Research Experience

• 2020-Present: PhD student in the area of chemical protein silencing
• 2018-2019: 16 months research fellowship in synthesis and functionalization of dendrimers with Dr. Victoria Leiro at i3S – Institute for Research & Innovation in Health, Portugal
  Project: SIRNAC - Synthesis of New Biodegradable Dendrimers to act as Delivery Vectors of Therapeutic Nucleic Acids
• 2017-2018: 9 months master’s thesis in development of drug delivery platforms (dendrimers) at Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal with Prof. Dr. Vasco Bonifácio, including 3 months of cell-based assays at Portuguese Institut of Oncology under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Jacinta Serpa
  Project: Dendrimer-based Report-Eradication Antineoplasic Machines
• 2015: 6 months bachelor’s thesis in antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections at NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal with Prof. Dr. Rita Sobral
  Project: Exploring the role of peptidoglycan amidation in growth and β-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus aureus
• 2015: 1 month internship in quality control at Portuguese Military Laboratory

Education

Master degree in biochemistry: NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal 
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Vasco D. B. Bonifácio 
Project: Dendrimer-based Report-Eradication Antineoplasic Machines 

Bachelor degree in applied chemistry: NOVA School of Science and Technology, Portugal 
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rita Sobral 
Project: Exploring the role of peptidoglycan amidation in growth and β-lactam resistance in Staphylococcus aureus

Bibliography

Overlaid transcriptome and proteome analyses identify mitotic kinesins as important targets of arylsulfonamide-mediated RBM39 degradation
Seemon Coomar, Pedro Mota, Alexander Penson, Juerg Schwaller, Omar Abdel-Wahab & Dennis Gillingham
Mol. Cancer Res. 2023, 21, 8, 768-778.  doi:10.1158/1541-7786.MCR-22-0541

• A fluorescent cell image from this work made it to the title page of the issue
• The paper was highlighted in the issue as a selected article.

Polyurea Dendrimer Folate-Targeted Nanodelivery of l-Buthionine Sulfoximine as a Tool to Tackle Ovarian Cancer Chemoresistance  
Adriana Cruz, Pedro Mota, Cristiano Ramos, Rita F. Pires, Cindy Mendes, José P. Silva, Sofia C. Nunes, Vasco D. B. Bonifácio and Jacinta Serpa 
Antioxidants 2020, 9, 2, 133; doi:10.3390/antiox9020133 

Targeting Glutathione and Cystathionine -Synthase in Ovarian Cancer Treatment by Selenium–Chrysin Polyurea Dendrimer Nanoformulation 
Inês Santos, Cristiano Ramos, Cindy Mendes, Catarina O. Sequeira, Catarina S. Tomé, Dalila G.H. Fernandes, Pedro Mota, Rita F. Pires, Donato Urso, Ana Hipólito, Alexandra M.M. Antunes, João B. Vicente, Sofia A. Pereira, Vasco D. B. Bonifácio, Sofia C. Nunes and Jacinta Serpa 
Nutrients 2019, 11, 10, 2523; doi:10.3390/nu11102523 

L-Buthionine Sulfoximine Detection and Quantification in Polyurea Dendrimer Nanoformulations 
Pedro Mota, Rita F. Pires, Jacinta Serpa and Vasco D. B. Bonifácio 
Molecules 2019, 24, 17, 3111; doi:10.3390/molecules24173111