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Ana Rita Bragança graduated in Marine Biology and Biotechnology, with a specialization in Biotechnology (2018), has an MSc degree in Biochemistry for Health (2021) (taught in English) and a postgraduate specialization in Fundamentals of Scientific Research (2022). Currently, she is attending the doctoral program in Molecular and Environmental Biology at the University of Minho. Ana Rita Bragança is the (co)author of one publication and two conference proceedings. She co-authored 6 oral presentations, a virtual poster, and 5 poster communications, at national/international scientific meetings, tutored/collaborated in the supervision of 13 students (4 undergraduate, 9 MSc), and was part of the jury, as the main arguer, in the defence of the final graduation's project for a student in Environmental Sciences BSc from University of Minho. She was awarded 2 project scientific fellowships, a merit award for Academic Excellence, an FCT PhD studentship and an SPM Grant for the Microbiotec'25 participation. Despite being in an early stage of her scientific career, she has already acquired technical skills in the fields of microbiology, cellular biology, molecular genetics, and molecular biotechnology. Her main interests are focused on blue biotechnology applied to the pharmaceutical industry.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Ana Rita da Silva Bragança

Citation names

  • Bragança, Ana Rita

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
FA17-AC9E-2FD8
ORCID iD
0000-0002-8004-6708
Google Scholar ID
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1DNWJCkAAAAJ&hl=pt-PT
Researcher Id
rid27824
Scopus Author Id
57459529700

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Microbiology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Cell Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemical Research Methods
  • Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences - Bioinformatics
Education
Degree Classification
2023/10 - 2027/10
Ongoing
 Doctoral Program in Molecular and Environmental Biology (Doutoramento)
Major in Molecular Biotechnology
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
"Bioprospection of marine microorganisms as a source of inspiration to design novel antimicrobial peptides" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2024/06/03 - 2024/06/14
Concluded
 Advanced Course in Next-Generation Sequencing for Environmental Monitoring (Outros)
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
 18/20
2024/05/20 - 2024/05/31
Concluded
 Advanced Course in Structural Biology of Membrane Transporters (Outros)
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
 19/20
2024/05/06 - 2024/05/17
Concluded
 Advanced Course in Regulated Cell Death and Autophagy (Outros)
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
 18/20
2024/03/07 - 2024/05/03
Ongoing
 International Quarter Course in Careers in Science (30h course) (Outros)
International Mentoring Foundation for the Advancement of Higher Education, United States
 ND
2024/01/18 - 2024/04/08
Concluded
 International Quarter Course in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (30h course) (Outros)
International Mentoring Foundation for the Advancement of Higher Education, United States
 ND
2024/02/25 - 2024/02/25
Attended
 Trainning in Bioethics and Research Integrity (Outros)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
 ND
2023/12/06 - 2023/12/07
Concluded
 FDA Clinical Investigator Training Course 2023 (Outros)
US Food and Drug Administration, United States
 ND
2023/10 - 2023/12
Concluded
 Transferable Skills Course in "How to survive a PhD" (Outros)
AScience , Portugal
 17/20
2023/06/16 - 2023/06/16
Concluded
 WDCM & MIRRI Joint Training Course for Big Data of Open Science in Microbiology (Outros)
World Data Centre for Microorganisms, China

Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure (MIRRI), Portugal
ND
2022/03/24 - 2023/01/31
Concluded
 Specialized Training Course in Fundamentals for Scientific Research (Pós-Graduação)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
 18/20
2018/09 - 2021/10
Concluded
 Master Degree in Biochemistry for Health (Mestrado)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
"Microalgae for the Production of High-Value Compounds: Evaluation of the Effect of Different Nitrogen and Carbon Sources on the Production of Fucoxanthin in Phaeodactylum tricornutum" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 15/20
2015/09 - 2018/07
Concluded
 Graduation in Marine Biology and Biotecnology (Licenciatura)
Major in Biotechnology
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
"Development of a Kefir and Gracilaria gracilis Biogel for Pharmaceutical Application" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 15/20
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/04/07 - 2023/06/30 Contracted Researcher (Research) Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
(...)
2019/09 - 2021/10 Research Trainee (Research) Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2023/10/01 - Current "Bioprospection of marine microorganisms as a source of inspiration to design novel antimicrobial peptides"
2023.00217.BD
PhD Student Fellow
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing

Contract

Designation Funders
2022/04/07 - 2023/06/30 "River2Ocean - socio-ecological and biotechnological solutions for the conservation and valorisation of aquatic biodiversity in the Minho Region"
NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000068
Research Fellow
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal

Instituto de Ciência e Inovação para a Bio-Sustentabilidade, Portugal
Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)
Concluded
2020/10 - 2021/03 Aspartic Proteases from Cynara cardunculus L.: study of gene expression and establishment of alternative production platforms.
PTDC/BAA-AGR/30447/2017
Research Fellow
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2022 - 2023 ECOBiB. Eco-Innovative Bag-In-Box Solutions
POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033997
Collaborator
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
 Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER)
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Bragança A. R., Silva A. R. M., Gomes J., Collins T., Casal M., Soares-Silva I., Machado R. (2023) Marine Microbial Resources: Paving the Way for a Blue Bioeconomy. Edition published by: MUM - Micoteca da Universidade do Minho.". Paper presented in Lima N., Santos C., Soares C., Silva M. G., Ferreira A. J., Cruz R. M. (2023). 15th International Conference on Culture Collections: Exploiting Microbial Resources to Support Social Wellbeing. ISBN: 978-972-97916-6-6, Braga, 2023.
    Published
  2. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Reboleira, J., Saturno, C., Braganca, A. R., Adao, P., Afonso, C., Bernardino, R., & Bernardino, S. (2020). Alginate Biogels Enriched with Kefir Whey and Gracilaria gracilis Extracts: Exploring the Pharmaceutical Potential of Combined Marine and Dairy Biotechnology. In MARINE DRUGS (Vol. 18, No. 1). ST ALBAN-ANLAGE 66, CH-4052 BASEL, SWITZERLAND: MDPI.". Paper presented in Pedrosa, R., P Gaudêncio, S., & Vasconcelos, V. (2020). XVI international symposium on marine natural products| XI European conference on marine natural products. Marine Drugs, 18(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/md18010040, Peniche, 2020.
    Published • https://doi.org/10.3390/md18010040
Conference poster
  1. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, Mariana Rodrigues, Tiago Cunha, João Gomes, Ana Rita Silva, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva Raul Machado. "Exploring Marine Microbial Resources for Sustainable Biotechnological Applications: A Multi-Functional Screening"". Paper presented in MicroBiotec'25 _ Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2025.
  2. Bragança, Ana Rita. "João P. G. Abreu, Mário Fernandes, Ana R. Bragança, Bruna Silva, Diana Rocha, Noelia González- Ballesteros, Raúl Machado, Artur Ribeiro, Carla Silva, María C. Rodríguez-Argüelles, Andreia C. Gomes. "Green functionalization of textiles with antimicrobial silver and gold nanoparticles obtained from Undaria pinnatifida".". Paper presented in XXIX Encontro Luso-Galego de Química, 2025.
  3. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, Rui Silva, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva, Raul Machado. "Marine microorganisms as a source of new therapeutic molecules against antimicrobial resistance"". Paper presented in I CBMA Open Day & II PhD|Bio Symposium, 2024.
  4. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, Rui Silva, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva, Raul Machado. "Bioprospection of Marine Microorganisms as Source of Inspiration to Design Novel Antimicrobial Peptides"". Paper presented in UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days, 2024.
  5. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, João Gomes, Ana Rita Marques Silva, Tony Collins, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva, Raul Machado."Unlocking the Biotechnological Potential of Marine Microorganisms: The River2Ocean Project's Contribution to the Blue Bioeconomy"". Paper presented in MicroBiotec'23 _ Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 2023.
  6. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, Ana Rita Marques Silva, João Gomes, Tony Collins, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva, Raul Machado. "Marine Microbial Resources: Paving a way for a blue bioeconomy"". Paper presented in 15th Internacional Conference on Culture Collections, 2023.
  7. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Ana Rita Bragança, Ana Rita Marques Silva, Tony Collins, Margarida Casal, Isabel Soares-Silva, Raul Machado. "Establishment of a biobank of marine microorganisms with biotechnological potential"". Paper presented in Biotechnology for a circular bioeconomy: carbon capture, waste recycling and mitigation of global warming (European Federation of Biotechnology), 2023.
Journal article
  1. Bragança, Ana Rita. "Afonso, C.; Bragança, A.R.; Rebelo, B.A.; Serra, T.S.; Abranches, R. (2022). Optimal Nitrate Supplementation in Phaeodactylum tricornutum Culture Medium Increases Biomass and Fucoxanthin Production. Foods, 11, 568". Foods 11 4 (2022): 568. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/foods11040568.
    Open access • Published • 10.3390/foods11040568
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2025/12/05 Marine-Derived Antimicrobial Peptides: A Novel Source of Molecules against Antimicrobial Resistance MicroBiotec'25 _ Congress of Microbiology and Biotechnology
Sociedade Portuguesa de Microbiologia (Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal)
2024/01/30 Short Oral Communication entitled "Bioprospection of Marine Microorganisms as Source of Inspiration to Design Antimicrobial Peptides" UMinho Research & Innovation Open Days
Universidade do Minho (Braga, Portugal)
2023/10/19 The River2Ocean Project: Isolation, Genotyping and Phenotyping of Marine Microorganisms as Key Drivers for Sustainable Innovation IV International Meeting of the Portuguese Society of Genetics
Universidade do Minho (Braga, Portugal)
2022/12/05 River2Ocean: Bioprospecção do potencial biotecnológico de microrganismos marinhos Nucleus of Students of Environmental Sciences
Universidade do Minho - Escola de Ciências (Braga, Portugal)
2022/11/25 Bioprospecting the biotechnological potential of marine microorganisms MicroSummit 2022
Universidade Católica do Porto - Escola Superior de Biotecnologia (Porto, Portugal)
2020/02/14 Microalgae for the Production of High-Value Compounds Jornadas Integradas de Dissertação de Mestrado do Departamento de Química e Departamento de Ciências da Vida
Universidade Nova de Lisboa - Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (Almada, Portugal)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2025/05/01 - 2025/06/25 Determinação do potencial biotecnológico de leveduras isoladas de ambientes aquáticos
Supervisor of Leonor Cardoso
 Bioquímica (Degree)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/02 - 2024/04 Microrganismos marinhos como fonte de novas moléculas terapêuticas para combater a resistência antimicrobiana
Supervisor of Leonor Lima
 Projeto Centro de Ação UMinho (Other)
Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2025/04/03 - 2025/04/03 Organisation and promotion of the activity 'Microorganisms in action: cellular factories for a sustainable future' at the event "UPA – UMinho de Portas Abertas 2025" (2025/04/03 - 2025/04/03)
Exhibition (Other)
 Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/04/18 - 2024/04/20 Organisation and promotion of the activity 'Transforming challenges into opportunities: the role of microorganisms in the construction of a more sustainable economy' at the event "UPA – UMinho de Portas Abertas 2024" (2024/04/18 - 2024/04/20)
Exhibition (Co-organisor)
 Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/02/02 - 2024/02/02 Member of the organizing committee of the I CBMA Open Day & II PhD|Bio Symposium (2024/02/02)
Symposium (Member of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2022/09/29 - 2022/09/29 Workshop to the IV Symposium on Applied Biochemistry MSc (2022/09/29 - 2022/09/29)
Symposium (Other)
 Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2019/10/26 - 2019/10/26 Workshop to the ITQB NOVA 2019 Open Day (2023/10/26)
Exhibition (Other)
 Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2025/09/26 - 2025/09/26 European Researchers' Night 2025
Exhibition
 European Researchers' Night
Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal
2025/03/13 - 2025/03/15 Workshop "Science Communication"
Workshop
 Workshop in Science Communication
Speak & Lead, Portugal
2025/01/10 - 2025/01/10 "Bridging Research, Career Development & Professional Growth, and Science Communication"
Seminar
 initiative "Research Careers" from the University of Minho's Rectory
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/09/27 - 2024/09/27 European Researchers' Night 2024
Exhibition
 European Researchers' Night 2024
Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal
2024/02/27 - 2024/07/09 UMinho International Mentoring Program (Postgraduate Alliance Project - Skills for the Future (PRR/NextGenerationEU funding), as part of the 'Global Development and Professional Integration of Students' programme)
Other
 UMinho International Mentoring Program
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/03/14 - 2024/03/16 (Attended) XIII Edition of Bioinformatics Open Days
Conference
 Bioinformatics Open Days
Universidade do Minho Escola de Engenharia, Portugal
2024/02/02 - 2024/02/02 Participation at the CBMA Elevator Pitch for PhD Students
Other
 I CBMA Open Day & II PhD|Bio Symposium
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2023/11/30 - 2023/11/30 Workshop in Agile Projects Management
Workshop
 Magma Workshops
Magma Studio, Portugal
2023/09/29 - 2023/09/29 European Researchers' Night 2023
Exhibition
 European Researchers' Night
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2022/09/30 - 2022/09/30 European Researchers' Night 2022
Exhibition
 European Researchers' Night
Universidade do Minho Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental, Portugal
2021/04/30 - 2021/04/30 (Attended) II Jornadas de Biotecnologia para as Ciências da Saúde (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal)
Congress
 II Jornadas de Biotecnologia para as Ciências da Saúde
Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Portugal
2021/02/04 - 2021/02/05 (Attended) Online Congress "Application of Natural Products: Health, Cosmetics and Food"(Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal)
Congress
 Application of Natural Products: Health, Cosmetics and Food
Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Portugal
2021 - 2021 Workshop - Science Communication (Speak & Lead)
Workshop
 Science Communication
Speak and Lead, Portugal
2021 - 2021 (Attended) XXIII National Meeting of Biology Students - ENEB (Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal)
Meeting
 Encontro Nacional de Estudantes de Biologia
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2020/11/03 - 2020/11/04 (Attended) Encontro Ciência'20 - Meeting with Science and Technology in Portugal (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia)
Congress
 Encontro Ciência'20
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2020/05/27 - 2020/05/27 Workshop of Scientific Writing
Workshop
 Scientific Writing
ReadyToPub - Author Services Provider, Portugal
2019 - 2019 Workshop - Jornadas Tecnológicas de Bioquímica 20ª Edição - FCT NOVA, with the theme Biomedicine - Emergent Diseases
Workshop
 Jornadas Tecnológicas de Bioquímica 20ª Edição
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2019 - 2019 Workshop - Plant Phenotyping-Genotyping Data Management (BioData.pt da ELIXIR)
Workshop
 Plant Phenotyping-Genotyping Data Management
BioData.pt, Portugal
2017/03 - 2017/03 Workshop in Team Work and Oral Presentations ( ESTM IPL)
Workshop
 Team Work and Oral Presentations
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal

Jury of academic degree

Topic
Role 		Candidate name (Type of degree)
Institution / Organization
2023/06/28 Physiological and Genetic Studies of Marine Microbial Resources
(Thesis) Main arguer
 Beatriz Mesquita (Other)
Universidade do Minho Escola de Ciências, Portugal

Ad Hoc journal article review

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2024/03 - Current Journal UMinho Science (2975-951X) Journal UMinho Science

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2025/02/13 - 2025/03/13 Assistant in teaching practical classes of the Microbial Biotechnology Curricular Unit in the Applied Biology degree at the University of Minho Biologia Aplicada (Licenciatura) Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2024/02/18 - 2024/03/19 Assistant in teaching practical classes of the Microbial Biotechnology Curricular Unit in the Applied Biology degree at the University of Minho Applied Biology (Licenciatura) Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2024/07/08 Interview for the Alumni Network of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (https://www.ipleiria.pt/testemunho-alumni/ana-braganca/) Polytechnic Institute of Leiria

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2023/10/01 - 2025/01/08 Tutoring a Master's student in Biodiversity, Ecology and Global Changes, in the thesis entitled "Bioprospecting of marine microorganisms with biotechnological potential for the decontamination of polluted environments" Tiago Cunha
2023/10/01 - 2024/12/20 Tutoring a Master's student in Applied Biochemistry in the thesis entitled "Marine microorganisms as a source of new therapeutic molecules against antimicrobial resistance" Rui Silva
2023/10/01 - 2024/12/16 Tutoring a Master's student in Applied Biochemistry in the thesis entitled "Immobilization of microorganisms to develop bioremediation strategies" Mariana Rodrigues
2022/10/01 - 2024/10/03 Tutoring a Master's student in Genetics and Molecular Biology MSc in the master's thesis: "Antifungal Resistance of Environmental Fungi and Evaluation of Resistance Mechanisms" Daniel Vasconcelos
2023/03 - 2023/06 Tutoring of undergratuate student of the Environmental Sciences BSc in the final project: "Characterization of Marine Yeast from Environmental Samples" Beatriz Mesquita
2022/05 - 2022/06 Tutoring of an undergratuate students of Applied Biology BSc in the final degree project: "Production of recombinant proteins" Adriana & Gonçalo
2022/04 - 2022/06 Tutoring of an undergratuate student of Environmental Sciences BSc in the final degree project: "Evaluation of the marine microbial biodiversity" Márcia Martins
2021/02 - 2021/02 Tutoring of students of the Master's Degree in Biochemistry for Health, in the context of lectures for the Laboratory Practices curricular unit Ana & Gonçalo
2020/10 - 2020/11 Tutoring of internship student of the integrated master's degree in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering FCT NOVA Inês Baptista
Distinctions

Award

2025 SPM Grant Winner - MicroBiotec'25
Sociedade Portuguesa de Microbiologia, Portugal
2024 IPL Alumni 5000
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal
2023 Merit scholarship for excellent academic performance in the post-graduate course in Fundamentals for Scientific Research - PG UMinho Alliance (PRR/EU Next Generation Funding)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2023 FCT doctoral scholarship (2023 Call for PhD Studentships)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal