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:

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.
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.
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.
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.