Ongoing projects

In the 2017 Portuguese Science Foundation (FCT) research projects call, 4 projects with a strong computational component were approved for financing. In the first 3 of the following list, Dr. Daniel dos Santos is Co-PI. The projects started at the end of 2018 and will run for the next three years. The projects are:

  1. Multidrug Resistance Reversal in Cancer: Natural Compounds as P-glycoprotein and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein Modulators (PTDC/MED-QUI/30591/2017). PI: Prof. Maria J.U. Ferreira of iMed.UL/FFUL. Team for the computational studies: Dr. Daniel dos Santos, Co-PI and leader of the computational studies; Dr. Ricardo Ferreira; Master Cátia Bonito; hired post-doc researcher shared with the experimental team.
  2. iDrugCF: Identification of New Drugs for Cystic Fibrosis (PTDC/MED-QUI/28800/2017). PI: Prof. Margarida Amaral of BioISI/FCUL. Team for the computational studies: Dr. Daniel dos Santos, Co-PI and leader of the computational studies; Dr. Ricardo Ferreira; Master Cátia Bonito; hired post-doc researcher.
  3. Understand to Treat: Combining in Vitro and in Silico Strategies to Explore New Therapeutic Approaches to the Most Common Mitochondrial Fatty Acid Beta-Oxidation Disorder (mFAOD) (PTDC/BIA-BQM/29570/2017). PI: Prof. Fátima Ventura of iMed.UL/FFUL. Team for the computational studies: Dr. Daniel dos Santos, Co-PI and leader of the computational studies; Dr. Ricardo Ferreira; Master Cátia Bonito; hired post-doc researcher.
  4. Drug Discovery for p53 PPI-Targets (PTDC/QUI-QOR/29664/2017). PI. Dr. Maria M.M. Santos of iMed.UL/FFUL. Team for the computational studies: Dr. Daniel dos Santos as leader of the computational studies and a hired post-doc researcher shared with the experimental team.

Projects with strong interactions and synergism.

The first two projects regard the study of ABC transporters (the former: Pgp/ABCB1 and BCRP/ABCG2; the latter: CFTR/ABCC7) with excellent previous outputs. The last is also the pursuit of previous efforts regarding the discovery of novel drug-like molecules able of blocking the interaction between MDM2/X and p53 for treating cancer. Moreover, the last project aims at treating cancer and the first regards reverting multidrug resistance in cancer.

The third aims at reverting medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency (MCADD; OMIM #201450, ORPHA42), the most common inherited metabolic disorder affecting the mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation (mFAO) pathway, preventing the cells from breaking down fats and converting them into energy.

Team members for computational tasks

Daniel J.V.A. dos Santos

Dr. Daniel dos Santos

Team Leader, Co-PI of projects 1-3 and leader of the computational tasks of project 4.

Ricardo J. Ferreira

Dr. Ricardo Ferreira

Team member of the projects 1-3.

Cátia A. Bonito

MSc. Cátia Bonito

Team member of the projects 1-3.

Marta P. Carrasco

Dr. Marta Carrasco

Team member of project 2.

Daniela Peixoto

Dr. Daniela Peixoto

Team member of project 4.

Bruno Gonçalves

Dr. Bruno Gonçalves

Team member of project 1.

Michael Gonzàlez-Duruthy

Dr. Michael González-Durruthy

Team member of project 2.