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I completed my Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Porto (Portugal) in 2014. Then, I moved to Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (University of Lisbon, Portugal), for my first postdoctoral stage (2015-2021), where I worked at the labs of Prof. Maria Carmo-Fonseca and Dr. Claus M. Azzalin. During my first postdoctoral stage, I gained expertise in confocal microscopy and molecular biology techniques to study gene expression in human cells. In 2018, I was a visiting researcher at the lab headed by Prof. Alberto R. Kornblihtt (University of Buenos Aires, Argentina), which further expanded my knowledge of gene regulation. In 2021, I moved to the lab headed by Dr. John G. Jones, at CIBB, Centre of Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (University of Coimbra, Portugal), where I studied the role of gut microbiota in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, to understand how diets rich in fat and sugar affect metabolism through gut microbiome alterations. I am currently a junior researcher at the lab headed by Prof. Bruno Bernardes de Jesus, at the Department of Medical Sciences and Institute of Biomedicine - iBiMED (University of Aveiro, Portugal). My work has been recognized through a Travel Award to The Protein Society 31st Annual Symposium, a selected oral presentation at the 18th FEBS Young Scientists' Forum, the organization of a roundtable discussion session at Cell Bio Virtual 2020: an online ASCB|EMBO meeting, and an interview for the BioPhotonics magazine. I have been a team member in four funded projects (including MSCA RISE 734825-LysoMod), received two competitive fellowships, and co-supervised three graduate students. I have published multiple peer-reviewed articles, delivered four oral presentations, and presented several posters at international scientific meetings. In addition to chairing oral sessions at national events, I have accepted peer-review invitations from more than twenty scientific journals and co-edited four special issues.
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Identification

Personal identification

Full name
João Pessoa

Citation names

  • Pessoa, JP
  • Pessoa J

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
6A13-E4C9-49E3
ORCID iD
0000-0002-9202-5728
Researcher Id
AAL-2879-2021

Email addresses

  • joao.pessoa@ua.pt (Professional)

Addresses

  • Department of Medical Sciences and Institute of Biomedicine - iBiMED, University of Aveiro, 3810-193, Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Basic Medicine

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1)
French Intermediate (B1) Upper intermediate (B2) Elementary (A2) Upper intermediate (B2) Elementary (A2)
Spanish; Castilian Intermediate (B1) Advanced (C1) Elementary (A2) Upper intermediate (B2) Intermediate (B1)
Education
Degree Classification
2009/12/31 - 2014/11/28
Concluded
 Ciências Biomédicas (Doutoramento)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
"Cyclic nucleotide regulation in a potassium channel: ligand selectivity and conformational change" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 Aprovado com Distinção
2007/10/01 - 2008/12/23
Concluded
 Bioquímica (Mestrado)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"Structural and Functional Studies on Arabidopsis thaliana Transthyretin-like Protein" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18 valores
2003/10/01 - 2007/09/12
Concluded
 Bioquímica (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
"Effect of metals on the AtPreP1 peptidasome activity" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 15 valores
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023/09/01 - Current Researcher (Research) Universidade de Aveiro Instituto de Biomedicina, Portugal
2021/09/01 - 2022/02/28 Postdoc (Research) Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2015/01/01 - 2021/08/31 Postdoc (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
2018/09/04 - 2018/11/03 Visiting Researcher (Research) Universidad de Buenos Aires Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Argentina
Instituto de Fisiología Biología Molecular y Neurociencias, Argentina
2007/10/01 - 2014/11/30 Researcher (Research) Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular, Portugal
2007/03/01 - 2007/08/15 Research Trainee (Research) Stockholms Universitet Institutionen för biokemi och biofysik, Sweden

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2023/03/01 - Current Self-employed Wuhan EditSprings Technology and Culture co., Ltd, China
2022/03/01 - 2023/08/31 Self-employed Medical Joyworks, LLC, United States
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2018/10/01 - 2021/09/30 Telomeric R-loop-mediated recombination in the alternative lengthening of telomeres pathway: towards designing novel therapeutic avenues for cancer therapy
PTDC/MED-ONC/28282/2017
Post-doc Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2015/01/01 - 2021/02/28 Keeping stem cells undifferentiated: the role of a long non-coding RNA
SFRH/BPD/102323/2014
Post-doc Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2016/01/01 - 2019/12/31 Making sense of antisense transcription
PTDC/BEX-BCM/5899/2014
Post-doc Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2018/09/01 - 2018/11/03 LysoMod - Genetic and Small Molecule Modifiers of Lysosomal Function
734825
Post-doc Fellow
European Commission
Concluded
2009/10/01 - 2013/09/30 The molecular details of cyclic nucleotide regulation in a potassium channel
SFRH/BD/60274/2009
PhD Student Fellow
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded

Contract

Designation Funders
2023/09/01 - 2026/08/31 Transient pluripotent states as novel reservoirs of cancer-specific antigens
2022.01199.PTDC
Researcher
Ongoing
2021/09/01 - 2022/02/28 VISCERAL: The role of extrahepatic fructose metabolism in the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-028147
Post-doc
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Conference poster
  1. Pessoa J; Belew, Getachew Debas; Barroso, Cristina; Conceição Egas; John G. Jones. Corresponding author: Pessoa J. "Efeitos de dietas ricas em açúcar e/ou gordura no microbioma intestinal". Paper presented in 19th Portuguese Congress of Diabetes, Vilamoura, Portugal, 2023.
  2. Pessoa J; Carvalho, Célia; Carmo-Fonseca, Maria. Corresponding author: Pessoa J. "Compartmentalized RNA transcription in human cells". Paper presented in Cell Bio Virtual 2020: an online ASCB|EMBO meeting, 2020.
  3. Pessoa J; Carvalho, Célia; Carmo-Fonseca, Maria. Corresponding author: Pessoa J. "Targeting catalytically dead Cas9 to a protein-coding gene without transcriptional interference". Paper presented in EMBO Young Scientists Forum 2019 Prague, Czech Republic, 2019.
  4. Pessoa J; Arora, Rajika; Azzalin, Claus. Corresponding author: Pessoa J. "Live cell visualization of extra-chromosomal telomeric repeats in ALT cancer cells". Paper presented in 18th FEBS Young Scientists' Forum, Prague, Czech Republic, 2018.
  5. Pessoa J; Carvalho, Célia; Carmo-Fonseca, Maria. Corresponding author: Pessoa J. "Simultaneous visualization of a gene and its nascent transcripts in live cells". Paper presented in 31st Annual Symposium of the Protein Society Montreal, Canada, 2017.
Journal article
  1. Luca Dalle Carbonare; Arianna Minoia; Anna Vareschi; Francesca Cristiana Piritore; Sharazed Zouari; Alberto Gandini; Mirko Meneghel; et al. "Exploring the Interplay of RUNX2 and CXCR4 in Melanoma Progression". Cells (2024): https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/13/5/408.
    10.3390/cells13050408
  2. Tavares e Silva, Júlia; Pessoa, João; Nóbrega-Pereira, Sandrina; Bernardes de Jesus, Bruno. "The Impact of Long Noncoding RNAs in Tissue Regeneration and Senescence". Cells 13 2 (2024): 119. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/cells13020119.
    Open access • Published • 10.3390/cells13020119
  3. Pessoa, João; Valenti, Maria Teresa; Bellance, Nadège; Chiarella, Paula; Abebe, Tamrat; Gerratana, Lorenzo; Pérez-Plasencia, Carlos; Kzhyshkowska, Julia. "Editorial: Altered expression of proteins in cancer: function and potential therapeutic targets, volume II". Frontiers in Oncology 13 (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1242855.
    Open access • Published • 10.3389/fonc.2023.1242855
  4. Delgado-Waldo, Izamary; Contreras-Romero, Carlos; Salazar-Aguilar, Sandra; Pessoa, João; Mitre-Aguilar, Irma; García-Castillo, Verónica; Pérez-Plasencia, Carlos; Jacobo-Herrera, Nadia Judith. "A triple-drug combination induces apoptosis in cervical cancer-derived cell lines". Frontiers in Oncology 13 (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2023.1106667.
    Open access • 10.3389/fonc.2023.1106667
  5. João Pessoa; Getachew D. Belew; Cristina Barroso; Conceição Egas; John G. Jones. "The Gut Microbiome Responds Progressively to Fat and/or Sugar-Rich Diets and Is Differentially Modified by Dietary Fat and Sugar". Nutrients (2023): https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15092097.
    10.3390/nu15092097
  6. João Pessoa; AnaI Duarte. "Overcoming mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases". Neural Regeneration Research 18 7 (2023): 1486-1486. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/1673-5374.360279.
    10.4103/1673-5374.360279
  7. João Pessoa. "Cytochrome c in cancer therapy and prognosis". Bioscience Reports (2022): https://doi.org/10.1042/BSR20222171.
    10.1042/BSR20222171
  8. João Pessoa. "Shifting metabolism to increase lifespan". Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism (2022): https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tem.2022.05.001.
    10.1016/j.tem.2022.05.001
  9. João Pessoa; Marta Martins; Sandra Casimiro; Carlos Pérez-Plasencia; Varda Shoshan-Barmatz. "Editorial: Altered Expression of Proteins in Cancer: Function and Potential Therapeutic Targets". Frontiers in Oncology 12 (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2022.949139.
    10.3389/fonc.2022.949139
  10. Pessoa, João; Teixeira, José. "Cytoskeleton alterations in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease". Metabolism 128 (2022): 155115. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2021.155115.
    In press • 10.1016/j.metabol.2021.155115
  11. Fernández-Alvarez, Ana J.; Gabriela Thomas, María; Pascual, Malena L.; Habif, Martín; Pimentel, Jerónimo; Corbat, Agustín A.; Pessoa, João P.; et al. "Smaug1 membrane-less organelles respond to AMPK and mTOR and affect mitochondrial function". Journal of Cell Science 135 1 (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jcs.253591.
    Published • 10.1242/jcs.253591
  12. João Pessoa. "Live-cell visualization of cytochrome c: a tool to explore apoptosis". Biochemical Society Transactions (2021): https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20211028.
    10.1042/BST20211028
  13. Pessoa, João. "Prospective antibacterial inhibition of c-type cytochrome synthesis". Trends in Molecular Medicine (2021): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.007.
    Published • 10.1016/j.molmed.2021.07.007
  14. Pessoa, João; Fonseca, Fátima; Furini, Simone; Morais-Cabral, João H.. "Determinants of ligand selectivity in a cyclic nucleotide–regulated potassium channel". The Journal of General Physiology 144 1 (2014): 41-54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1085/jgp.201311145.
    Published • 10.1085/jgp.201311145
  15. Mari, S. A.; Pessoa, J.; Altieri, S.; Hensen, U.; Thomas, L.; Morais-Cabral, J. H.; Muller, D. J.. "Gating of the MlotiK1 potassium channel involves large rearrangements of the cyclic nucleotide-binding domains". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108 51 (2011): 20802-20807. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1111149108.
    Published • 10.1073/pnas.1111149108
  16. Pessoa, Joao; Sarkany, Zsuzsa; Ferreira-da-Silva, Frederico; Martins, Sonia; Almeida, Maria R; Li, Jianming; Damas, Ana M. "Functional characterization of Arabidopsis thaliana transthyretin-like protein". BMC Plant Biology 10 1 (2010): 30. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2229-10-30.
    Published • 10.1186/1471-2229-10-30
  17. Bäckman, Hans G.; Pessoa, João; Eneqvist, Therese; Glaser, Elzbieta. "Binding of divalent cations is essential for the activity of the organellar peptidasome inArabidopsis thaliana,AtPreP". FEBS Letters 583 17 (2009): 2727-2733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.febslet.2009.07.040.
    Published • 10.1016/j.febslet.2009.07.040
  18. Martins, P. M.; Pessoa, J.; Sa`rka`ny, Z.; Rocha, F.; Damas, A. M.. "Rationalizing Protein Crystallization Screenings through Water Equilibration Theory and Protein Solubility Data†". Crystal Growth & Design 8 12 (2008): 4233-4243. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cg8006958.
    10.1021/cg8006958
Thesis / Dissertation
  1. "Cyclic nucleotide regulation in a potassium channel: ligand selectivity and conformational change". PhD, Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, 2014. https://repositorio-aberto.up.pt/bitstream/10216/80883/2/33239.pdf.
Working paper
  1. Ana J. Fernández-Alvarez; María Gabriela Thomas; Malena L. Pascual; Martín Habif; Jerónimo Pimentel; Agustín A. Corbat; Pessoa J; et al. 2020. "Smaug membraneless organelles regulate mitochondrial function". doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.31.223099.
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2023/01/12 Distinct effects of fat and sugar on the mouse gut microbiome Inflammaging: From Societal to Clinical Challenges 3rd Metabolism Aging and Disease Meeting
University of Coimbra (Coimbra, Portugal)
2018/07/06 Live cell visualization of extra-chromosomal telomeric repeats in human ALT cancer cells FEBS Young Scientists' Forum 2018
FEBS - Federation of European Biochemical Societies (Prague, Czech Republic)
2009/02/26 A functional study of Arabidopsis thaliana transthyretin-like protein IJUP - Second Meeting of Young Researchers of U. Porto
Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal)
2008/02/21 Effect of metals on the AtPreP1 peptidasome activity IJUP - First Meeting of Young Researchers of U. Porto
Universidade do Porto (Porto, Portugal)

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2021/11/18 - 2021/11/18 Chairman at the “Science out of the box” 2nd Metabolism, Aging and Disease (MAD) Retreat (Coimbra, Portugal) (2021/11/18 - 2021/11/18)
Symposium (Member of the Scientific Committee)
 Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Neurociências e Biologia Celular, Portugal
2020/12/07 - 2020/12/07 Roundtable discussion moderator at Cell Bio Virtual 2020: an online ASCB|EMBO meeting (2020/12/07 - 2020/12/07)
Round table
2019/05/17 - 2019/05/17 Chairman at the 13th Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML) PhD Students Meeting, Lisboa (Portugal), an annual scientific meeting organized by and for PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (2019 - 2019)
Symposium (Member of the Scientific Committee)
 Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2017/05/18 - 2017/05/18 Chairman at the 11th Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML) PhD Students Meeting, Lisboa (Portugal), an annual scientific meeting organized by and for PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (2017 - 2017)
Symposium (Member of the Scientific Committee)
 Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal

Jury of academic degree

Topic
Role 		Candidate name (Type of degree)
Institution / Organization
2015/06/18 Utilização do sistema CRISPR-Cas para gerar deleção do gene Ago3 em células pluripotentes
(Thesis) Main arguer
 Ana Rita Teixeira Poim (Other)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Ad Hoc journal article review

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2024/01/21 - Current Scientific Reports (2045-2322) Nature Publishing Group
2023/11/05 - Current Frontiers in Medicine (2296-858X) Frontiers Media S.A.
2023/08/02 - Current Foods (2304-8158) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/06/04 - Current Neural Regeneration Research (1673-5374) Wolters Kluwer Medknow
2023/05/11 - Current Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications (1090-2104) Elsevier B.V.
2023/05/05 - Current Antioxidants (2076-3921) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/05/03 - Current Nutrients (2072-6643) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/05/03 - Current Mitochondrion (1567-7249) Elsevier B.V.
2023/05/03 - Current Microorganisms (2076-2607) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/04/17 - Current International Journal of Molecular Sciences (1422-0067) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/04/06 - Current Medicina (1648-9144) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/04/05 - Current Pharmaceuticals (1424-8247) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/04/02 - Current Frontiers in Immunology (1664-3224) Frontiers Media S.A.
2023/03/28 - Current Nature Nanotechnology (1748-3395) Springer Nature
2023/03/21 - Current Current Issues in Molecular Biology (1467-3045) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/03/17 - Current Nano Biomedicine and Engineering (2150-5578) Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press
2023/03/09 - Current Molecules (1420-3049) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/02/17 - Current Children (2227-9067) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023/01/27 - Current Microchemical Journal (1095-9149) Elsevier B.V.
2022/03/08 - Current Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (ISSN 2296-634X) Frontiers Media S.A.
2021/03/15 - Current Frontiers in Oncology (2234-943X) Frontiers Media S.A.
2021/03/07 - Current European Journal of Clinical Investigation (1365-2362) John Wiley & Sons

Association member

Society Organization name Role
2023/02/01 - Current Portuguese Society of Diabetology Member
2018/11/01 - Current Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) Member
2017/01/01 - 2017/12/31 The Protein Society Member

Evaluation committee

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization Funding entity
2022/02/26 - 2022/02/26 Juri of the 2022 Annual International Medical Students (AIMS) Meeting Research Competition poster session
Evaluator
 Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal

Interview (newspaper / magazine)

Activity description Newspaper / Forum
2020/12/14 3 Questions with João Pessoa https://www.photonics.com/Articles/3_Questions_with_Joo_Pessoa/p1/vo201/i1267/a66502 BioPhotonics magazine

Journal scientific committee

Journal title (ISSN) Publisher
2022/11/25 - Current Metabolites (2218-1989) Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2022/01/25 - Current Journal of Visualized Experiments (1940-087X) MyJove Corp.
2021/02/22 - Current Frontiers in Oncology (2234-943X) Frontiers Media S.A.
Distinctions

Award

2023 Certificate of Honor 'Outstanding Editor'
Wuhan EditSprings Technology and Culture co., Ltd, China
2018 FEBS Young Scientists' Forum (YSF) Award
Federation of European Biochemical Societies, United Kingdom
2017 Finn Wold / Protein Science Travel Award
Protein Society, United States