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MARIA LEONOR PIRES FERRÃO. PhD in Animal Production Science and Technology at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain) in 2025. She completed a Master's degree in Aquaculture in 2020 at the University of Algarve and a Bachelor's degree in Aquatic Environmental Sciences in 2017 at the University of Porto, Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar. She is a research fellow at the University of Algarve. She has published 12 articles in specialized journals and has received 2 awards, including one for the best MSc Student at UAlg, which awarded her her MSc fees. She has participated in or is currently participating in 4 projects. Her work focuses on Natural Sciences, with an emphasis on Agricultural Sciences, particularly in Aquatic Resources. In her Ciência Vitae curriculum, the most frequent terms related to her scientific and technological production are: broodstock management; reproduction techniques; cryopreservation techniques; reproductive quality assessment; gene expression analysis; comparative genomics and bioinformatics; nanoparticles; toxicity; reproduction; and marine organisms. She has expertise in scientific communication, teaching assistance, student supervision, and laboratory management.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
MARIA LEONOR PIRES FERRÃO

Citation names

  • Ferrão, Leonor
  • Ferrão, Maria Leonor

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
4F13-82AE-17FB
ORCID iD
0000-0001-9026-3522

Email addresses

  • mlpirfer@gmail.com (Personal)

Telephones

Telephone
  • 916412693 (Personal)

Addresses

  • Universidade do Algarve Campus de Gambelas, Edificio 7, 8005-139, Faro, Faro, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Reproductive Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Marine Biology
  • Agrarian Sciences - Veterinary Sciences

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Spanish; Castilian Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2021/01 - 2025/05
Concluded
 Programa de Doctorado en Ciencia y Tecnología de la Producción Animal (Doctor of Philosophy)
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
"Exploring the impact of low temperature pre-treaments in the maturation of the European eel." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Excellent
2018 - 2020
Concluded
 Aquaculture (Master)
Universidade do Algarve - Campus de Gambelas, Portugal
"The role of melatonin in sperm from two aquaculture fish species with reproductive problems: Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) and European eel (Anguilla anguilla)." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 17
2014 - 2017
Concluded
 Aquatic Environmental Sciences (Bachelor)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
"Histological characterization of the maturation stages of the ovarian follicles of the goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)." (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 14
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2024 - Current Researcher (Research) Universidade do Algarve - Campus de Gambelas, Portugal
2021 - 2024 Contracted Researcher (Research) Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
2019 - 2020 Researcher (Research) Universidade do Algarve - Campus de Gambelas, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2024/11 - Current AQUATECHinn 4.0 Digital learning in aquaculture 4.0 for the technological training of fish farm technicians ERASMUS-EDU-2022-PI-ALL-INNO. UAlg, CCMAR, APA + 12 parceiros internacionais.
101108913
Post-doc
Erasmus Plus
2018/09/29 - 2020/09/28 NanoReproTox-Unraveling the ecological impacts of nanoparticles toxicity in the reproduction of marine organisms.
PTDC/CTA-AMB/30908/2017
Research Technician Fellow
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal

Universidade Nova de Lisboa Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento da FCT, Portugal

Universidade do Algarve, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing

Contract

Designation Funders
2022 - 2023 Study of the effect of changes in the physicochemical parameters of seawater associated with climate change on sperm physiology in species of interest for Mediterranean aquaculture (SEASPERM).
0000000122904914
 España Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
2021 - 2021 Desarrollo y aplicación de las técnicas de producción subrogada de gametos de anguila europea mediante xenotrasplante de espermatogonias en otras especies de peces (EELGONIA)
RTI2018-096413-B-I00
PhD Student Fellow
Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
 España Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Ferrão, Leonor; Pérez, Luz; Asturiano, Juan F.; Morini, M.. "Heat shock factors in the European eel: gene characterization and expression response to different environmental conditions and to sexual maturation.". Paper presented in 9th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes, Léon, Spain, 2024.
  2. Félix Azeredo, Francisca; Ferrão, Leonor; Antunes, Raquel; Gallego, Victor; Vera, Luisa M.; Oliveira, Catarina; Cabrita, Elsa. "Endogenous and exogenous melatonin effects on sperm cryopreservation of two commercial marine species, Senegalese sole and gilthead seabream". Paper presented in Society for Low Temperature Biology (SLBT) Meeting 2023, 2023.
  3. Félix, Francisca; Ferrão, Leonor; Victor Gallego; Catarina C. V. Oliveira; Cabrita, Elsa. "Endogenous and exogenous melatonin effects on sperm quality of first generation Senegalese sole". Paper presented in European Aquaculture Society (EAS), 18-21th September 2023, Wien (Austria), 2023.
  4. Félix Azeredo, Francisca; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Oliveira, Catarina; Cabrita, Elsa. "Endogenous and exogenous melatonin effects on sperm quality of first-generation Senegalese sole sperm". Paper presented in Aquaculture Europe (EAS) 2023, 2023.
  5. Oliveira, Catarina; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Mieiro, Cláudia; Pacheco, Mário; Cabrita, Elsa. "Exposure to silver and titanium dioxide nanoparticles decreased sperm motility and affected spermatozoa subpopulations in gilthead seabream". Paper presented in 8th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes, 2022.
  6. Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Morini, Marina; Fatsini, Elvira; Cabrita, Elsa; Oliveira, Catarina. "Searching for daily rhythms in transcript levels of melatonin receptor mt2 and other quality parameters in Senegalese sole sperm". Paper presented in XII Conference of the Iberian Association for Comparative Endocrinology (AIEC2019), 2019.
  7. Morini, Marina; Fatsini, Elvira; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Frias, Paulo; Oliveira, Catarina; Cabrita, Elsa. "Day and night gene expression of sperm quality markers in Senegalese sole.". Paper presented in 7th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes, 2019.
  8. Gallego, Victor; Ferrão, Leonor; Fatsini, Elvira; Morini, Marina; Frias, Paulo; Cabrita, Elsa; Oliveira, Catarina. "Determination of day/night melatonin levels in seminal plasma in relation to sperm quality in Senegalese sole". Paper presented in 7th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes, 2019.
  9. Morini, Marina; Fatsini, Elvira; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Frias, Paulo; Oliveira, Catarina; Cabrita, Elsa. "Daily rhythms of melatonin receptors in high and low quality sperm samples in Senegalese sole, Solea senegalensis". Paper presented in 7th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes, 2019.
Journal article
  1. Ferrão, Leonor; Pérez, Luz; Asturiano, Juan F.; Morini, Marina. "Heat Shock Factors in the European Eel: Gene Characterization and Expression Response to Different Environmental Conditions and to Induced Sexual Maturation". Fishes 10 2 (2025): 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes10020073.
    10.3390/fishes10020073
  2. Félix, F.; Ferrão, L.; Gallego, V.; Oliveira, C.C.V.; Cabrita, E.. "Melatonin production improves Senegalese sole sperm motility at night, but fails as a supplement during cryopreservation". Cryobiology 117 (2024): 104974. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.104974.
    10.1016/j.cryobiol.2024.104974
  3. Ferrão, L.; Morini, M.; González-Lopéz, W. A.; Gallego, V.; Felip, A.; Pérez, L.; Asturiano, J. F.. "Effects of cold seawater pre-treatments on induction of early sexual maturation and sperm production in European eel (Anguilla anguilla)". Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 50 6 (2024): 2489-2503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-024-01402-w.
    10.1007/s10695-024-01402-w
  4. Blanes-García, Marta; Marinovic, Zoran; Herranz-Jusdado, Juan Germán; Xie, Xuan; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Pérez, Luz; et al. "Characterization of potential spermatogonia biomarker genes in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla)". Fish Physiology and Biochemistry 50 5 (2024): 2099-2115. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-024-01338-1.
    Published • 10.1007/s10695-024-01338-1
  5. Ferrão, L.; Blanes-García, M.; Pérez, L.; Asturiano, J.F.; Morini, M.. "Superoxidase dismutases (SODs) in the European eel: Gene characterization, expression response to temperature combined with hormonal maturation and possible migratory implications". Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology 290 (2024): 111590. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111590.
    10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.111590
  6. França, T.S.; González-López, W.A.; Sanchez, M.P.; Ferrão, L.; Fernández-García, F.; Borges, L.P.; Belenguer, A.; et al. "Successful cryopreservation in biodegradable containers of sperm from aquaculture Mediterranean fishes". Theriogenology 216 (2024): 53-61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.12.016.
    10.1016/j.theriogenology.2023.12.016
  7. Oliveira, Catarina C.V.; Ferrão, Leonor; Gallego, Victor; Mieiro, Cláudia; Oliveira, Isabel B.; Carvalhais, Ana; Pachedo, Mário; Cabrita, Elsa. "Exposure to silver and titanium dioxide nanoparticles at supra-environmental concentrations decreased sperm motility and affected spermatozoa subpopulations in gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata". Fish Physiology and Biochemistry (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10695-023-01218-0.
    10.1007/s10695-023-01218-0
  8. Oliveira, Isabel B.; Carvalhais, Ana; Guilherme, Sofia; Oliveira, Helena; Oliveira, Catarina C.V.; Ferrão, Leonor; Cabrita, Elsa; Pacheco, Mário; Mieiro, Cláudia. "Shipping can be achieved but cargo arrives with damage - titanium dioxide nanoparticles affect the DNA of Pacific oyster sperm". Aquatic Toxicology 258 (2023): 106446. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aquatox.2023.106446.
    10.1016/j.aquatox.2023.106446
  9. Carvalhais, A.; Oliveira, I.B.; Oliveira, H.; Oliveira, C.C.V.; Ferrão, L.; Cabrita, E.; Asturiano, J.F.; et al. "Ex vivo exposure to titanium dioxide and silver nanoparticles mildly affect sperm of gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) - A multiparameter spermiotoxicity approach". Marine Pollution Bulletin 177 (2022): 113487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113487.
    10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113487
  10. Maria Leonor Ferrão; Maria João Rocha; Eduardo Rocha. "Histological characterization of the maturation stages of the ovarian follicles of the goldfish Carassius auratus (Linnaeus, 1758)". Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia 49 6 (2020): 749-762. https://doi.org/10.1111/ahe.12570.
    10.1111/ahe.12570
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2024 Pursuing a career in scientific research. 12th Workshop on Reproductive Biotechnology in Flatfish Species: Trends in Breeder’s Management
University of Algarve (Faro, Portugal)
2023 Superoxidase dismutases (SODs) in the European eel. XIV Congress of the Iberian Association of Comparative Endocrinology (XIV AIEC)
(Bilbao, Spain)
2023 Superoxidase dismutases in the European eel (Anguilla anguilla): characterization and expression in vivo under different conditions. 12th International Symposium on Reproductive Physiology of Fish
(Creta, Greece)
2022 First description of superoxidase dismutase in European eel males: expression in vivo under different environmental conditions. 8th International Workshop on the Biology of Fish Gametes
(Gdànsk, Poland)
2021 Cold seawater pre-treatment affects the spermatogenesis and the reproductive performance in male European eel. Aquaculture Europe (AE2021)
(Funchal, Portugal)

Scientific expedition

Activity description Institution / Organization
2025/02 - Current The importance of aquaculture as a food resource for our future. Program Cientificamente Provável, which reached around 200 local students from Algarve Schools Universidade do Algarve Centro de Ciências do Mar, Portugal
Distinctions

Award

2021 Best Poster Award
2020 Academic Merit Scholarship
Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência, Portugal