Paula Campos is a researcher specialized in ancient DNA applications to archaeological, paleontological and conservation biology questions. She received her degree in Biology in 2000, her MSc in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources in 2005 from the University of Porto and her PhD in Evolutionary Biology in 2009 from University of Copenhagen. As of January 2020, her publications include 2 theses, 4 book chapters, 1 technical report and 48 papers in international peer review journals. Of these, 15 were published in major multidisciplinary scientific journals including PNAS, Science and Nature, but also in specialized journals like Journal of Archaeological Science and Molecular Ecology. Paula is funded through FCT’s Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus, CEEC2017.

Rute Fonseca is an Assistant Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She received her degree in Biochemistry in 2000 and her PhD in Computational Chemistry in 20016 from University of Porto. Rute uses computational tools to study molecular evolution in a variety of organisms. My recent work involves exploring large-scale genomic information on both modern and ancient DNA data sets. I am particularly interested in protein function evolution and how this impacts phenotypes.

Subramaniam Vijayakumar is a master’s student specializing in marine biotechnology and bioinformatics, currently conducting his master thesis at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR), University of Porto. His research focuses on uncovering the diet and gut microbiome of the Mediterranean monk seal (Monachus monachus) from the Desertas (Madeira) population using metabarcoding and metagenomic analyses. He also investigates the relationship between the seals’ diet and gilt-head seabream aquaculture production in Ribeira Brava.

With a strong background in chemistry, having completed a Master’s in Chemistry, Subramaniam is currently studying in the Joint Master’s Programme in Marine Biotechnology under the prestigious Erasmus Mundus EU-CONEXUS program, gaining valuable international research experience. His expertise spans a broad range of areas, including organic, physical, and analytical chemistry, microbial cultures, genetic analysis, structural biology, and computational drug discovery, leveraging advanced computational tools for data analysis and modeling.”

As a voting member of the EU-CONEXUS JMPMB Student Board and patent holder for anti-cancer aminothiazole derivatives, Subramaniam is passionate about advancing research in marine bioactive compounds, with a focus on health, aquaculture, and sustainability