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Carolina C. Buga obtained her Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry in 2019 from FCT NOVA. She conducted her Bachelor's degree final project in the Molecular Biophysics Lab (FCT NOVA) and part of the work developed within this project was presented as posters in 2 international scientific meetings. Later on, Carolina C. Buga enrolled in the Biochemistry for Health Master program at ITQB NOVA. During her Master's degree, she secured a research fellowship funded by FCT through the project "Using computational and experimental methods to provide a global characterization of viral fusion peptides" to perform the master's thesis at ITQB NOVA and iMM. In her master's thesis she combined computational and experimental methods to investigate the SARS-CoV-2 entry mechanism into host cells, being able to study a region of the spike glycoprotein at the molecular level and to develop potential viral inhibitors. She obtained the mark of 20/20 in her master's thesis resulting in a final Master's degree mark of 19/20. The research developed during her master's studies was presented in 3 national conferences, in oral and poster format, and it was presented in 1 international congress. In parallel with her master's thesis, Carolina C. Buga had the opportunity to collaborate on a research project focused on the characterization of the Parainfluenza virus fusion peptide, contributing to an article published at ACS Chemical Biology. Additionally, she presented this work in the oral and poster format in 1 international congress, 1 international workshop and 1 Iberian meeting. After her Master’s degree, she continued expanding her knowledge in viral infection and the development of viral inhibitors at iMM in the project "Fighting Zika virus with antiviral peptides and conjugates translocating blood-placental and blood-brain barriers" funded by La Caixa Foundation. At the end of 2022, Carolina C. Buga was awarded a PhD fellowship by FCT and enrolled in the PhD program in Molecular Biosciences at ITQB NOVA. During her PhD project, she aims to explore new targets on the spike glycoprotein for broad-spectrum therapies against coronaviruses. Her PhD project is currently being performed at Protein Modelling Lab and Applied Protein Biochemistry Lab at ITQB NOVA and at Miguel Castanho Lab at iMM.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Ana Carolina Carvalho Buga
Date of birth
1998/02/20
Gender
Female

Citation names

  • Buga, Carolina C.
  • Buga, Ana Carolina

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
551F-AAA3-F281
ORCID iD
0000-0003-4109-8502

Email addresses

  • abuga@medicina.ulisboa.pt (Professional)
  • abuga@medicina.ulisboa.pt (Professional)
  • a.buga@itqb.unl.pt (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemistry
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biophysics
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Biochemical Research Methods
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Virology
  • Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences - Infectious Diseases
  • Exact Sciences - Computer and Information Sciences - Bioinformatics

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2022/11 - 2026
Ongoing
 Molecular Biosciences (Doutoramento)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
2019 - 2022
Concluded
 Biochemistry for Health (Mestrado)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
"Spike glycoprotein: molecular characterization and inactivation of a key player in SARS-CoV-2 infection" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 19
2016 - 2019
Concluded
 Biochemistry (Licenciatura)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
 16
2018
Concluded
 Cambridge First Certificate in English (Outros)
Cambridge Assessment English, Portugal
 Grade B
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2022/03/01 - 2022/10/31 Researcher (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
2021/02/01 - 2022/02/28 Researcher (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
(...)
2019/01 - 2019/06 Research Trainee (Research) Molecular Biophysics group, UCIBIO-FCT NOVA, Portugal
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2018/08 - 2019/01 Research Trainee (Research) Protein Modelling Lab, ITQB-NOVA, Portugal
Protein Modelling Lab, ITQB-NOVA, Portugal
2018/06 - 2018/07 Research Trainee (Research) Microbial and Enzyme Technology Lab, ITQB-NOVA, Portugal
Microbial and Enzyme Technology Lab, ITQB-NOVA, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2019/05 - 2019/08 Dental assistant Clínica do Sol, Portugal
Clínica do Sol, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2024/01 - Current Evolvable and rapidly adaptable monobodies: a broad-spectrum antiviral platform
HORIZON-HLTH-2023-DISEASE-03-04, ID 101137419
Team member
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
2022/11/01 - Current The BioPlaTTAR Platform for the Tailored and Rapid Development of Antiviral Biopharmaceuticals
HR22-00722
Team member
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Obra Social La Caixa
Ongoing
2022/03 - 2022/10/31 Fighting Zika virus with antiviral peptides and conjugates translocating blood-placental and blood-brain barriers
HR17-00409
Researcher
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
 Obra Social La Caixa
Ongoing
2021/02/01 - 2022/02/28 Using computational and experimental methods to provide a global characterization of viral fusion peptides
PTDC/CCI-BIO/28200/2017
Research Fellow
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal

Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded

Contract

Designation Funders
2024/09/01 - 2025/04/30 Exploring structural dynamics of viral fusion proteins using Molecular Dynamics simulations
2024.06988.CPCA.A1,
Universidade do Minho Advanced Computing Center, Portugal

Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Rede Nacional de Computação Avançada
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Buga, Carolina C.; Valério, Mariana; Castanho, Miguel A.R.B. ; Soares, Claudio M.; Ana Salomé Veiga; Lousa, Diana. "Unveiling the molecular mechanism of membrane fusion mediated by the parainfluenza fusion peptide". Paper presented in European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) congress 2023, stockholm, 2023.
  2. Buga, Carolina C.; Valério, Mariana; Mendonça, Diogo A.; Vicente, João B.; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.; Soares, Claudio M.; Lousa, Diana; Veiga, Ana S.. "Molecular determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide activity". Paper presented in 25thIUBMB-46thFEBS-15thPABMB Congress, Lisbon, 2022.
Conference poster
  1. Buga, Ana Carolina; Valério, Mariana; Soares, Claudio M.; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.; Lousa, Diana; Ana Salomé Veiga. "Molecular insights into membrane fusion mediated by the parainfluenza fusion peptide". Paper presented in EPI 2023 - 18th Iberian Peptide Meeting, 2023.
  2. Buga, Ana Carolina; Valério, Mariana; Soares, Claudio M.; Castanho, Miguel A. R. B.; Lousa, Diana; Ana Salomé Veiga. "Molecular insights into membrane fusion mediated by the parainfluenza fusion peptide". Paper presented in EMBO Workshop - Mechanisms of membrane fusion, 2023.
  3. Buga, Carolina C.; Valério, Mariana; Castanho, Miguel A.R.B. ; Soares, Claudio M.; Ana Salomé Veiga; Lousa, Diana. "Unveiling the molecular mechanism of membrane fusion mediated by the parainfluenza fusion peptide". Paper presented in European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) congress 2023, 2023.
  4. Mariana Valério; Diogo A. Mendonça; João M. Morais; Buga, Carolina C.; Carlos H. Cruz; Miguel A.R.B. Castanho; Manuel N. Melo; et al. "Together we fuse: Parainfluenza virus fusion peptides oligomerize to promote membrane fusion". Paper presented in Biophysics Festival 2022 - 2nd Meeting of Young Biophysicists, 2022.
  5. Buga, Carolina C.; Valério, Mariana; Mendonça, Diogo A.; Vicente, João; Castanho, Miguel; Soares, Claudio M.; Veiga, Ana S.; Lousa, Diana. "Molecular determinants of SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide activity". Paper presented in VIII Encontro de Jovens Investigadores em Biologia Computacional Estrutural, Coimbra, 2021.
  6. Cruz, Carlos; Buga, Carolina C.; Kosack, Lindsay; Alenquer, Marta; Demengeot, Jocelyne ; Amorim, Maria Joao; Soares, Claudio M.; Vicente, João B.; Lousa, Diana. "Antibodies elicited by rationally-designed FP-based immunogenic protein have high-affinity for the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein". Paper presented in VIII Encontro de Jovens Investigadores em Biologia Computacional Estrutural, Coimbra, 2021.
  7. Buga, Carolina C.; Valério, Mariana; Balola, Alexandra; Ferreira, Ana S.; Sequeira, Ana M.; Rocha, Miguel; Vicente, João B.; et al. "Molecular determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide activity". Paper presented in Bioinformatics Open Days X, Braga, 2021.
  8. Guerra, João P.; Buga, Carolina C.; Nykola C. Jones; Søren V. Hoffmann; Tavares, Pedro; Pereira, Alice S.. "The Dps of Deinococcus grandis presents unique and regulatable quaternary structure dynamics". Paper presented in Association of Resources of Biophysical Research in Europe - Integrating Molecular Biophysics Approaches for Biology and Healthcare (ARBRE-MOBIU) Plenary Meeting, Prague, 2020.
  9. Guerra, João P.; Buga, Carolina C.; Tavares, Pedro; Alice S. Pereira. "The Dps of Deinococcus grandis presents unique and regulatable quaternary structure dynamics". Paper presented in NOVABiophysica, Lisbon, 2019.
Journal article
  1. Mariana Valério; Diogo A. Mendonça; João Morais; Carolina C. Buga; Carlos H. Cruz; Miguel A.R.B. Castanho; Manuel N. Melo; et al. "Parainfluenza Fusion Peptide Promotes Membrane Fusion by Assembling into Oligomeric Porelike Structures". ACS Chemical Biology (2022): https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.2c00208.
    10.1021/acschembio.2c00208
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Spike glycoprotein: molecular characterization and inactivation of a key player in SARS-CoV-2 infection". Master, Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, 2022.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2023/08/01 Unveiling the molecular mechanism of membrane fusion mediated by the parainfluenza fusion peptide European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) congress 2023
(Stockholm, Sweden)
2022/07/10 Molecular determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide activity 25thIUBMB-46thFEBS-15thPABMB Congress
(Lisbon, Portugal)
2022/06/03 Molecular determinants of the SARS-CoV-2 fusion peptide activity Biophysics Festival 2022 - 2nd Meeting of Young Biophysicists
Universidade de Aveiro (Aveiro, Portugal)

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2023/11/27 - 2023/11/29 EPI 2023 - 18th Iberian Peptide Meeting
Meeting
 EPI 2023 - 18th Iberian Peptide Meeting
2023/09/18 - 2023/09/22 European Molecular Biology Organization Workshop - Mechanisms of membrane fusion
Workshop
 EMBO Workshop - Mechanisms of membrane fusion
2023/07/31 - 2023/08/04 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) congress 2023
Congress
 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) congress 2023
Stockholm University, Sweden
2023/07/29 - 2023/07/31 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) 2023 Summer Biophysics School
Workshop
 European Biophysical Societies' Association (EBSA) 2023 Summer Biophysics School
Stockholm University, Sweden
2022/07/09 - 2022/07/14 The Biochemistry Global Summit - 25th International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) - 46th Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) - 15th Pan-American Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PABMB)
Congress
 25thIUBMB-46thFEBS-15thPABMB Congress
2022/06/03 - 2022/06/03 Biophysics Festival 2022 - 2nd Meeting of Young Biophysicists -Portuguese Young Biophysicists - Portuguese Society of Biophysics
Meeting
 Biophysics Festival
Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal
2022/04/05 - 2022/04/05 Outreach activity aiming to show to undergraduate students the facilities and work developed in FMUL
Other
 FMUL Open Days
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
2022/03/11 - 2022/03/11 Portuguese Centre for Integrated Structural Biology (PCISBIO) Meeting
Meeting
 PCISBIO day
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2022/02/07 - 2022/02/07 The experts´ view on state-of-the-art imaging techniques including AFM, X-ray fluorescence, Raman, Infrared, Surface Enhanced Raman and Magnetic Resonance.
Workshop
 TIMB3 Workshop Imaging in Biosciences
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2021/12/21 - 2021/12/22 A showcase of a robust pipeline of in silico protein-ligand characterization methods to address one of today's biggest biological problems.
Workshop
 Computational structural biology tools
Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2021/12/20 - 2021/12/20 Encontro de Jovens Investigadores de Biologia Computacional Estrutural (EJIBCE)
Meeting
 VIII Encontro de Jovens Investigadores de Biologia Computacional Estrutural
Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
2021/12/05 - 2021/12/08 Bioinformatics Open Days
Conference
 X Bioinformatics Open Days
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2021/09/24 - 2021/09/24 Science outreach activity aiming to provide to the public insights regarding science-related issues.
Other
 Noite Europeia dos Investigadores
2021/08/10 - 2021/08/16 Outreach activity aiming to provide the opportunity to establish interaction between the public and scientists.
Festival
 Festival Internacional de Ciência em Oeiras
2021/05/05 - 2021/05/08 Artificial intelligence in drug discovery
Workshop
 Artificial Intelligence in drug discovery
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2020/11/13 - 2020/11/22 iGEM Competition aims to solve everyday issues using synthetic biology. In 2020, the first portuguese team participated in this competition winning a silver medal with the project "Introducing Pseudomonas putida in the fight against the pine wood nematode Bursaphelenchus xylophilus"
Other
 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2019/02/08 - 2019/02/08 Jornadas Tecnológicas da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (JorTec)
Other
 JorTec de Bioquímica
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2018/02/02 - 2018/02/02 Jornadas Tecnológicas da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa (JorTec)
Other
 JorTec de Bioquímica
Universidade NOVA de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2024/01 - Current European Peptide Society Member
2023 - Current Biochemical Society Member
2022 - Current Biochemical Society - Advancing Molecular Bioscience UK Member
2022 - Current Portuguese Biochemical Society Member
2022 - Current Sociedade Portuguesa de Biofisica Member

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2023/05 - 2023/08 Production and characterization of recombinant Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Fragments Mariana Parada (Master student of Biotechnology)
2021/03/01 - 2021/03/05 Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein with engineered mini-proteins Rita Isabel Carvalho Teixeira (Master student of Biochemistry for Health)
Distinctions

Award

2020 Silver Medal awarded to my team (NOVA LxPortugal)
International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Competition, United States