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Rafaela Freitas holds a degree in Marine Biology and Biotechnology, and a Master in Marine Resources Biotechnology attributed by the School of Tourism and Marine Technology-Polytechnic of Leiria. She had participated as a research fellow in two projects granted by FCT, which were focused in the biotechnological valorization of seaweeds as a source of new bioactive compounds for therapeutic applications. Through the participation in both research projects, she acquired skills in different knowledge areas such as, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, cell culture, and microbiology. She is experienced in seaweeds´ extraction methodologies, fractionation and purification of marine natural products by chromatographic techniques (HPLC, CC, TLC), as well as in in vitro biological assays, namely, antioxidant, antitumoral, antifouling, antienzymatic, and antimicrobial activities, some of these previously optimized by her. Additionally, she has experience in the maintenance of cells and microorganisms cultures. She is co-author of 4 publications in peer reviewed journals with Q1 (3) and Q2 (1) score, 3 book chapters, 1 provisional patent application, and 14 communications in international congresses (oral and poster communications). She had actively participated in dissemination activities related to experimental science teaching involving young students, such as, "Open Science Day" and "Semana Tanto Mar". She was awarded with the 1st Prize in the Entrepreneurial Ideas Contest with "Marlight" project within the scope of the awareness program for the bioeconomy BIO-WARE.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Rafaela Freitas

Citation names

  • Freitas, Rafaela

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
591B-9204-DEDB
ORCID iD
0000-0002-0194-0470
Researcher Id
ABB-5961-2020

Email addresses

  • rafaelapatriciafreirefreitas@gmail.com (Professional)

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Medical Biotechnology - Health-Related Biotechnology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
English Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2022/01/01 - 2026
Ongoing
 PhD Programme in Biochemistry (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
2021/01/28
Concluded
 Marine Resources Biotechnology (Mestrado)
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
"Dermocosmetic potential of the macroalgae Fucus spiralis" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18
2016/07/07
Concluded
 Marine Biology and Biotechnology (Licenciatura)
Major in Biotechnology
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
"Characterization of the biotechnological potential of Sargassum muticum - Concentration and purification of compounds with antioxidant and antimicrobial capacity" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 15
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2017/06/01 - 2021 Researcher (Research) Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal
Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal
Projects

Contract

Designation Funders
2020/06/22 - 2021 POINT4PAC - Precision oncology and innovative therapies and technologies
SAICTPAC/0019/2015 LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-016405
Research Fellow
Ongoing
2017/06/01 - 2019/11/30 Red2Discovery - Sphaerococcus coronopifolius and Asparagopsis armatamacroalgae as targets for marine drug discovery
PTDC/MAR-BIO/6149/2014
Research Fellow
Concluded

Other

Designation Funders
2017/06/26 - 2021/12/31 CROSS-ATLANTIC - CReating Opportunities from Seaweed Sulfated polysaccharides for Application in Therapeutics
PTDC/BIA-OUT/29250/2017
Researcher
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Portugal
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Book chapter
  1. Reboleira, João; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pedrosa, Rui; Bernardino, Susana. "Spirulina". In Nonvitamin and Nonmineral Nutritional Supplements, 409-413. Elsevier, 2019.
    10.1016/b978-0-12-812491-8.00055-2
  2. Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Reboleira, João; Pedrosa, Rui; Bernardino, Susana. "Red Algae". In Nonvitamin and Nonmineral Nutritional Supplements, 375-382. Elsevier, 2019.
    Published • 10.1016/b978-0-12-812491-8.00051-5
  3. Reboleira, João; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pedrosa, Rui; Bernardino, Susana. "Brown Seaweeds". In Nonvitamin and Nonmineral Nutritional Supplements, 171-176. Elsevier, 2019.
    Published • 10.1016/b978-0-12-812491-8.00024-2
Conference abstract
  1. Freitas, Rafaela; Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Martins, Alice; Pinteus, Susete; Ribeiro, Joana; Duarte, Adriana; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Potential of Sphaerococcus coronopifolius Ter penes as Therapeutic Agents for Infectious Diseases". Paper presented in XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products| XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Peniche, 2020.
    Published
  2. Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Alvariño, Rebeca; Alonso, Eva; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Gaspar, Helena; et al. "Antitumor activities of Sphaerococccus coronopifolius bromoditerpenes on in vitro human cancer cell lines". Paper presented in International Meeting on Marine Research, 2018.
    Published • 10.3389/conf.fmars.2018.06.00162
  3. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Ribeiro, Joana; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Neuroprotective activity of Eleganolone diterpene isolated from seaweed Bifurcaria bifurcata on an in vitro model of Parkinson disease". Paper presented in International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, 2018.
    Published • 10.3389/conf.fmars.2018.06.00163
  4. Alves, Celso; Alvariño, Rebeca; Freitas, Rafaela; Alonso, Eva; Silva, Joana; Pinteus, Susete; Gaspar, Helena; et al. "Sphaerococcus coronopifolius bromoditerpenes induced cytotoxicity through apoptosis on an in vitro model of human neuroblastoma". Paper presented in 10th European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Creta, 2017.
    Published
  5. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Freitas, Rafaela; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Bifurcaria bifurcata enriched fraction induced antitumor activity through apoptosis.". Paper presented in 10 European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Creta, 2017.
    Published
  6. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Freitas, Rafaela; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Neuroprotective potential and antioxidant characterization of Bifurcaria bifurcata enriched fractions". Paper presented in 10th European Conference on Marine Natural Products, Creta, 2017.
    Published
Conference poster
  1. Freitas, Rafaela; Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Alice Martins (DA19-728A-9BC8; Ribeiro, Joana; Duarte, Adriana; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Potential of Sphaerococcus coronopifolius Terpenes as Therapeutic Agents for Infectious Diseases". Paper presented in XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products| XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2019.
    10.3390/md18010040
  2. Freitas, Rafaela; Martins, Alice; Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Exploring the cosmeceutical potential of Fucus spiralis from the Peniche coast (Portugal)". Paper presented in 9th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. Boulder, 2019.
  3. Pinteus, Susete; Freitas, Rafaela; Ribeiro, Joana; Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Gaspar, Helena; Martins, Alice; Lemos, Marco F.L.; Pedrosa, Rui. "Asparagopsis armata and Sargassum muticum as sources of antifouling products". Paper presented in 9th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts, 2019.
  4. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Freitas, Rafaela; Pinteus, Susete; Ribeiro, Joana; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Neuroprotective activity of Eleganolone diterpene isolated from seaweed Bifurcaria bifurcata on an in vitro model of Parkinson disease". Paper presented in IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research, 2018.
  5. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Freitas, Rafaela; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Bifurcaria bifurcata enriched fraction induced antitumor activity through apoptosis.". Paper presented in 10 European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2018.
  6. Alves, Celso; Alvariño, Rebeca; Alonso, Eva; Freitas, Rafaela; Silva, Joana; Pinteus, Susete; Gaspar, Helena; et al. "Sphaerococcus coronopifolius bromoditerpenes induced cytotoxicity through apoptosis on an in vitro model of human neuroblastoma". Paper presented in 10th European Conference on Marine Natural Products,, 2017.
  7. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Freitas, Rafaela; Gaspar, Helena; Pedrosa, Rui. "Neuroprotective potential and antioxidant characterization of Bifurcaria bifurcata enriched fractions.". Paper presented in 10th European Conference on Marine Natural Products, 2017.
Journal article
  1. Freitas, Rafaela; Martins, Alice; Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Pinteus, Susete; Alves, Joana; Teodoro, Fernando; et al. "Highlighting the Biological Potential of the Brown Seaweed Fucus spiralis for Skin Applications". Antioxidants 9 7 (2020): 611. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/antiox9070611.
    10.3390/antiox9070611
  2. Pinteus, Susete; Lemos, Marco F.L.; Freitas, Rafaela; Duarte, Inês M.; Alves, Celso; Silva, Joana; Marques, Sónia C.; Pedrosa, Rui. "Medusa polyps adherence inhibition: A novel experimental model for antifouling assays". Science of The Total Environment 715 (2020): 136796. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136796.
    Published • 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136796
  3. Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Freitas, Rafaela; Martins, Alice; Pinteus, Susete; Ribeiro, Joana; Gaspar, Helena; Alfonso, Amparo; Pedrosa, Rui. "Antioxidant and Neuroprotective Potential of the Brown Seaweed Bifurcaria bifurcata in an in vitro Parkinson's Disease Model". Marine Drugs 17 2 (2019): 85. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md17020085.
    Published • 10.3390/md17020085
  4. Pinteus, Susete; Lemos, Marco; Silva, Joana; Alves, Celso; Neugebauer, Agnieszka; Freitas, Rafaela; Duarte, Adriana; Pedrosa, Rui. "An Insight into Sargassum muticum Cytoprotective Mechanisms against Oxidative Stress on a Human Cell In Vitro Model". Marine Drugs 15 11 (2017): 353. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/md15110353.
    Published • 10.3390/md15110353
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. Freitas, Rafaela. "Dermocosmetic potential of the macroalgae Fucus spiralis". Master, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, 2021.

Intellectual property

Provisional application for patent
  1. 2020. "Process of obtaining enriched extracts in phlorotannins and enriched extracts of phlorotannins with antienzymatic action for dermatology application.".
    Protected
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2019 Antitumor potential of eleganolone isolated from brown seaweed Bifurcaria bifurcata 9th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts
(Boulder, United States)
2018 Antitumor activities of Sphaerococccus coronopifolius bromoditerpenes on in vitro human cancer cell lines. International Meeting on Marine Research
(Peniche, Portugal)

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2019/09/06 - 2019/09/06 Conducting a workshop in collaboration with the organization of "Semana Tanto Mar 2019 - Atividades Laboratoriais" developed in School of Tourism and Marine Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria with the theme "From the sea to society - the potential of macroalgae preventing the development of different pathologies".
Workshop
 Semana Tanto Mar
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
2019/02/04 - 2019/02/04 Conducting a workshop in collaboration with the organization of "Ocean Open Day" - developed in School of Tourism and Marine Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria with the theme "Seaweeds as source of bioactive compounds with therapeutic and biotechnology application".
Workshop
 Ocean Open Day
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
2019 - 2019 Participation in the congress "The 9th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts" in 2019, organized by ELSEVIER in Boulder, United States of America.
Congress
 The 9th International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts
The Elsevier Foundation, Netherlands
2019 - 2019 Participation in the "XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products | XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products" in 2019, organized by MARE-IPLeiria, Peniche.
Congress
 XVI International Symposium on Marine Natural Products | XI European Conference on Marine Natural Products
Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal
2018/09/01 - 2018/09/01 Conducting a workshop in collaboration with the organization of "Semana Tanto Mar 2018- Atividades Laboratoriais" developed in School of Tourism and Marine Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria with the theme "From the sea to society - the potential of macroalgae preventing the development of different pathologies".
Workshop
 Semana Tanto Mar
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
2018 - 2018 Participation in the congress "International Meeting on Marine Research 2018 - IMMR'18", organized by MARE - IPLeiria at the Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Peniche.
Congress
 International Meeting on Marine Research 2018
Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal
2017/09/04 - 2017/09/04 Conducting a workshop in collaboration with the organization of "Semana Tanto Mar 2017- Atividades Laboratoriais" - developed in School of Tourism and Marine Technology, Polytechnic of Leiria with the theme "From the sea to society - the potential of macroalgae preventing the development of different pathologies".
Workshop
 Semana Tanto Mar
Instituto Politécnico de Leiria Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar de Peniche, Portugal
2016 - 2016 Participation in the congress "International Meeting on Marine Research 2016 - IMMR'16", organized by MARE - IPLeiria at the Escola Superior de Turismo e Tecnologia do Mar, Peniche.
Congress
 International Meeting on Marine Research 2016
Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre - Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2020/10/30 Red2Discovery - Extraction, isolation and purification of new molecules with antitumoral and antimicrobial capacity from two red macroalgae. Sphaerococcus coronopifolius has reveal to be the most antitumoral macroalgae against several cancer cell lines and from this macroalgae was isolated 5 molecules that demonstrated with antitumoral capacity. Diário de Notícias
Distinctions

Award

2018 1st Prize in the Business Ideas Competition with the project "Marlight" as part of the awareness program for the bio-economy BIO-WARE (POCI-02-0853-FEDER-016163)
NERSANT Associação Empresarial da Região de Santarém, Portugal