Margarida Pereira is a PhD student (FCUP-UP) developing her research on Microbial-assisted phytoremediation for the removal of mixed pollutants in estuarine environment, closely aligned with CIIMAR’s BIOSYSMO Project. Her academic career comprises a BSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology (FCT-NOVA), a MSc in Science Communication (FCSH-NOVA) and a MSc in Biotechnology for Sustainability (ITQB-NOVA). She has experience in applied blue, green, and red biotechnology in various Portuguese research centres.

Margarida Saavedra is a fish nutritionist and researcher at the Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmophere. She has more than 20 years’ experience in fish reproduction and on-growing of species such as seabream, meagre, sole, white seabream, cod, and seahorses. Margarida is specialized in fish nutrition, feed formulation and designing general experimental trials with fish. She completed her PhD in fish larvae (Diplodus sargus) nutrition in 2008 and has an MSc in Aquaculture from Stirling University. Margarida Saavedra has 23 publications in international peer-reviewed journals (3 book chapters) and more than 30 oral and poster presentations in scientific meetings.

Margarida Silva completed her degree in chemistry in 2018 at the Faculty of Science of University of Porto (FCUP) and her Master’s degree in Health Biochemistry in 2020 at School of Health of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (ESS|IPP). Currently, Margarida Silva is developing her PhD at University of Vigo in covenant with ESS|IPP at ESS|IPP and CIIMAR, focusing on the bioactive potential of mountain products against Alzheimer’s Disease. She is an invited assistant professor at ESS|IPP.

Maria Antónia Salgado concluded her degree in Sciences of the Aquatic Environment at the University of Porto in 1985, joined the Chemistry Department of Abel Salazar Biomedical Institute in 1987, as a lecturer. She got a PhD from the University College of North Wales, UK in 1996. At present she is Assistentr Professor and teaches Physical Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry for undergraduate students and Chemical Analytical Techniques to post-graduate students. She supervised MSc and PhD students, and was the principal investigator in research projects and collaborated in others. Her main research interests are: sustainable aquaculture, analytical chemistry, pollution biomonitoring, aquatic toxicology and coastal management. She is also responsible for physico-chemical water quality analyses for aquaculture companies.

Full Professor of the University of Porto. BSc in Pharmacy (University of Porto) and PhD (Comparative Physiology) at University of Porto. Full Professor at ICBAS (Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar). Founding member CIIMAR, and Leader of the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology at CIIMAR from 2000 to 2016. Main scientific interests focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms of toxicity in aquatic animals, biochemical and cellular biomarkers and their use for pollution monitoring, and sea food quality and human effect. Author or co-author of more than 100 articles in international publications. Supervisor and co-supervisor of PhD students and post-docs.

Maria Luis Bôto received her bachelor’s degree in Biology in 2016 from University of Aveiro and holds a master’s degree in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP). In 2020, she started her PhD in the Doctoral Program of Aquatic Sciences – Biology and Ecology (ICBAS-UP), during which she will focus on exploring the genetic potential of native microbial consortia to degrade petroleum compounds.

Maria Carolina Oliveira has a bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto), where her dissertation focused on the isolation of extracellular vesicles from Bacillus spp. and their potential as delivery vehicles.

Maria de Fátima Carvalho holds a degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Biotechnology from the Portuguese Catholic University. She is currently principal investigator at CIIMAR, where she leads the research team Microbial Biodegradation and Bioprospecting. Her research interests are focused on two main lines (i) development of biotechnological strategies for the removal of organic environmental pollutants, with special emphasis on fluorinated compounds and (ii) bioprospecting actinobacteria from diverse sources (from terrestrial to marine environments) for the discovery of novel molecules with relevant biotechnological applications.

Maria Elizabeth Tiritan is Assistant Professor at University Institute of Health Sciences and Invited Assistant at Faculty of Pharmacy – Porto University. Her research interests focus on chiral compounds: organic synthesis, enantiomeric purity evaluation, biological activity, biodegradation and enantioselective studies. Emergent contaminants, especially chiral substances, are also focus of her research interests.

Pharmaceutical Chemistry FFUP and Director board member of the Medicinal Chemistry and Biology Division of SPQ. Editor of Bioorganic Chemistry (Elsevier) and Associate Editor of Pharmaceuticals (MDPI).
Area of scientific activity centered on Medicinal Chemistry in particular, in the structure-based design and synthesis of potential drug candidates based on marine natural product leads.
Author of 5 Portuguese and 5 International Patent Applications in the area of drug discovery.

Francisca is an Auxiliary Researcher at the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) and member of the FCT Research Unit, Center for the Study of Animal Science (CECA/ICETA) that integrates the new associate laboratory AL4animals. 
Ever since she finished her degree in Biology, in 2007, she has been working on Lysosomal Storage Disorders (LSDs), a major group of rare genetic diseases. Over these years she contributed to the development of new methods for diagnosis and characterization of LSD patients. At EDEC, she attempting to generate novel in vivo models (zebrafish) to mimic neuropathic LSDs and study their pathophysiological mechanisms.
 

Maria Francisca Espincho has a BSc in Biochemistry obtained from the Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto (FCUP) and the Abel Salazar Institute of Medical Sciences (ICBAS). Currently, Francisca is enrolled on the Master’s Degree in Environmental Contamination and Toxicology at ICBAS and FCUP and developing her master’s dissertation at CIIMAR, studying zooplankton and microplastic interferences on two Portuguese estuaries.

Maria Francisca Sá is a research technician in the Vertical algae project. She works with maternity and nursery of kelp and Codium species to be deployed in the Portuguese sea. She had previously worked as a technician in the SølKelp Project and also as a research fellow in the AquaVitae Project. Francisca holds a MSc in Biological Aquatic Resources and a degree in Biology from the University of Porto. Her areas of interest are seaweed aquaculture and ecology.

Maria Francisca Sarmento is a researcher ate Uporto (Portugal) who graduated from the same institution. She developed her master thesis project in FEUP with a partnership of Ciimar about the effect of Climate changes in Douro’s estuary. Her master thesis project focused on 2D numerical modelling in OpenTelemac Mascaret software to simulate several extreme scenarios and evaluate their hydrodynamic and morphodynamic effects in the estuary. After graduating, she continued her research in collaboration with Ciimar in the project ATLANTIDA on the topic of climate change, where she investigates the effects of NBM – Nature Based Methods on the Cavado´s river mouth hydrodynamics and morphodynamics.

Maria Paula Gomez graduated in Microbiology and Bioanalysis from the Industrial University of Santander (Colombia) and received her MSc in Biochemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico). During her education, she acquired knowledge in the fields of molecular biology, microbiology and biochemistry. Currently, she is a PhD student under the doctoral training programme “BIOTOXDoc – Safe food in a world of changing climate” and the PhD programme in Environmental Toxicology and Contamination – University of Porto. Her research focuses on exploring the molecular modulation of biotoxin metabolism and depuration in bivalve molluscs.

Helena Barbosa graduated in Aquatic Sciences at the University of Porto in 2018. In 2022, she completed her Master’s degree in Applied Marine Biology at the University of Aveiro, where she studied biochemical markers related to metabolism and oxidative stress in bivalves, from an ecotoxicological perspective. Currently, Helena is a research technician in the Aquatic Animal Health group (A2S).

M. João Botelho received her MSc degree in Chemical Engineering, University of Lisbon in 2009 and a PhD in Environment, New University of Lisbon in 2014. She is a researcher of the Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) and head of the National Reference Laboratory of Marine Toxins at IPMA. Her expertise is on accumulation and biotransformation mechanisms of marine toxins in bivalves and her research is focused in avaliability and pathways of marine toxins and biosensors development to toxin detection.

Maria João Rocha holds a primary degree in Pharmacy and a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, obtained at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto. At ICBAS, where she is Assistant Professor, she teaches Environmental and Aquatic Toxicology, and Physiology and Endocrinology of Aquatic Animals. She is an integrated researcher of CIIMAR, working in the Histomorphology, Pathophysiology and Applied Toxicology (PATH) group. At PATH, she has been responsible for the development of chromatographic techniques for the evaluation of pollutants, such as natural and synthetic hormones, pesticides, PAHs and PCBs, in surface waters, sediments and aquatic animals.

Maria João Santos is Professor Associate Aggregate at Faculty of Science of Porto University (FCUP) and Researcher in CIIMAR, where she leads the team of Animal Parasitology and Pathology. She got the degree, PhD and Aggregation in Biology at FCUP.
She teaches Invertebrates, Vertebrates and Parasitology. She is the director of the course in Scientific Illustration from UP.
She works in the field of parasitology of aquatic organisms, ecology, pathology and diseases, mainly with Metazoan parasites ( Myxozoa, Platyhelminthes, Nematoda and Crustacea), and in particular with zoonotic parasites. She belongs now to the EU “Working Group of Parasites in Fishery products”, promoted by EFSA.

Maria João Xavier graduated in Biology in 2013 and holds a master’s degree in Biological Aquatic Resources in 2015, both from the Faculty of Sciences of Porto University (FCUP). Currently, working in the PhD thesis from the Doctoral Program in Animal Sciences for Sustainable Animal Nutrition and Feeding (SANFEED). Most of her research has been focus on the role of natural plant extracts as feed additives to modulated growth performance, muscle development, oxidative status and digestive capacity of marine fish larvae and postlarvae.

Maria José Saavedra works at the Veterinary Sciences Department – Medical Microbiology, University Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro. Her main research activities have been dedicated to the characterization of antibiotic resistance mechanisms, with a special focus on beta-lactams and horizontal gene transfer, in bacteria and microbial communities from different origins, including humans, animals, food and water. Also, her molecular epidemiology and phylogenetic studies to characterize the genetic lineages of antibiotic resistant bacteria, in particular within the genus Aeromonas, puts her work in line with the One Health concept that acknowledges the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health.

Maria Leonor Lemos is a veterinary medicine student at ICBAS (Biomedical Sciences Institute Abel Salazar). She is currently developing her MSc thesis dissertation on Campylobacter spp. Her main research interests focus on microbiology multidrug-resistant bacteria under the One Health perspective.

Maria Leonor Nunes is leader of SEAFOOD SAFETY AND PROCESSING Group at CIIMAR. Her interests include preservation/processing/packaging and quality/safety of fishery and aquaculture products and algae. She is author/co-author of >230 articles in indexed journals >50 books/book chapters (H index 50; >7500 citations). She has experience in leadership positions in national and European projects. She is member of research councils and editorial boards of different scientific journals. She has supervised/co-supervised more than 70 MSc/PhD students. She has experience in collaborating with international R&D agencies and with industries and associations in the food sector (seafood).

Pharmaceutical-Biochemistry (1984) Master in Health Sciences (2010), PhD student in the area of

Maria de Fátima Machado has a degree and master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro. Since January 2020, she has been working in the Natural Products Research laboratory at the ICBAS. The area of scientific activity focuses on the isolation, purification, and structural elucidation of secondary metabolites of marine fungi, including their bioactivity.

Margarida Delgado has a PhD in Biology from the University of Wales, UK. Her research covers several areas, with the main focus on the alteration of gene expression by xenobiotics and eqpigenetic regulation. She is currently a member of the Aquaculture and Upgrading Division at Portuguese Institute of Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA). She is the author of several scientific articles and has participated in various R&D projects.

Maria Marinho is a PhD student in Biology at Faculty of Sciences – University of Porto and CIIMAR. She graduated in Biology and her MSc in Ecology and Environmental, both at Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto. Her main area of research is to develop new solutions for feeding farmed fish, using living organisms, not only to increase their quality, but also to improve their visual characteristics.

Maria Teresa Borges graduated and done MSc and PhD in Biology. She is Professor at Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, and Researcher at CIIMAR since its foundation. Research interests are multidisciplinary and applied, with focus on Applied Microbiology (Bacterial and Microalgal Biofiltration processes), Environmental Biotechnology (Biofilms, Photobioreactors, Bioremediation, Saline Wastewater Treatment and Valorization via Integrated Systems) and Aquaculture Environmental Sustainability (Recirculation systems, dissolved CO2). She has vast experience in teaching and supervising students, university and research projects management (e.g. RACEWAYS, AQUAMONITOR, RASORGMAT), publishing in different types of scientific media, and science dissemination.