Bruna Gonçalves

I have a MSc in Biological Engineering (2013) from University of Minho (UM), which included a dissertation, developed at Centre of Biological Engineering (CEB) and integrated in a project financed by FCT (PTDC/SAU-MIC/119069/2010). In 2014 I was selected for a Research Grant position, at CEB-UM), to collaborate as team member in a R&D project financed by FCT (PTDC/EBB-EBI/120495/2010). Both these projects focused on virulence factors of Candida spp. and Candida-host interaction, and allowed me to be awarded with a PhD grant by FCT in 2015 (SFRH/BD/111645/2015). My PhD's project focused on vaginal virulence determinants of Candida spp. Upon the conclusion of my PhD (2019), I was selected for a Junior Researcher position (2020-2022), at CEB-UM, to collaborate in a FCT R&D project focusing the development of therapeutic approaches to control Candida infections based on antisense technology (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028893). All the projects that I have participated were coordinated by Candida-Biofilm group of CEB-UM, which has consolidated methodologies and internationally recognized research regarding Candida spp. and their infections. Up to now, I have 8 papers (5 as first author and 1 as last author) published in Q1 (6 papers) and Q2 journals (2 papers), including 1 review and 7 research articles. I also have presented my work in 7 national and International Conferences. My h-index is 4 with more than 269 citations (Science Researcher ID). I also have been invited as reviewer of Candida-related papers in Q1 and Q2 Journals. In 2017, I got a Pos-graduation in Clinical trials at the Clinical Academic Centre-Braga. I further designed and coordinated the first large-scale epidemiologic study of vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) in Portugal, recently concluded (2021). This project had the approval of Portuguese Ethics Committees for Health (SECVS 092/2017) and the collaboration of various Hospitals and Health Care Centers. It included the co-supervision of a MSc student enrolled in it. During my scientific path I gained high expertise on molecular microbiology. Indeed, I got a Pos-Graduation in proteomic techniques in the "Proteome 2 Gene 2 Protein" course (2016), organized by CEB-UM, and I have established collaborations with internationally recognized researchers, namely in the fields of genomic/transcriptomic (Geraldine Butler, University College of Dublin; Nuno Mira, High Technical Institute, Lisbon; Ana Soares, Institute of Biomedicine, Aveiro) and proteomic (Concha Gil, Complutense University of Madrid; Hugo Osório, I3S Porto). I acquired expertise and developed investigations on biomolecular field at national Institutes and I performed collaborative work with international researchers. Additionally, I acquired high knowledge on bioinformatics, attended various seminars on the field I have supervised students of MSc in Bioinformatics. In order to seek financial support for my research activities I have been applying to grants and R&D projects financed by FCT, ESCMID (European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases) and SPG (Portuguese Society of Gynaecology).