Inês Machado Email & Phone Number

I hold a BSc degree in Biotechnology and a Master’s in Medicinal Chemistry. For my final BSc project, I researched Escherichia coli resistance to quinolone antibiotics in a clinical laboratory. During my master's at the UMinho, I focused on neurodegenerative diseases and synthesized antioxidant amino acids. This project developed my skills in organic chemistry, cyclic voltammetry, radical-scavenging activity assays, and spectroscopic techniques (NMR, absorption, fluorescence, mass spectrometry). I contributed to 2 oral communications, 3 posters, and 1 article titled “An efficient one-pot synthesis of polyphenolic amino acids and evaluation of their radical-scavenging activity” in Bioorganic Chemistry (Q1, IF=5.1).I began my scientific research career with a grant at 3B’s (UMinho), working on marine-inspired biomaterials for tissue regeneration. I gained expertise in tissue engineering, biomaterials, extraction, purification, and characterization techniques (NMR, FTIR, CD), and cell culture basics. I presented 3 posters at international conferences, which allowed networking with international researchers. I authored "Marine gelatin–methacryloyl–based hydrogels as cell templates for cartilage tissue engineering" in Polymers (Q1, IF=5.0) and co-authored "Cell-laden marine gelatin methacryloyl hydrogels enriched with ascorbic acid for corneal regeneration stroma" in Bioengineering (Q2, IF=4.6).I then worked as a research fellow at ISISE-UMinho on the "LightSlab" project, focusing on synthetic chemistry and mechanical tests. Subsequently, I had a research grant at IPC–Uminho, working on the "Marplas" project, evaluating and characterizing microplastics using Raman microscopy in the marine environment. After that, I had a research grant at IPC–Uminho, involved in selecting and characterizing additives for the "EMBALAGEM DO FUTURO" project. Presently, I am a researcher at CeNTI - Centre for Nanotechnology and Smart Materials, in the functional fibre group where I have been working with multidisciplinary teams in several projects of innovation and technology.During my MSc and research grants, I also participated in management and science dissemination activities, which were important to get acquainted with the multisided work of a research scientist. Particularly, I actively collaborated as member of the organizing committee of the “III Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry of UMinho” and I was part of the staff of the "Dia Aberto do DEP 2023", where it was possible to demonstrate all the areas of research carried out in this department.