Pedro Vieira

Pedro Vieira is currently a PhD student enrolled at Health Sciences Program from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra, after being awarded a fully funded FCT PhD grant (2022.13182.BD) with the project "Bioconversion of blueberry-based agrowastes into functional ingredients with improved immunonutritional value in Chronic Kidney Disease", under the under the supervision of Sofia Viana, Flávio Reis and Manuela Pintado. He completed a Master's degree in Medicinal Chemistry in 2020, at the Faculty of Science and Technology (University of Coimbra), following a Bachelor's degree in in Pharmacy in 2018, at Coimbra Health School (Polytechnic of Coimbra). His master thesis entitled "Blueberries effects on diet-induced prediabetic nephropathy - an in vivo experimental approach" was developed at the Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR) - Faculty of Medicine from Coimbra University (FMUC). Both degrees have provided him with solid knowledge in animal experimentation, molecular and biological sciences supported by the practice of distinct techniques such as PCR, Western Blot, microscopy, among others. During the time spent within the research group, he had the opportunity to actively collaborate in inherent preclinical research projects such as "FRUTIFY: Use of blueberry juice as a nutraceutical strategy targeting gut dysbiosis to prevent the progression from prediabetes to diabetes" [PTDC/SAU-NUT/31712/2017], funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and " The therapeutic potential of senescent leaves of Vaccinium corymbosum L. (blueberry): valorization of a regional agricultural by-product" [SAAC-CENTRO-46-2016-01-5625], funded by INOVC 2020. Following his MSc thesis, Pedro has been developing research activities related to Therapeutic&Nutraceutical approaches for the prevention and/or treatment of metabolic and renal disorders at iCBR/FMUC. During the past year, he had the opportunity to improve his technical skills and scientific knowledge by integrating the Biobased and Biomedical Products group of the Bioactives and Bioproducts Research Laboratory, headed by Doctor Manuela Pintado, from the Portuguese Catholic University. In this role, he competently carried out several laboratory functions, of which the following stand out: i) in vitro simulation of gastrointestinal food digestion (INFOGEST 2.0); ii) characterization of gut microbiota composition and function; iii) anti-diabetic activity assays, and iv) determination of starch and fiber. During his promising young researcher start, he had the opportunity to (co)author three full-papers (2 original and 1 review) published in international peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, Pedro has been an active communicator of his research outputs by participating in several national meetings resulting in 3 oral communications (as first author), 13 poster presentations and 5 abstracts in conferences' proceedings. Alongside his research activity, Pedro actively contributed to the laboratory training of undergraduate and graduate students. Since 2019, he has been collaborating in the supervision of 3 Pharmacy bachelor students from Coimbra Health School. Likewise, he participates in a project under a confidentiality agreement, related with the development of a "Semi-solid formulation for voluntary oral administration of bioactive compounds in rodents", which is currently under an International Patent Application (nº PCT/IB2021/053124). In 2019, he attained Functions A+B for manipulation and design of animal experimental protocols, certified by DGAV, the National Authority for Regulation of Animal Research. In the past year, Pedro was also involved in 3 awarded distinctions: i) EPAA 2021 Refinement prize; ii) 1st Place in the Sustainable Campus Network competition - "From linear to circular ideas" and iii) Best Poster of Annual Meeting Coimbra Health School - Global Health New Trends