Vitor Mendes Email and Phone Number

Research Associate in Professor Sir Tom Blundell’s lab at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Cambridge, member of the MM4TB (2013-2014), HIT-TB (2014-2016), SHORTEN-TB (2017-present) and Cystic Fibrosis Trust Strategic Research Center (2014-present) drug discovery consortia.During my stay I have led the fragment based-drug discovery team in Professor Sir Tom Blundell’s lab and supervised a team of up to five researchers. During this time, I have developed several drug discovery projects in the context of mycobacterial diseases, targeting both allosteric and orthosteric sites of several protein classes, while applying structural biology, biophysical, biochemical, computational methods and my enzymology PhD training to drive the projects, reveal the mode of action of inhibitors and characterise the protein targets. I have further established and managed new collaborations with leading external scientists to tackle challenges in individual projects.

Postdoctoral fellow in Professor Sir Tom Blundell’s lab at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Cambridge (05/2012 – 08/2014) funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal).I have solved the structure of mycobacterial enzymes involved in the synthesis and recycling of trehalose, a key molecule for mycobacterial survival and pathogenesis identified new allosteric sites and effector molecules and explored the use of fragments to design new drugs against these carbohydrate binding enzymes.

Postdoctoral fellow in the Molecular Mycobacteriology and Microbiome group, led by Dr. Nuno Empadinhas at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal).Drug discovery in the context of mycobacterial diseases focusing on carbohydrate binding enzymes involved in the synthesis and recycling of trehalose.Fellowship Awarded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) Portugal

PhD student in Biochemistry, Microbiology specialty in the Microorganisms of Extreme Environments group at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, under the supervision of Professor Milton Simões da Costa and Dr. Nuno Empadinhas, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal).I have Identified several genes and characterised the enzymes involved in the synthesis of essential methylated polysaccharides that regulate fatty acid synthesis in mycobacteria substantially enhancing the knowledge of how these important compounds are synthesised, while gaining an expertise in a variety of biochemical, microbiological and molecular biology techniques.

Research technician in the Microorganisms of Extreme Environments group at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra.I have probed the accumulation of compatible solutes in thermophilic bacteria exposed to different stress conditions.

Undergraduate project in the Microorganisms of Extreme Environments group at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, under the supervision of Professor António Veríssimo Pires.I have Isolated and characterised four new bacterial species from extreme alkaline environments analogous to environments on Mars.