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My 47 publications attracted >10500 citations to date (h-index 30) with leading papers being highly cited by my peers (e.g. Nature 2015, 2178 citations; Cancer Cell 2014, 1093 citations; JBC 2014, 698 citations; JASN 2014, 291 citations) reflecting both the importance and relevance of my work to the field. My track record as a senior author continued to have high quality and high impact science (e.g. Nature Communications 2024; Gut 2022 (IF 31.8); Cancer Research 2017 (review), 335 citations; Trends in Cancer 2024 and 2021). My work has been pioneer in the field: [1] collaborative work from my lab gave rise to the first clinical trial using exosomes to treat PDAC (Nature 2017, ClinicalTrials NCT03608631) [2] and one international patent (https://patents.justia.com/search?q=Sónia+MELO); [3] my lab was one of the first to describe an in vivo transgenic innovative approach to trace cancer EVs in PDAC (Nature Communications 2024); [4] my lab recently showed that EVs from cancer stem cells support the adaptation and survival of PDAC tumors (Gut 2022). Our lab is regularly invited and awarded recognition at major conferences: Keystone Symposia – scholarship award PhD student 2022; International Society of Extracellular Vesicles Meeting - best oral presentations since 2016 by PhD students; Cold Spring Harbor Asia 2018 - best oral presentation PhD student. We disseminate our results in pre-prints (Adem B et al. biorXiv 2021; Junqueira et al. biorXiv 2022) and reaching out to patient organizations (https://twitter.com/Sonia_A_Melo/status/1593308825003646977). As a recognized expert in the field of intercellular communication in PDAC and keen collaborator, I am passionate about fostering interdisciplinarity, working with complementary field experts from basic researchers to clinicians. In 2022 I brought together at i3S the top international researchers in the field and organized a meeting devoted to intercellular communication in cancer (https://portocancermeeting.i3s.up.pt/?page_id=1342). I am an invited speaker at international meetings such as Cold Spring Harbor Asia (China), the American Society of Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles (Baltimore, USA) and the International Association of Pancreatology (Buenos Aires, Argentina). I am also often invited to international review panels as a recognized expert in the field and I am part of the College of Expert Reviewers of the European Science Foundation (2020) and a member of the Review College of Research Foundation Flanders (2022). I won the UNESCO-L’Oreal Prize for Women in Science and my expertise in preclinical research was recognized when I was nominated the coordinator of the preclinical research program of the Porto Comprehensive Cancer Center Raquel Seruca (P.CCC), the only Comprehensive Cancer Center in Portugal. I am currently supervisor of 3 PhD students. I have been supervisor of 3 PhD students that successfully concluded their PhD, and co-supervisor of 2 PhD students that also completed their PhD.
Read full resume ↓
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Sonia Melo
Date of birth
1980/01/11

Citation names

  • Melo, Sonia

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
FA1D-35D5-2DD6
ORCID iD
0000-0002-2291-4263
Scopus Author Id
26027982400

Email addresses

  • smelo@i3s.up.pt (Professional)
  • smelo@i3s.up.pt (Professional)

Addresses

  • Rua Alfredo Allen, 4200-135, Porto, Paranhos, Portugal (Professional)

Websites

Knowledge fields

  • Medical and Health Sciences - Clinical Medicine - Oncology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
English Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
Spanish; Castilian Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1) Proficiency (C2) Advanced (C1)
Catalan Intermediate (B1) Upper intermediate (B2) Intermediate (B1) Advanced (C1) Intermediate (B1)
Education
Degree Classification
2024
Concluded
 Medicina (Mestrado integrado)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2006/08/01 - 2010/04/13
Concluded
 Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology (Doutoramento)
Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas, Spain
"Epigenetic, genetic and functional analyses of microRNA machinery in human cancer" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
1998/09/01 - 2005/09/01
Concluded
 Bioquímica (Licenciatura)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências, Portugal
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2015/05/01 - Current Principal Investigator (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
2014/10/01 - 2015/04/30 Principal Investigator (Research) Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
2012/08/01 - 2014/09/30 Postdoc (Research) University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States
2011/01/11 - 2012/09/01 Postdoc (Research) Harvard Medical School, United States

Teaching in Higher Education

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2015/11/01 - Current Visiting Professor (University Teacher) Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal

Positions / Appointments

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2025/01/01 - Current Médica Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Portugal
Projects

Grant

Designation Funders
2023/02/01 - 2026/01/31 Decode the EVs Communication Map that Defines the Landscape of CAFs in Pancreatic Cancer
2022.02284.PTDC
Principal investigator
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2023/01/01 - 2024/06/30 Understand the contribution of Extracellular Vesicles for the establishment of a pancreatic cancer METastatic niche at the liver – the EVMet
2022.01036.PTDC
Team Member
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2019/07 - 2022/07 Meet the ExoNet: Targeting the Exosomes Network in Pancreatic Cancer
POCI-01-0145-FEDER-32189
Principal investigator
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
2016/05/01 - 2019/12/31 Advanced cancer research: from basic knowledge to application
NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000029
Researcher
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
European Regional Development Fund
Ongoing
2014/06/01 - 2019/06/01 The functional role of exosomes in tumor heterogeneity and cancer cell plasticity
IF/00543/2013
Principal investigator
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2015/02 - 2019/02 The role of exosomes in intra-tumor heterogeneity
PTDC/BIM-ONC/2754/2014
Principal investigator
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia

Contract

Designation Funders
2018/07/26 - 2021/07/25 Tregs in cancer immune response
PTDC/MED-PAT/32462/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2018/07/26 - 2021/07/25 Tregs in cancer immune response
PTDC/MED-PAT/32462/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2018/07/01 - 2021/06/30 Meet the ExoNet: Targeting the Exosomes Network in Pancreatic Cancer
PTDC/MEC-GAS/32189/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2018/07/01 - 2021/06/30 Determining the Role of the Microenvironment in Shaping the Spectrum of Genetic Mutations Acquired During Cancer Development
PTDC/MED-ONC/32592/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2018/07/01 - 2021/06/30 Determining the Role of the Microenvironment in Shaping the Spectrum of Genetic Mutations Acquired During Cancer Development
PTDC/MED-ONC/32592/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2018/07/01 - 2021/06/30 Meet the ExoNet: Targeting the Exosomes Network in Pancreatic Cancer
PTDC/MEC-GAS/32189/2017
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Ongoing
2017/10/16 - 2020/01/16 Test strips for biomarker screening of venous thromboembolism in oncology
SAICT-POL/24358/2016
Instituto Politécnico do Porto Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal

International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2017/10/16 - 2020/01/16 Test strips for biomarker screening of venous thromboembolism in oncology
SAICT-POL/24358/2016
Instituto Politécnico do Porto Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Portugal

Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal

International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, Portugal
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2016/03/01 - 2019/09/01 Horizontal transmission of drug resistance: a game changer in the clinical management of cancer patients
PTDC/DTP-PIC/2500/2014
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2016/03/01 - 2019/09/01 Horizontal transmission of drug resistance: a game changer in the clinical management of cancer patients
PTDC/DTP-PIC/2500/2014
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
2016/02/01 - 2019/01/31 The Role of Exosomes in Tumor Heterogeneity: More than Just Bubbling
PTDC/BIM-ONC/2754/2014
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal
 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Concluded
Outputs

Publications

Book
  1. Bastos, N.; Melo, S.A.. Quantitative analysis of precursors MicroRNAs and their respective mature MicroRNAs in cancer exosomes overtime. 2018.
    10.1007/978-1-4939-7601-0_11
  2. Ruivo, C.F.; Melo, S.A.. The emerging role of exosomes in cancer progression and their potential as therapy targets. 2018.
  3. Léveillé, N.; Melo, C.A.; Melo, S.A.. Noncoding RNA Regulation of Health and Disease. 2015.
    10.1016/B978-0-12-800140-0.00005-4
  4. Melo, C.A.; Melo, S.A.. Biogenesis and physiology of micrornas. 2014.
Journal article
  1. Sofia Almeida; Sonia A. Melo. "Unlocking the Role of Senescent Cell–Derived Extracellular Vesicles in Immune-Mediated Tumor Suppression". Cancer Research (2025): https://doi.org/10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-24-4775.
    10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-24-4775
  2. Batista, Inês A.; José C. Machado; Melo, Sonia. Corresponding author: Melo, Sonia. "Advances in exosomes utilization for clinical applications in cancer". Trends in Cancer (2024): https://www.cell.com/trends/cancer/abstract/S2405-8033(24)00158-4.
    Accepted
  3. Adem, Bárbara; Bastos, Nuno; Ruivo, Carolina F.; Sousa-Alves, Sara; Dias, Carolina; Vieira, Patrícia F.; Batista, Inês A.; et al. "Exosomes define a local and systemic communication network in healthy pancreas and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma". Nature Communications 15 1 (2024): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45753-7.
    10.1038/s41467-024-45753-7
  4. Nuno Bastos; Stéphanie A. Castaldo; Bárbara Adem; José C. Machado; Carlos A. Melo; Sonia A. Melo. "SMC3 epigenetic silencing regulates Rab27a expression and drives pancreatic cancer progression". Journal of Translational Medicine (2023): https://doi.org/10.1186/s12967-023-04448-1.
    10.1186/s12967-023-04448-1
  5. Wanderson de Souza; S. Gemini-Piperni; Liliana Grenho; Luís A. Rocha; José M. Granjeiro; Sonia A. Melo; Maria H. Fernandes; Ana R. Ribeiro. "Titanium dioxide nanoparticles affect osteoblast-derived exosome cargos and impair osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells". Biomaterials Science (2023): https://doi.org/10.1039/D2BM01854C.
    10.1039/D2BM01854C
  6. Ruivo, Carolina F; Bastos, Nuno; Adem, Barbara; Batista, Ines; Duraes, Cecilia; Melo, Carlos A; Castaldo, Stephanie A; et al. Corresponding author: Melo, Sonia A. "Extracellular Vesicles from Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells Lead an Intratumor Communication Network (EVNet) to fuel tumour progression". Gut (2022): gutjnl-2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2021-324994.
    Open access • Published • 10.1136/gutjnl-2021-324994
  7. Moutinho-Ribeiro, P.; Macedo, G.; Melo, S.A.. "Pancreatic cancer diagnosis and management: Has the time come to prick the bubble?". Frontiers in Endocrinology 10 JAN (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85063947188&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.3389/fendo.2018.00779
  8. Batista, I.A.; Melo, S.A.. "Exosomes and the future of immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer". International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20 3 (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85060936809&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.3390/ijms20030567
  9. Junqueira-Neto, S.; Batista, I.A.; Costa, J.L.; Melo, S.A.. "Liquid Biopsy beyond Circulating Tumor Cells and Cell-Free DNA". Acta Cytologica 63 6 (2019): 479-488. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85062083142&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1159/000493969
  10. Adem, B.; Vieira, P.F.; Melo, S.A.. "Decoding the Biology of Exosomes in Metastasis". Trends in Cancer (2019): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85076252541&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.trecan.2019.11.007
  11. Bastos, Nuno; Ruivo, Carolina F.; da Silva, Soraia; Melo, Sonia A.. "Exosomes in cancer: Use them or target them?". Seminars in Cell & Developmental Biology 78 (2018): 13-21. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.08.009.
    Published • 10.1016/j.semcdb.2017.08.009
  12. Barros, Francisco M.; Carneiro, Fatima; Machado, Jose C.; Melo, Sónia A.. "Exosomes and Immune Response in Cancer: Friends or Foes?". Frontiers in Immunology 9 (2018): http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00730.
    Published • 10.3389/fimmu.2018.00730
  13. Moutinho-Ribeiro, Pedro; Melo, Sonia; Macedo, Guilherme. "Glypican-1 circulating exosomes: a promising clue to individualize surveillance of pancreatic cysts?". European Radiology 28 7 (2018): 3018-3019. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00330-018-5321-6.
    Published • 10.1007/s00330-018-5321-6
  14. Rigoutsos, Isidore; Lee, Sang Kil; Nam, Su Youn; Anfossi, Simone; Pasculli, Barbara; Pichler, Martin; Jing, Yi; et al. "N-BLR, a primate-specific non-coding transcript leads to colorectal cancer invasion and migration". Genome Biology 18 1 (2017): http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13059-017-1224-0.
    Published • 10.1186/s13059-017-1224-0
  15. Yang, Sujuan; Che, Sara P. Y.; Kurywchak, Paul; Tavormina, Jena L.; Gansmo, Liv B.; Correa de Sampaio, Pedro; Tachezy, Michael; et al. "Detection of mutant KRAS and TP53 DNA in circulating exosomes from healthy individuals and patients with pancreatic cancer". Cancer Biology & Therapy 18 3 (2017): 158-165. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15384047.2017.1281499.
    Published • 10.1080/15384047.2017.1281499
  16. Melo, Sonia. "Blocking tumor-educated MSC paracrine activity halts osteosarcoma progression". Clinical Cancer Research (2017): http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2017/01/04/1078-0432.CCR-16-2726.
    10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-2726
  17. Kamerkar, S.; Lebleu, V.S.; Sugimoto, H.; Yang, S.; Ruivo, C.F.; Melo, S.A.; Lee, J.J.; Kalluri, R.. "Exosomes facilitate therapeutic targeting of oncogenic KRAS in pancreatic cancer". Nature 546 7659 (2017): 498-503. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85021081225&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    Published • 10.1038/nature22341
  18. Ruivo, C.F.; Adem, B.; Silva, M.; Melo, S.A.; Ruivo, Carolina F.; Adem, Bárbara; Silva, Miguel; Melo, Sónia A.. "The biology of cancer exosomes: Insights and new perspectives". Cancer Research 77 23 (2017): 6480-6488. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-85038637162&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    Published • 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-17-0994
  19. Melo, Sonia. "A p53-bound enhancer region controls a long intergenic noncoding RNA required for p53 stress response". Oncogene (2016): https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26776159.
    10.1038/onc.2015.502
  20. Melo, Sonia. "Glypican-1 identifies cancer exosomes and detects early pancreatic cancer". Nature (2015): http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26106858.
    Published • 10.1038/nature14581
  21. Sato-Kuwabara, Y.; Melo, S.A.; Soares, F.A.; Calin, G.A.. "The fusion of two worlds: Non-coding RNAs and extracellular vesicles - Diagnostic and therapeutic implications (Review)". International Journal of Oncology 46 1 (2015): 17-27. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84917711130&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.3892/ijo.2014.2712
  22. Léveillé, N.; Melo, C.A.; Rooijers, K.; Díaz-Lagares, A.; Melo, S.A.; Korkmaz, G.; Lopes, R.; et al. "Genome-wide profiling of p53-regulated enhancer RNAs uncovers a subset of enhancers controlled by a lncRNA". Nature Communications 6 (2015): http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84925760606&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1038/ncomms7520
  23. Silva, M.; Melo, S.A.; Melo, Sonia. "Non-coding RNAs in exosomes: New players in cancer biology". Current Genomics 16 5 (2015): 295-303. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84938561150&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.2174/1389202916666150707154719
  24. Kahlert, C.; Melo, S.A.; Protopopov, A.; Tang, J.; Seth, S.; Koch, O.; Zhang, J.; et al. "Identification of doublestranded genomic dna spanning all chromosomes with mutated KRAS and P53 DNA in the serum exosomes of patients with pancreatic cancer". Journal of Biological Chemistry 289 7 (2014): 3869-3875. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84894189683&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1074/jbc.C113.532267
  25. Melo, S.A.; Esteller, M.. "Disruption of microRNA nuclear transport in human cancer". Seminars in Cancer Biology 27 (2014): 46-51. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84904461746&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.semcancer.2014.02.012
  26. Melo, S.A.; Sugimoto, H.; O'Connell, J.T.; Kato, N.; Villanueva, A.; Vidal, A.; Qiu, L.; et al. "Cancer Exosomes Perform Cell-Independent MicroRNA Biogenesis and Promote Tumorigenesis". Cancer Cell 26 5 (2014): 707-721. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84911966357&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.ccell.2014.09.005
  27. Melo, C.A.; Melo, S.A.. "MicroRNA biogenesis: dicing assay". Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) 1182 (2014): 219-226. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84925883329&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1007/978-1-4939-1062-5_20
  28. Borges, F.T.; Melo, S.A.; Özdemir, B.C.; Kato, N.; Revuelta, I.; Miller, C.A.; Gattone II, V.H.; LeBleu, V.S.; Kalluri, R.. "TGF-ß1-Containing exosomes from injured epithelial cells activate fibroblasts to initiate tissue regenerative responses and fibrosis". Journal of the American Society of Nephrology 24 3 (2013): 385-392. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84874607115&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1681/ASN.2012101031
  29. Melo, C.A.; Drost, J.; Wijchers, P.J.; van de Werken, H.; de Wit, E.; Vrielink, J.A.F.O.; Elkon, R.; et al. "ERNAs Are Required for p53-Dependent Enhancer Activity and Gene Transcription". Molecular Cell 49 3 (2013): 524-535. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84873456575&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.molcel.2012.11.021
  30. Melo, S.A.; Kalluri, R.. "MiR-29b moulds the tumour microenvironment to repress metastasis". Nature Cell Biology 15 2 (2013): 139-140. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84873354809&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1038/ncb2684
  31. Melo, S.A.; Kalluri, R.. "Molecular pathways: MicroRNAs as cancer therapeutics". Clinical Cancer Research 18 16 (2012): 4234-4239. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84865062501&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-11-2010
  32. Melo, S.A.; Kalluri, R.. "Angiogenesis is controlled by miR-27b associated with endothelial tip cells". Blood 119 11 (2012): 2439-2440. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-84858680315&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1182/blood-2012-01-403642
  33. Melo, S.A.; Esteller, M.. "Dysregulation of microRNAs in cancer: Playing with fire". FEBS Letters 585 13 (2011): 2087-2099. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79959847017&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.febslet.2010.08.009
  34. Simó-Riudalbas, L.; Melo, S.A.; Esteller, M.. "DNMT3B gene amplification predicts resistance to DNA demethylating drugs". Genes Chromosomes and Cancer 50 7 (2011): 527-534. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79955648677&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1002/gcc.20877
  35. Melo, S.; Villanueva, A.; Moutinho, C.; Davalos, V.; Spizzo, R.; Ivan, C.; Rossi, S.; et al. "Small molecule enoxacin is a cancer-specific growth inhibitor that acts by enhancing TAR RNA-binding protein 2-mediated microRNA processing". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108 11 (2011): 4394-4399. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79952717616&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1073/pnas.1014720108
  36. Melo, S.A.; Esteller, M.. "A precursor microRNA in a cancer cell nucleus: Get me out of here!". Cell Cycle 10 6 (2011): 922-925. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-79952632135&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.4161/cc.10.6.15119
  37. Lujambio, A.; Portela, A.; Liz, J.; Melo, S.A.; Rossi, S.; Spizzo, R.; Croce, C.M.; Calin, G.A.; Esteller, M.. "CpG island hypermethylation-associated silencing of non-coding RNAs transcribed from ultraconserved regions in human cancer". Oncogene 29 48 (2010): 6390-6401. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-78649881517&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1038/onc.2010.361
  38. Melo, S.A.; Moutinho, C.; Ropero, S.; Calin, G.A.; Rossi, S.; Spizzo, R.; Fernandez, A.F.; et al. "A genetic defect in exportin-5 traps precursor MicroRNAs in the nucleus of cancer cells". Cancer Cell 18 4 (2010): 303-315. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-77957940475&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1016/j.ccr.2010.09.007
  39. Fernandez, A.F.; Rosales, C.; Lopez-Nieva, P.; Graña, O.; Ballestar, E.; Ropero, S.; Espada, J.; et al. "The dynamic DNA methylomes of double-stranded DNA viruses associated with human cancer". Genome Research 19 3 (2009): 438-451. http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?eid=2-s2.0-61849085358&partnerID=MN8TOARS.
    10.1101/gr.083550.108

Intellectual property

Patent
  1. Melo, Sonia. 2019. "USE OF EXOSOMES FOR THE TREATMENT OF DISEASE". United States.
    Granted/Issued
  2. Melo, Sonia. 2018. "ANALYSIS OF GENOMIC DNA, RNA, AND PROTEINS IN EXOSOMES FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THERANOSIS". United States.
    Granted/Issued
  3. Melo, Sonia. 2016. "miRNA BIOGENESIS IN EXOSOMES FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THERAPY". United States.
    Allowed

Other

Other output
  1. ExoBow: A transgenic strategy to study CD63 exosomes in vivo. 2021. Bárbara Adem; Nuno Bastos; Carolina F. Ruivo; Patrícia F. Vieira; Barbara Seidler; José C. Machado; Dieter Saur; Dawen Cai; Sonia A. Melo. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.03.10.434407.
    10.1101/2021.03.10.434407
  2. Biogenesis and Physiology of MicroRNAs. Non-coding RNAs and Cancer. 2014. Melo, Carlos A.; Melo, Sonia A.. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8444-8_2.
    10.1007/978-1-4614-8444-8_2
Activities

Oral presentation

Presentation title Event name
Host (Event location)
2019/11/21 Exosomas en el diagnóstico y tratamiento del cáncer de páncreas 1st Spanish Pancreatic Cancer Researchers Symposium (SinCAPA)
Fundación Biomédica Miguel Servet (Zaragoza, Spain)
2019/08/15 The role of tumor-secreted exosomes in the crosstalk with the tumor microenvironment II Oncology Symposium-UNIFESP
Universidade Federal de São Paulo (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
2019/04/26 ExoBow - A transgenic strategy to study CD63+ extracellular vesicles in vivo International Society Extracellular Vesicles Annual Meeting
International Society Extracellular Vesicles ISEV (Kyoto, Japan)
2018/12/15 Terapêutica de precisão no Carcinoma do Pâncreas 6ªs Jornadas do Departamento de Cirurgia do Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Lisboa, Portugal
Hospital Beatriz Ângelo (Lisbon, Portugal)
2018/11/24 Carcinoma do pâncreas: perfil molecular e biologia tumoral National Oncology Conference (Congresso Nacional de Oncologia)
Sociedade Portuguesa de Oncologia (Coimbra, Portugal)
2018/11/12 Targeting exosomes in pancreatic cancer Cold Spring Harbor Asia (CSH), Meeting on the Biology of Extracellular Vesicles
Cold Spring Harbor (Suzhou, China)
2018/10/23 Exosomes from Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells Mediate Intra Tumor Communication and Facilitate Hippo Pathway Regulation American Society for Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicles , Baltimore, USA
American Society for Exosomes and Extracellular Vesicle (Baltimore, United States)
2018/06/23 Exossomas são uma alternativa terapêutica para o cancro do pâncreas – a caminho da clínica Semana Digestiva 2018
Semana Digestiva 2018 Porto (Porto, Portugal)
2017/09/28 An organized communication network mediated by exosomes (ExoNet) in pancreatic cancer Pancreas 2017 -the 21st IAP Meeting and the 1st IAP/LAPSG Joint Meeting
UNIVERSIDAD CATOLICA ARGENTINA (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
2016/10/20 Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Exosomes Communication in Pancreatic Cancer Institutional Seminar on Translational Oncology_CRO Aviano
Centro de Referimento Oncologico IRCCS Aviano (National Institute for Cancer Research and Cure) (Aviano, Italy)
2016/06/20 ExoNet: Exosomes-mediate intra-tumor communication in pancreatic cancer Exosomes/Microvesicles: Novel Mechanisms of Cell-Cell Communication
Keystone Symposia Meeting (Keystone, United States)
2015/10/22 The biology and functional contribution of exosomes in cancer progression and metastasis 15th ASEICA (Spanish Association for Cancer Research) International Congress, Sevilla, Spain
ASEICA (Spanish Association for Cancer Research) (Sevilla, Spain)
2015/10/16 Exosomes in Cancer Biology: from biomarkers to extracellular organelles Institutional Seminars Karolinska Institute
Karolinska Institute (Estocolomo, Sweden)
2015/01/25 Exosomes in Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Cancer Symposium Radium Hospital / Cancer Crosslinks Meeting
Cancer Symposium Radium Hospital (Oslo, Norway)
2014/10/22 Cancer exosomes and microRNAs Cancer Symposium, MD Anderson Cancer Center / Illuminating Genomic Dark Matter: ncRNA in Disease and Cancer
MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, United States)
2014/10/19 Exosomes-associated Glypican 1 is an early detection marker for pancreatic cancer United European Gastroenterology (UEG) / Session “Rising Stars in Gastroenterology from Europe and the USA”
United European Gastroenterology (UEG) (Vienna, Austria)

Supervision

Thesis Title
Role 		Degree Subject (Type)
Institution / Organization
2019/03/01 - Current Cancer Exosomes and Immunomodulation in Pancreatic Cancer
Supervisor
 International Doctoral Programme in Molecular and Cellular Biotechnology Applied to Health Sciences (PhD)
Universidade do Porto, Portugal
2018/01/01 - Current The impact of exosomes biogenesis impairment in pancreatic cancer progression and therapy response
Supervisor
 Programa Doutoral em Patologia e Genética Molecular (PhD)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
2018/01/01 - Current Exobow: The spatiotemporal biodistribution of pancreatic cancer exosomes
Supervisor
 Programa Doutoral Biotecnologia Molecular e Celular Aplicada às Ciências da Saúde (PhD)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
2017/01/01 - Current The role of the exosomes intratumor communication network in cancer progression and therapy response
Supervisor
 Programa Doutoral em Ciências Biomédicas (PhD)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
2017/01/01 - Current Horizontal transmission of therapy resistance in cancer: a role for tumor-derived exosomes
Co-supervisor
 Programa Doutoral em Biomedicina (PhD)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2016/01/01 - Current Contribution of endoscopy in the management of pancreatic cancer and its precursor lesions
Co-supervisor
 Programa Doutoral em Biomedicina (PhD)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2018/09/30 - 2019/09/20 ExoMet: Understanding the role of pancreatic cancer metastasis exosomes in its establishment, survival and growth at secondary organs
Supervisor
 Master in Biomedical Research (Master)
Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2018/09/01 - 2019/01/24 The role of CXCR4 in cancer exosomes and metastasis
Supervisor
 Master in Molecular Genetics (Master)
Universidade do Minho, Portugal
2016/09/01 - 2017/09/01 Exosomes-mediated communication between stroma and pancreatic adenocarcinoma cells
Supervisor
 Mestrado Integrado em Medicina (Master)
Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2015/11/28 - Current World Pancreas Cancer Day organized by the Patient's Association "EuropaColon"
Round table
 Patients Association EuropaColon
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular, Portugal

Jury of academic degree

Topic
Role 		Candidate name (Type of degree)
Institution / Organization
2018/12/08 Extracellular Vesicles as messengers for tissue regeneration: impact on mesenchyme stem/stromal cells
(Thesis) Main arguer
 Joana Inês Costa Oliveira (Master)
Universidade do Porto Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Portugal
2015/04/01 The role of the miR-200 family in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition
(Thesis) Main arguer
 Ricardo Perdigao Henriques (PhD)
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal

Course / Discipline taught

Academic session Degree Subject (Type) Institution / Organization
2020/02/13 - Current Teaching Applied Oncobiology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Porto Medicina (Mestrado integrado) Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2017/11/28 - Current Programa de Doutoramento em Ciências da Saúde, Medical School of the Univeristy of Coimbra (FMUC), Portugal Programa de Doutoramento em Ciências da Saúde (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade de Coimbra Faculdade de Medicina, Portugal
2015/02/01 - Current Oncobiology Module, Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA) Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto, Portugal
2015/01/01 - Current Mestrado e Programa Doutoral em Medicina e Oncologia Molecular, Medical School of the Univeristy of Porto (FMUP) PDMOM Mestrado e Programa Doutoral em Medicina e Oncologia Molecular (Curso de doutoramento (conclusão de unidades curriculares)) Universidade do Porto, Portugal

Evaluation committee

Activity description
Role 		Institution / Organization Funding entity
2019/12/01 - Current Expert grant evaluator United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
Evaluator
 Binational Science Foundation, Israel Binational Science Foundation
2019/10/01 - Current Expert grant evaluator Czech Health Research Council
Evaluator
 Ministerstvo zdravotnictví Ceské republiky, Czech Republic Ministerstvo zdravotnictví Ceské republiky
2019/06/01 - Current Expert grant evaluator European Science Foundation (ESF)
Evaluator
 European Science Foundation, France European Science Foundation
2019/05/01 - Current Expert grant evaluator Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)
Evaluator
 Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen, Belgium Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek Vlaanderen
2019/04/01 - Current Expert grant evaluator French National Cancer Institute (INCa)
Evaluator
 Institut National du Cancer, France Institut National du Cancer
2018/09/05 - Current Expert grant evaluator Polish National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki)
Evaluator
 Narodowe Centrum Nauki, Poland Narodowe Centrum Nauki
2018/02/27 - Current Expert grant evaluator for Israel Science Foundation (ISF)
Evaluator
 Israel Science Foundation, Israel Israel Science Foundation
2017/11/10 - Current Expert grant evaluator Cancer Research UK Early Detection Committee - Project Award
Evaluator
 Cancer Research UK, United Kingdom Cancer Research UK
2017/07/17 - Current Expert grant evaluator Wellcome Trust UK
Evaluator
 Wellcome Trust, United Kingdom Wellcome Trust
2016/01/05 - Current Expert grant evaluator Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw)
Evaluator
 ZonMw, Netherlands ZonMw
2015/11/15 - Current Expert grant evaluator Medical Research Council (MRC)
Evaluator
 Medical Research Council, United Kingdom Medical Research Council
Distinctions

Award

2017 FAZCiencia 2017 Best Immune Oncology Project
AstraZeneca Produtos Farmacêuticos Lda, Portugal
2015 Medal of Honor L'Oréal for Women in Science
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal

Fondation L'Oréal, France
2015 Crowd Funding Award Maratonas da Saude
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal

Other distinction

2020 Honorable Mention for one of the TOP 3 Projects / Premio Rui Osorio de Castro / Millenium BCP
Fundação Rui Osório de Castro - Millenium BCP, Portugal
2019 Contributions to Sience as a Woman
Ciência Viva, Portugal