Where Ideas Grow
Inês Loureiro
Junior Researcher

I graduated in Microbiology at School of Biotechnology - Portuguese Catholic University in 2004. Later, I obtained a MSc degree in Clinical Microbiology from Faculty of Medicine - University of Lisbon in 2008, having conducted my thesis research in the National Health Institute Dr. Ricardo Jorge. Then, I moved to IBMC where I did my PhD under the supervision of Prof. Anabela Cordeiro da Silva and Dr. Joana Tavares. During my thesis I evaluated Trypanosoma brucei asparagine synthetase A and ribose 5-phosphate isomerase B as potential drug targets against African sleeping sickness. I received my PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Faculty of Pharmacy - University of Porto in May 2015. I joined Cytoskeletal Dynamics in October 2015 for postdoctoral studies on the discovery of novel functional interactions involved in actomyosin-based contractility. In January 2019, I decided to return to infection field and I joined the Fish Immunology and Vaccionology Group. As a junior researcher I am now working in the project “Identification and characterization of virulence factors secreted by Photobacterium damselae piscicida with potential to be used as antigens for vaccination against fish photobacteriosis”.

Selected Publications

Neves B.M., Silvestre R., Resende M., Ouaissi A., Cunha J., Tavares J., Loureiro I., Santarém N., Silva A.M., Lopes M.C., Cruz M.T., Da Silva A.C.,
Activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/akt and impairment of nuclear factor-κB: Molecular mechanisms behind the arrested maturation/activation state of leishmania infantum-infected dendritic cells. American Journal of Pathology177(6):2898-2911, 2010. [Journal: Article] [CI: 37] [IF: 5,2]
DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2010.100367 SCOPUS: 78650195216.


Tavares J., Ouaissi A., Lin P.K.T., Loureiro I., Kaur S., Roy N., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.,
Bisnaphthalimidopropyl derivatives as inhibitors of Leishmania SIR2 related protein 1. ChemMedChem5(1):140-147, 2010. [Journal: Article] [CI: 47] [IF: 3,3]
DOI: 10.1002/cmdc.200900367 SCOPUS: 74849088082.


Moreira D., Santarém N., Loureiro I., Tavares J., Silva A.M., Amorim A.M., Ouaissi A., Cordeiro-da-Silva A., Silvestre R.,
Impact of continuous axenic cultivation in Leishmania infantum virulence. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases6(1):, 2012. [Journal: Article] [CI: 60] [IF: 4,6]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001469 SCOPUS: 84856584576.


Faria J., Loureiro I., Santarém N., Ceclio P., Macedo-Ribeiro S., Tavares J., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.,
Disclosing the essentiality of ribose-5-phosphate isomerase B in Trypanosomatids. Scientific Reports6:, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 27] [IF: 4,3]
DOI: 10.1038/srep26937 SCOPUS: 84971221975.


Loureiro I., Faria J., Clayton C., Macedo-Ribeiro S., Santarém N., Roy N., Cordeiro-da-Siva A., Tavares J.,
Ribose 5-Phosphate Isomerase B Knockdown Compromises Trypanosoma brucei Bloodstream Form Infectivity. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases9(1):, 2015. [Journal: Article] [CI: 20] [IF: 3,9]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003430 SCOPUS: 84922219276.


Loureiro I., Faria J., Clayton C., Ribeiro S.M., Roy N., Santarém N., Tavares J., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.,
Knockdown of Asparagine Synthetase A Renders Trypanosoma brucei Auxotrophic to Asparagine. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases7(12):, 2013. [Journal: Article] [CI: 15] [IF: 4,5]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002578 SCOPUS: 84892749573.


Faria J., Loureiro I., Santarém N., Macedo-Ribeiro S., Tavares J., Cordeiro-da-Silva A.,
Leishmania infantum Asparagine Synthetase A Is Dispensable for Parasites Survival and Infectivity. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases10(1):, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 9] [IF: 3,8]
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004365 SCOPUS: 84969443688.


Graça N.A.G., Gaspar L., Costa D.M., Loureiro I., Thoo-Lin P.K., Ramos I., Roura M., Pruvost A., Pemberton I.K., Loukil H., Macdougall J., Tavares J., Cordeiro-Da-silva A.,
Activity of bisnaphthalimidopropyl derivatives against trypanosoma brucei. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy60(4):2532-2536, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 6] [IF: 4,3]
DOI: 10.1128/AAC.02490-15 SCOPUS: 84963699458.


Costa D.M., Sá M., Teixeira A.R., Loureiro I., Thouvenot C., Golba S., Amino R., Tavares J.,
TRSP is dispensable for the Plasmodium pre-erythrocytic phase. Scientific Reports8(1):, 2018. [Journal: Article] [CI: 5] [IF: 4]
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-33398-8 SCOPUS: 85054635985.


Loureiro I., Faria J., Santarem N., Smith T.K., Tavares J., Cordeiro-Da-Silva A.,
Potential drug targets in the pentose phosphate pathway of trypanosomatids. Current Medicinal Chemistry25(39):5239-5265, 2018. [Journal: Review] [CI: 13] [IF: 3,9]
DOI: 10.2174/0929867325666171206094752 SCOPUS: 85059510668.