Ana Catarina de Oliveira da Silva Pronto Laborinho. Concluiu o(a)Doutoramento em Ciências Biomédicas, ramo Fisiologia pelo(a) Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa . É Investigador no(a) Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, no Instituto de Fisiologia e no Instituto de Medicina Molecular-João Lobo Antunes na Unidade do Professor Doutor Mamede Alves de Carvalho. Ana Catarina Pronto-Laborinho, has a PhD in Physiology, is a Investigator, joined the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon (FMUL) in 2004 working at the Institute of Microbiology (Prof. Dr. J. Melo Cristino) and Unit of Molecular Microbiology and Infection (Institute of Molecular Medicine - IMM). From 2004 she has collaborated in several national and international projects, acquiring highly specialized expertise in many Molecular Biology techniques, like as: ELISA, multiplex technology, histology, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Quantitative Real Time PCR, Western blot, immunohistochemistry, confocal microscopy, total DNA extraction, restriction enzyme digestion and electrophoretic separation by Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE); serotyping of Streptococcus pyogenes strains and genotyping of Streptococcus pyogenes by PCR amplification: She has managed to prepare the necessary technical requirements for practical lessons in the discipline of Microbiology and in the Master of Medical Microbiology (FMUL). In 2008 she joined the Institute of Biochemistry (FMUL), working both in the Angiogenesis Unit (Prof. Susana Constantino) and Physical Biochemistry Unit (IMM, Prof. Miguel Castanho), acting as Lab Manager to support research projects. She has been involved in the preparation of complex heterogeneous samples by extrusion and ultrasonic technologies for optical spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy; as well as performing PCR, SDS-PAGE, plasmid DNA extraction, digestion with restriction enzymes and electrophoretical separation in agarose gel. In 2011, she joined the Institute of Physiology of FMUL and the Translational Physiology Unit (IMM) under the supervision of Prof Mamede de Carvalho. In addition to her technical duties, she has been involved in teaching activities in the Post-Graduate Course of Subaquatic and Hyperbaric Medicine. She has been supervisor and provided laboratory training to undergraduate and graduate students since 2004. She worked has member of the organizing committee and chair of the Microbiology panel in the 1st Congress of Technical Diagnostics and Therapeutics of FMUL (2011). She has been working actively in various research projects taking place in the Institute of Physiology involving national and international collaborations. Ana Catarina Laborinho is the author of a review article review published in peer-review journal ("Roles of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis" published in special issue "Decoding Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Discovery of Novel Disease-Related Biomarkers and Future Perspectives in neurodegeneration”). She is the first author of a submitted research paper (Laborinho, AC, Barros MA, Pinto, S., & de Carvalho, M. (2014). "Increased Human Cell Club (CC-16) Protein in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Respiratory Failure"). Currently she develops novel experimental protocols in the area of molecular biomarkers in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. She has a strong interest in neurodegenerative diseases, particularly in ALS.