Marco G. Alves is Principal
Investigator at the Department of Medical Sciences, University of Aveiro. He heads a group of research focused on Endocrinology,
Metabolism, and Male Reproduction. He mainly works on male reproductive
biology, metabolic modulation, obesity, and physio-pathological causes of
subfertility or infertility. His main line of research is devoted to the study
of metabolic cooperation in spermatogenesis, metabolic-related infertility,
particularly due to diabetes and obesity, and the mechanisms responsible for
such phenomena. He was conferred his LSc degree in Biology in 2005 at the
University of Aveiro. In 2011, he was conferred a PhD degree in Biochemistry, a
branch of bioenergetics at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University
of Coimbra (FCTUC). In 2011 he started a Post-Doctoral at the University of
Beira Interior (Health Sciences Research Centre) and the University of Coimbra
(Department of Life Sciences). Later, he moved to the Institute of Biomedical
Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto (2016) where he was hired as
an Assistant Researcher. His research has been awarded several national and
international prizes and grants, including competitive international funds.
Since March 2016 he has been the Principal Investigator of one major grant from
FCT to study obesity-related dysfunction in the male reproductive system.
Pedro F. Oliveira was conferred his BSc degree in
Biochemistry in 1996, at the University of Porto (UP). In 2004, he was
conferred a PhD degree in Biomedical Sciences, at the Instituto de Ciencias
Biomédicas Abel Salazar from the University of Porto. In 2005, he started
working on a new line of research now focused on Reproductive Biology,
specifically in Sertoli cell physiology. In 2009, he was hired as an Assistant
Researcher, under the scope of the Ciência 2008 Program. In 2015, he became an
Affiliated Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar,
University of Porto–ICBAS/UP, and Principal Researcher at the Institute of
Health Research and Innovation (I3S), the largest portuguese health research
center. Presently, he is an Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry,
University of Aveiro, and a researcher at the Laboratório Associado para a
Química Verde (LAQV@REQUIMTE)-. His
research interests cover hormonal control and metabolic modulation of spermatogenesis,
especially Sertoli cell metabolism, and mechanisms by which endocrine
disorders/pathologies result in subfertility and infertility.
Maria de Lourdes Pereira got her Habilitation Degree in
Biology in 2003 from the University of Aveiro, a PhD in Biology in 1991 from
the University of Aveiro, and a Degree in Biology in 1982 from the University
of Lisbon Faculty of Sciences. She is an Associate Professor with Habilitation,
with permanent position at the University of Aveiro, Department of
Medical Sciences. She works in Biomedical Sciences and Health with
an emphasis on Biomaterials, Natural products, Toxicology, and Reproduction.
She was President of the Portuguese Society of Electron Microscopy and Cell
Biology in 2004, Director of the Master’s Degree in Molecular and Cell Biology
at the University of Aveiro (2008-2018), and Fellow of the Royal Society of
Medicine since 2021, member of the Pathology Council, collaborating in
postgraduate training. She joined the International Research Networks Southeast Asia Water-based research under the Southeast Asia Water Team (SEA
Water Team) and the World Union for Herbal Drug Discovery to develop the
potential of medicinal plants in infectious diseases. In 2022, in collaboration with Prof. M. Fardilha, she was awarded
the Pedagogical Innovation Award for “Exploring the Yin and Yang of integrating
different active teaching-learning methodologies into a single curricular unit”. She received the Dr. Matthew Award A. Eichler Memorial Award Research Fellow in 2022. In 2023
she was awarded, in collaboration, a Pedagogical Innovation Award from the Aveiro University.
