Sara Sa

Greetings! My name is Sara Sá. I completed my graduation in Biomedical Laboratory Sciences at the Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal. This graduation formed me into a Health, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Professional in the professions of Clinical Analysis, Public Health Technician and Pathological, Cytological and Thanatological Anatomy. With this graduation, I acquired experience in the routine diagnostic and laboratory procedures in many hospitals and research centers, such as São João Hospital, Santo António Hospital, the Oncology Institute of Porto (IPO), and IPATIMUP. These curricular internships raised my knowledge and experience in the major fields of diagnosis such as Molecular Biology, Cytopathology, Genetics, Clinical Hematology, Histopathology, Immunohematology, Immunology, Macroscopy, Clinical Microbiology, Immunohistochemistry, Clinical Pathology, Molecular Pathology, Public Health and Thanatology. My graduation thesis title was "Antifungal Activity of Environment Fungi" in which I made new findings that could cause the inhibition of the growth of Candida spp., one of the most common pathogens in human fungal infections. This thesis originated as a Poster Communication at the III National Congress of Laboratory Biomedical Sciences and scored 18 out of 20 values. Briefly, after the graduation conclusion, I was invited to be the tutor of teenagers in the research field of Pathological Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto (FMUP). Where I demonstrated not only the theory but also the practical histological and staining procedures in mouse tissues. Then I began my master's degree in Clinical Analysis and Public Health in the subject of Microbiology and Public Health. While finishing my master's degree, I joined the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody screening task team for the whole Polytechnic community. Then I was invited to join, with a grant, the Laboratory of Medical and Industrial Biotechnology (LaBMI) Team to collect samples for molecular determination of the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Working on this team was an incredible experience, and a huge growth time as a health professional, as a scientist, and as a person. In LaBMI, under the supervision of Professors Rúben Fernandes and Pilar Baylina, I was given the opportunity to explore microbiology at the industrial level by determining viral loads on surfaces. I've been introduced to several bacterial and animal viruses. Thus, my master's degree issue was named "Determination of the antiviral activity of surface coating laminates by application of the ISO 21702 standard for SARS-CoV-2", I made an analysis of possible anti-SARS-CoV-2 components, as a service for a big Portuguese surface manufacturer company and scored 19 of 20 values. Meanwhile, combining the intense research environment of LaBMI and my drive for learning, I've tried to participate in all the projects I could in the field of microbiology, which resulted in some published papers with our team, such as "The History and Applications of Phage Therapy in Pseudomonas aeruginosa" and "New CTX-M Group Conferring ß-Lactam Resistance: A Compendium of Phylogenetic Insights from Biochemical, Molecular, and Structural Biology". Additionally, two posters were sent to the XVIII National Congress of Microbiology (Spanish Microbiology Society) about overcoming and studying bacterial resistance mechanisms. During this time, I became responsible for the Microbiology Laboratory of LaBMI. My field of comfort and expertise is the improvement of new methodological approaches for the study of QS (quorum sensing), biofilm formation, and the use of phages to restrain its formation or even disrupt it. Nowadays, I am a PhD student in the Doctoral Program in Metabolism - Clinic, and Experimentation in FMUP, which is devoted to the study of metabolic dysfunctions, and work full-time as a Specialist Technician in the CECLIN, Center of Clinical Studies, of the Fernando Pessoa Hospital.