???global.info.a_carregar???
Concluded a Bachelor's Degree in Cellular and Molecular Biology in 2015/06/22 through Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and a Master's Degree in Medical Microbiology in 2018/02/20 through Universidade Nova de Lisboa. My Master's thesis was concluded in the Bacterial Cell Biology Lab (ITQB-NOVA), where I worked with fluorescence microscopy, molecular biology and genetic engineering techniques (including CRISPR) to study cell division in Staphylococcus aureus. Currently I am a Research Technician in the Behavior and Metabolism Lab (Fundação Champalimaud), where, in a project funded by La Caixa, I work with fruit flies to study molecular mechanisms associated with their feeding choice, using behavior and microbiome studies. My work resulted in 3 scientific outputs, including second co-authorship in a paper published in Nature Communications. Besides science, I organize cultural events related with cinema in academic and non-academic contexts. I participated in 7 events within varied subjects, from Neuroscience to Microbiology. I received an honor prize for concluding the Bachillerato (High School) with excellent grades. My research areas include, within Biological Sciences, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Molecular Biology. In my Ciência Vitae curriculum, the most frequent contextual terms related to my scientific and technological output are: Drosophila; feeding behaviour; microbiome; commensal bacteria; nutrition; bacterial communities; essential amino acids; metabolism.
Read full resume ↓
Identification

Personal identification

Full name
Lúcia Branco Serra

Citation names

  • Serra, Lúcia

Author identifiers

Ciência ID
FD1A-3FB7-2FBD
ORCID iD
0000-0003-4850-2934

Knowledge fields

  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Microbiology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Cell Biology
  • Natural sciences - Biological Sciences - Molecular Biology
  • Medical and Health Sciences - Health Sciences - Parasitology

Languages

Language Speaking Reading Writing Listening Peer-review
Portuguese (Mother tongue)
English Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Spanish; Castilian Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2) Proficiency (C2)
French Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1) Advanced (C1)
Education
Degree Classification
2021/03/01 - 2025/02/28
Ongoing
 Doutoramento em Biologia Celular e Molecular (Doutoramento)
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
"Characterization of a novel methylation mechanism in Trypanosoma brucei" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
2015 - 2018/02/20
Concluded
 Microbiologia Médica (Mestrado)
Major in Microbiology
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal
"“Development of tools for the genetic manipulation of Staphylococcus aureus”" (THESIS/DISSERTATION)
 18
2012 - 2015/06/22
Concluded
 Biologia Celular e Molecular (Licenciatura)
Major in Cell Biology; Molecular Biology
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
 15
2007/01/01 - 2012/06/30
Concluded
 Bachillerato (Ensino secundário)
Major in Sciences
Instituto Español "Giner de los Ríos" de Lisboa, Portugal
 19
2011
Concluded
 Diploma DELF C1 (Outros)
Major in French Language
Fondation Alliance Française, France
Affiliation

Science

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2020/08/01 - 2021/02/28 Research Assistant (Research) Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Instituto de Medicina Molecular, Portugal

Others

Category
Host institution 		Employer
2018/09/01 - 2020/07/31 Research Technician in the Behavior and Metabolism Lab Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal
Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal
2016/09/01 - 2018/02/28 Master's internship in the Bacterial Cell Biology Lab Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2015/01/01 - 2015/02/28 Bachelor's internship in the Parasitology Lab Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Portugal
Universidade de Lisboa Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária, Portugal
Projects

Other

Designation Funders
2018/09/01 - 2020/07/31 Identifying and testing the metabolites generated by two psychoactive gut bacteria to alter brain function and behavior
HR-17-00539
Research Technician Fellow
Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal
 Obra Social La Caixa
Ongoing
Outputs

Publications

Conference abstract
  1. Henriques, Sílvia F.; Serra, Lúcia; Francisco, Ana Patrícia; Carvalho-Santos, Zita; Maddocks, Oliver D. K.; Ribeiro, Carlos. "A synthrophic relationship allows gut bacteria to alter feeding behavior of Drosophila melanogaster". Paper presented in 2019 Drosophila Portuguese Meeting, Batalha, 2019.
Conference poster
  1. Henriques, Sílvia F.; Serra, Lúcia; Francisco, Ana Patrícia; Carvalho-Santos, Zita; Elias, Ana Paula; Ribeiro, Carlos. "How enteric bacteria alter nutrient appetite in Drosophila melanogaster". Paper presented in Tissue Environment in Health and Disease – Champalimaud Research Symposium 2019, 2019.
Journal article
  1. Patricia Reed; Moritz Sorg; Dominik Alwardt; Lúcia Serra; Helena Veiga; Simon Schäper; Mariana G Pinho. "A CRISPRi-based genetic resource to study essential Staphylococcus aureus genes". mBio (2023): http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/mbio.02773-23.
    10.1128/mbio.02773-23
  2. Idálio J. Viegas; Juan Pereira de Macedo; Lúcia Serra; Mariana De Niz; Adriana Temporão; Sara Silva Pereira; Aashiq H. Mirza; et al. "N6-methyladenosine in poly(A) tails stabilize VSG transcripts". Nature (2022): http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-04544-0.
    10.1038/s41586-022-04544-0
  3. Henriques, Sílvia F.; Serra, Lúcia; Dhakan, Darshan; Francisco, Ana Patrícia; Carvalho-Santos, Zita; Baltazar, Célia; Elias, Ana Paula; et al. "Metabolic cross-feeding in imbalanced diets allows gut microbes to improve reproduction and alter host behaviour.". Nature Communications 11 (2020): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-18049-9.
    Open access • Published
  4. Henriques, Sílvia F.; Serra, Lúcia; Carvalho-Santos, Zita; Francisco, Ana Patrícia; Baltazar, Célia; Elias, Ana Paula; Anjos, Margarida; et al. "Metabolic cross-feeding allows a gut microbial community to overcome detrimental diets and alter host behavior". bioRXiv (2019): https://doi.org/10.1101/821892.
    Under revision
Preprint
  1. Dennis Goldschmidt; Ibrahim Tastekin; Daniel Münch; Jin-Yong Park; Hannah Haberkern; Lúcia Serra; Baltazar C; et al. "A neuronal substrate for translating nutrient state and resource density estimations into foraging decisions". 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.1101/2023.07.19.549514.
    10.1101/2023.07.19.549514
Activities

Event organisation

Event name
Type of event (Role) 		Institution / Organization
2014/01/01 - Current Organization of cultural events (including the "Noite da Luz" on June 8th 2015, corresponding to the International Year of Light), starting during my Bachelor's Degree and continuing in the Fundação Champalimaud (2014/01/01)
Other (President of the Organising Committee)
 Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal

Event participation

Activity description
Type of event 		Event name
Institution / Organization
2019/10/08 - 2019/10/11 Attendance
Symposium
 Tissue Environment in Health and Disease – Champalimaud Research Symposium 2019
Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal
2019/09/13 - 2019/09/14 Attendance
Meeting
 2019 Portuguese Drosophila Meeting
2018/10/23 - 2018/10/26 Attendance
Symposium
 Quantitative approaches to Behavior and Neural Systems – Champalimaud Research Symposium 2018
Fundação Champalimaud, Portugal
2017/05/27 - 2017/05/27 Event collaborator, participating in one of the experimental presentations by guiding visitors through Gram staining protocol.
Other
 Dia Aberto do ITQB
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica, Portugal
2015/05/08 - 2015/05/08 Attendance
Other
 2ª Edição de BCM Sem Fronteiras
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2014/05/14 - 2014/05/14 Attendance
Other
 Conversas de Gerações na microCiência
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal
2013/11/20 - 2013/11/20 Attendance
Other
 1º Edição de BCM Sem Fronteiras
Universidade Nova de Lisboa Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Portugal

Mentoring / Tutoring

Topic Student name
2019/11/01 - 2019/11/30 Technical supervision of PhD student André Medina
2019/04/01 - 2019/06/30 Technical supervision of Master's student Johanna Schweizer
2018/10/01 - 2018/12/31 Technical supervision of PhD student Kristin Fischer
Distinctions

Other distinction

2012 Honorable Mention for Conclusion of Secondary Education (Bachillerato)
Instituto Español "Giner de los Ríos" de Lisboa, Portugal