Faculty of Pharmacy – University of Porto, Portugal

Mafalda Sarraguça graduated in 2000 in Industrial Chemistry from the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra. In 2004 she completed her master’s degree in Chemistry, specialization in Chemical Control at the same Faculty. In 2010 Mafalda Sarraguça completed her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, specializing in Analytical Chemistry at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Porto (FFUP) in which the subject of her PhD was the use of near infrared spectroscopy and multivariate data analysis in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, Mafalda Sarraguça is a researcher at the associated laboratory for green chemistry (LAQV@REQUIMTE) and invited professor at FFUP. Nowadays Mafalda Sarraguça main research interests are focused on Green Chemistry methods applied to the targeted design, synthesis, and characterization of Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) and Therapeutic Deep Eutectic Solvents (THEDES) for pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications.

Maria Isabel Soares, Coimbra Chemistry Centre- University of Coimbra, Portugal

“Maria I. L. Soares received her degree in Industrial Chemistry in 1998 at the University of Coimbra. She obtained her MSc in Chemistry in 2002 and her PhD in Organic Chemistry in 2007, at the University of Coimbra. Between 2007 and 2018 she was Postdoctoral Researcher and Assistant Researcher (Programa Ciência 2008) at the Coimbra Chemistry Centre (CQC). In 2014 she was the Portuguese representative at 6th EuCheMS Organic Division Young Investigators Workshop. Currently she is Researcher at the CQC-IMS (Institute of Molecular Sciences). Her current interests are in the area of heterocyclic organic chemistry and medicinal chemistry.”

Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque, Department of Food and Nutrition – National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge, Portugal

Tânia Gonçalves Albuquerque, is graduated in Nutrition and Food Engineering, since 2003, has a Master in Clinical Nutrition, since 2011, and concluded her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nutrition and Food Chemistry speciality in December 2018. Currently, she is developing work at the Department of Food and Nutrition, National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge. From 2012, she is an effective member of the Portuguese Council of Nutritionists.

Her main research interests focuses on Nutrition and Food Safety role within Public Health. Her special interest includes the evaluation of the nutritional quality and safety of processed foods, based on their nutritional composition assessment as well as their toxicological potential, aiming to contribute with fundamental information for the implementation of food and nutrition policies to improve the health and nutritional status of the population.

She has more than 40 scientific publications in international peer-reviewed journals, more than 150 communications in international and national conferences. Up to now, she has participated in 5 international projects and 11 national projects. She is member of the Editorial Board and referee of renowned international journals. She imparted lessons in several national Universities and supervised students from different fields of research.

 

The event is supported by Chemistry Europe.

Event Details

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