Ana Lourenço
Assistant Professor
Ana Lourenço is Assistant professor since May 1992 at the Nova School of Science and Technology of Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. She joined this instituition in Nov 1983 as a Researcher and Teaching Assistant in the Group of Disciplines of Natural Products Chemistry. She completed her PhD in Chemistry, specialization in Organic Chemistry in May 1992, by the same institution. During the PhD she held a research grant for two years at the Instituto de Química Orgánica General of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciónes Científicas (CSIC), Madrid (Spain). Under the guidance of Prof. Benjamín Rodríguez she carried out the phytochemical study of Teucrium species and hemisynthesis of diterpenes. Secondary metabolites biosynthesis was the starting area that led to the Natural Products Chemistry (NatProdChem). Of all the projects in which she applied NatProdChem, and spectroscopic and chiroptical technics, she highlights the discovery of metabolites with of terpenoid, phenolic and alkaloid structures, with anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial activities and action on chronic pain, from terrestrial and marine organisms. As a phytochemistry specialist, she was team member of the project anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer agents of endemic species in Brazil, in collaboration with pharmacology and pharmaceutical chemistry groups at the University of Sorocaba (SP, Brazil), Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) and Universidad de Salamanca (Spain). In collaboration with companies regarding Portuguese species, she developed projects for the identification of active agents from Thymus mastichina in colon cancer, metabolites of marine origin active in chronic pain, valorization of the traditional lupine debittering processes, and innovation of the debittering process. In collaboration with other research units, she carried out studies on the phenolic compounds responsible for the defense of plant species against pathogenic fungi, namely Coffea (CIFC - Centro de Investigação das Ferrugens do Cafeeiro & LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food/ISA/UL) and Vitis vinifera (Disease & Stress Biology Laboratory, ISA/UL). She collaborated on several projects with the pharmaceutical company HOVIONE in the development of APIs. Alongside the research activity she is coordinator and scientific supervisor of the Laboratory of Analysis / REQUIMTE / LAQV that provides analytical services to public and private institutions, and industry. She is co-author of 31 international peer-reviewed publications, with 364 citations (at Feb 26, 2021) reflected in an index-h of 14 (ISI WoS). The pedagogical and scientific training involved, with co-supervision, Post Doctoral Fellows, PhD students, and master students. Regarding publications of pedagogical books, she is the author of a Solved Exercises in Biosynthesis of Natural Products (1997), and co-editor of the book Biosynthesis of natural products(2008) that are used in the course she conducts at NOVA School of Science and Technology. Since 2013, as relevant highlights are concerned, she participated as chemical expert in an arbitral tribunal and in court processes on intellectual property rights disputes between pharmaceutical companies and generics producers.