25 years of Science and Innovation
PhD Thesis by Francisca Cunha on protecting healthcare professionals from drugs' hazards
January 12th, 2026
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Maria Francisca Cunha for her PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “The overlooked side of cancer therapy - tools to protect healthcare professionals from antineoplastic drugs' hazards”, supervised by Mónica Santos, defended on January 12th, 2026 FEUP.
PhD Thesis by Ana Rita Pereira on drinking water bacterial biofilms
January 9th, 2026
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Ana Rita Pereira for her PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “Understanding the impact of parabens on drinking water bacterial biofilms”, supervised by Manuel Simões, defended on January 9th, 2026 FEUP.
LEPABE whishes you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy 2026!
Posted on December 23rd, 2025
LEPABE team awarded 2nd prize in the SheLeads Ventures Programme
Posted on December 19th, 2025
A team of researchers from LEPABE has been awarded 2nd place in the 1st edition of the SheLeads Ventures Programme, promoted by U.Porto Inovação. The awarded team includes Anabela Borges, Ariana Gonçalves, Lília Teixeira, Manuel Simões, and Miguel Leitão, members of the Biotechnology group.
Their project, BERMICIN Care, is an innovative technology designed for the at-home treatment of chronic wound infections. These wounds, which fail to heal as expected and remain open for extended periods, are often associated with conditions such as advanced age, diabetes, obesity, or cardiovascular disease.
The SheLeads Ventures Programme is the University of Porto’s first initiative dedicated to promoting female leadership, with a strong focus on empowering women in entrepreneurship.
Congratulations!
More information can be found here.
LEPABE was granted new Ph.D scholarships in the FCT 2025 call
Posted on December 11th, 2025
LEPABE congratulates the 18 researchers that were granted individual PhD scholarships in the national FCT call:
- Ana Isabel Sousa
- Ana Sofia Pinto
- Arefeh Mazarei
- Débora Araújo
- Emílio Gomes
- Francisca Ferreira
- Inês Freitas
- Isabel Hilário
- Joana Oliveira
Congratulations to all!
- Joana Peixoto
- José Gonçalo Santos
- Maria Teresa Ribeiro
- Megan Braga
- Patrícia Serra
- Rita Duarte
- Sergio Sanchez
- Vânia Pinheiro
- Vânia Rocha
LEPABE was granted new exploratory projects in FCT 2024 call
Posted on December 9th, 2025
In the latest FCT call, LEPABE was awarded 6 Exploratory Research Projects.
This project call, focuses on original projects for younger researchers, and on ideas or concepts with a high degree of novelty that demonstrate disruptive potential, compared to previous work, developed by more experienced researchers.
- AquaBEV (Inês Bezerra Gomes)
- IQ–SCHOOLS (Klára Slezáková)
- LightSound4Bio (Ana Filipa Esteves)
- RenAM (Miguel Angel Soria)
- ValSeaFood (Berta Estevinho)
- WATER4REUSE (Carmen Rodrigues)
Congratulations!
PhD Thesis by Ana Cláudia Azevedo on recombinant proteins based on E. coli biofilms
December 3rd, 2025
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Ana Cláudia Azevedo for her PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “The use of Escherichia coli biofilms for the production of recombinant proteins and other added-value compounds” supervised by Prof. Filipe Mergulhão, defended on December 3rd, 2025 FEUP.
LEPABE team awarded 1st prize in the BIP Acceleration Programme
Posted on November 21st, 2025
LEPABE researchers Inês Freitas, Rita Martins, and Adélio Mendes, from the Processes, Products and Energy group, has been awarded 1st place in the 4th edition of the Business Ignition Program (BIP) Acceleration, promoted by U.Porto Inovação.
Their project, EcoWires, introduces an innovative method for printing flexible electronic circuits using sustainable, safe, and cost-effective materials abundantly available in nature. This breakthrough promises not only to reduce production costs and save time, but also to significantly lower environmental impact.
The BIP Acceleration programme supports research teams from the University of Porto in testing and validating the business potential of their ideas, helping transform scientific innovation into market-ready solutions.
Congratulations!
More information can be found here.
INFORM Magazine interviews F. Xavier Malcata
Posted on October 20th, 2025
Prof. F. Xavier Malcata, senior research at LEPABE, was recently featured in the September edition of INFORM Magazine, which highlights the latest scientific advances, business developments, and key issues in the field of oils, fats, and related materials.
The interview appears in the Biotechnology Division section and follows the announcement of Prof. Malcata as the 2025 recipient of the Biotechnology Division Achievement Award. In the feature, he reflects on his career, scientific contributions, and perspectives on the future of biotechnology.
Read the full article here.
Science & Technology Week 2025
Posted on October 18th, 2025
ALiCE and the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department (DEQB), in collaboration with its research units (CEFT, LEPABE and LSRE-LCM), promotes in 2025, within the scope of Science and Technology Week, a set of debates on emerging areas of Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Bioengineering aimed at the general public and, in particular, at high school and university teachers and students.
Each of these debates will be focused on a transversal thematic that will feature the participation of invited experts from the industry, researchers from DEQB and R&D units and representatives of DEQB students.
ALiCE invites you to participate in these debates. Registration is free, but mandatory. More information about the thematic and registration is available here.
PhD Thesis by Jeffrey Capitão on liquid-junction Dye-sensitized solar cells
November 10th, 2025
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Jeffrey Capitão for his PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “Upscaling and enhancing the stability of liquid-junction Dye-sensitized solar cells” supervised by Prof. Adélio Mendes, defended on November 10th, 2025 FEUP.
PhD Thesis by Meghna Dabur on Dual-functional fluorinated nanoparticles
November 7th, 2025
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Meghna Dabur for her PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “Dual-functional fluorinated nanoparticles for Alzheimer’s Disease therapy”, supervised by Joana A. Loureiro, defended on November 7th, 2025 FEUP.
A História de Ágata concert
November 20th, 2025
ALiCE, in collaboration with the 3 R&D units, CEFT, LEPABE and LSRE-LCM, are sponsors of the Researchers’ Concert: A História de Ágata”.
This concert, organized by the Cultural Commission of FEUP, will take place on November 20th, 2025, at FEUP’s auditorium (21:30 h) and is performed by the orchestra of the Academia and City Opera (OAC). Access to the Auditorium is free.
In this concert, we will embark on a journey between the Bohemian forest and the grand stages of Olympic sport, where music gives voice to the emotions of a young athlete named Ágata. Through works by Weber, Tchaikovsky, and Dvořák, we follow her journey from injury and uncertainty to overcoming, and finally, the moment of victory.
Know more about this event here.
LEPABE research highlighted on TVI Jornal
Posted on October 29th, 2025
Researcher Artur Pinto and his team from the Processes, Products and Energy group at LEPABE were featured on the TVI Jornal news program on October 26th, broadcast on TVI.
During the interview, the researcher presented the development of a new LED-based cancer therapy, which has shown to be safer, more affordable and portable compared to existing treatments.
This innovative technology was developed within the scope of two projects, funded by FCT, within the UTAustin Portugal Program:
- 2D-Therapy – New 2D nanomaterials for cancer phototherapy and immunotherapy
- LightCure – New implantable device for breast cancer phototherapy
Watch the interview to learn more about this breakthrough technology here.
LEPABE researchers feature in the “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list
Posted on October 15th, 2025
Researchers from LEPABE have once again been recognized among the most influential scientists worldwide, according to the latest “World’s Top 2% Scientists” list released by Stanford University.
This prestigious ranking identifies the world’s most-cited scientists, including those who are among the top 100,000 across all fields or within the top 2% in their main subfield discipline, based on a composite citation index that excludes self-citations.
The LEPABE members included in the list for career-long citation impact up until the end of 2024 are: Adélio Mendes; Conceição A. Ferraz; Fernando G. Martins; F. Xavier Malcata; José Carlos Pires; Luís F. Melo; Luís M. Madeira; Manuel Simões and Nídia Caetano.
The list for citation impact during the single calendar year 2024 includes the following LEPABE members: Adélio Mendes; Anabela Borges; Berta Estevinho; F. Xavier Malcata; Joana A. Loureiro; José Carlos Pires; Lúcia Santos; Luís M. Madeira; Manuel Simões; Maria João Ramalho; Nídia Caetano and Olga C. Nunes.
Congrats to all the researchers for their work as top-level scientists.
Know more about this here.
LEPABE team awarded in the BIP PROOF Programme
Posted on October 10th, 2025
LEPABE researchers Ana Alexandra Pereira, Luís Melo, Marta Redondo, and Ana Rosa Silva, from Biotechnology group, were distinguished in the 8th edition of the Business Ignition Program (BIP) PROOF, promoted by U.Porto Inovação, with their project “HydroClean: Ensure clean and safe water without using harmful chemicals.”
The BIP PROOF programme aims to support proof-of-concept projects that foster the valorisation of promising research results, encouraging their transition towards market application.
The HydroClean project was developed in response to the challenge of controlling microorganisms in water systems without releasing harmful chemicals. It also contributes to mitigating antimicrobial resistance, offering a safe, sustainable, and energy-efficient alternative to conventional disinfection methods, which often introduce hazardous compounds into water.
Congratulations!
More information can be found here.
PhD Thesis by Roberto Magalhães on prediction of formaldehyde properties
October 3rd 2025
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Roberto Magalhães for his PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Refining, Petrochemical and Chemical Engineering, entitled “Prediction of Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde based Resins Properties based on NIR Technology”, supervised by Fernando Martins and co-supervised by Fernão Magalhães, defended on October 3rd, 2025 FEUP.
PhD Thesis by Cláudia Almeida on Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processes
October 2nd 2025
LEPABE would like to congratulate Dr. Cláudia Almeida for her PhD thesis of the Doctoral Program in Chemical and Biological Engineering, entitled “Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Processes for the Valorisation of Natural Products”, co-supervised by Fernando Martins, defended on October 2nd, 2025 FEUP.
LEPABE work on Energy highlighted by CNN Inovação program
Posted on August 28th, 2025
Researchers Adélio Mendes, Paula Dias and Tânia Lopes, from the Processes, Products and Energy group of LEPABE, were featured on the CNN Inovação program, broadcast on CNN Portugal. This program highlights Portuguese researchers and their innovative projects.
In this episode, the researchers talk about new solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. On one side, they discuss the production of hydrogen through catalytic methane splitting without CO₂ emissions; on the other, the capture of atmospheric CO₂ to produce renewable methanol using membrane reactors. Watch the episode to learn more about these breakthrough technologies.
Ana Esteves awarded Best PhD Thesis Award 2024 by Applied Sciences
Posted on July 31st, 2025
Ana F. Esteves, a researcher at LEPABE, has been honored with the Best PhD Thesis Award 2024 by the scientific journal Applied Sciences. Her thesis, entitled "Shaping Microalgal Biomass Composition for Targeted Product Accumulation: Impact of Operational Parameters", was developed within the Doctoral Program in Environmental Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).
The research was carried out in collaboration with LEPABE and LSRE-LCM research units, under the supervision of Dr. José Carlos Pires (LEPABE), Dr. Vítor Vilar (LSRE-LCM) and Dr. Ana Luísa Gonçalves (LEPABE). The work focuses on the valorization of microalgal biomass, investigating how varying operational parameters can influence its biochemical composition. The goal was to enhance the accumulation of specific, high-value compounds, contributing to the sustainability and efficiency of microalgal production processes.
This award recognizes the scientific relevance and innovative approach of her work within the field of environmental biotechnology and bioresource engineering.
Congratulations!
Know more about this award here.
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