Where Ideas Grow
Ana Ribeiro
Associate Researcher

ASR is a dynamic breast cancer (BC) researcher with a mission to uncover new biomarkers and therapies for metastatic breast cancer (BC). Her extensive training in the Netherlands, Sweden, and Portugal has finely tuned her scientific and technical expertise, amplifying her collaborative capacity.

Since 2017, ASR's long-term goal is to discover novel secreted BC biomarkers, a pivotal step in advancing innovative treatments for metastatic BC. For that, she has ventured into emerging disciplines, cutting-edge technologies and developed novel disease-relevant models. She has been particularly focused on BC brain metastasis and, in this context, she has developed a novel in vivo tool to study cancer stem cells and defined a brain BC stem cell signature that significantly predicts a worse prognosis for BC patients. ASR have also been developing 2D and 3D in vitro assays, ex-vivo organotypic cultures and several in vivo tools (e.g. chicken choriallantoic and mice) to overcome the lack of metastasis experimental models. Of relevance, her data has been crucial to attract funding in competitive calls for several projects where ASR has been involved in the coordination and supervision as PI, co-PI and task leader to advance on cancer metastasis, totaling >500K€, as well as for 5 projects (>3M€) where I she integrates as a team member.

ASR's entrepreneurial spirit has been recognized through the research grant (Hologic 2023) and by two innovation prizes (BIP Acceleration 2023, LPCC Innovation 2021), underscoring her unwavering dedication to advancing cancer metastasis research.

Her publication list includes 37 peer-reviewed papers (5 first and 1 last author) in Q1 journals (Oncogene, Hum Mol Gen, Lancet Oncol, Sem Can Biol, Nanoscale, J Pathol) and 4 book chapters, with a cumulative IF of 244.98, >1350 citations and h-index 19. 

Her journey is marked by innovation, collaboration, and an unshakable commitment to making a tangible difference in the lives of cancer patients worldwide.

Selected Publications

Ribeiro A.S., Carvalho F.A., Figueiredo J., Carvalho R., Mestre T., Monteiro J., Guedes A.F., Fonseca M., Sanches J., Seruca R., Santos N.C., Paredes J.,
Atomic force microscopy and graph analysis to study the P-cadherin/SFK mechanotransduction signalling in breast cancer cells. Nanoscale8(46):19390-19401, 2016. [Journal: Article] [CI: 14] [IF: 7,4]
DOI: 10.1039/c6nr04465d SCOPUS: 84998881935.


Ribeiro A.S., Paredes J.,
P-cadherin linking breast cancer stem cells and invasion: A promising marker to identify an "intermediate/metastable" EMT state. Frontiers in Oncology4:, 2015. [Journal: Article] [CI: 77]
DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2014.00371 SCOPUS: 85018189090.


Ribeiro A.S., Sousa B., Carreto L., Mendes N., Nobre A.R., Ricardo S., Albergaria A., Cameselle-Teijeiro J.F., Gerhard R., Söderberg O., Seruca R., Santos M.A., Schmitt F., Paredes J.,
P-cadherin functional role is dependent on E-cadherin cellular context: A proof of concept using the breast cancer model. Journal of Pathology229(5):705-718, 2013. [Journal: Article] [CI: 65] [IF: 7,3]
DOI: 10.1002/path.4143 SCOPUS: 84875054847.


Ribeiro A.S., Albergaria A., Sousa B., Correia A.L., Bracke M., Seruca R., Schmitt F.C., Paredes J.,
Extracellular cleavage and shedding of P-cadherin: A mechanism underlying the invasive behaviour of breast cancer cells. Oncogene29(3):392-402, 2010. [Journal: Article] [CI: 95] [IF: 7,4]
DOI: 10.1038/onc.2009.338 SCOPUS: 75149183984.


Paredes J., Figueiredo J., Albergaria A., Oliveira P., Carvalho J., Ribeiro A.S., Caldeira J., Costa A.M., Simões-Correia J., Oliveira M.J., Pinheiro H., Pinho S.S., Mateus R., Reis C.A., Leite M., Fernandes M.S., Schmitt F., Carneiro F., Figueiredo C., Oliveira C., Seruca R.,
Epithelial E- and P-cadherins: Role and clinical significance in cancer. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Reviews on Cancer1826(2):297-311, 2012. [Journal: Review] [CI: 175] [IF: 9]
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbcan.2012.05.002 SCOPUS: 84861800037.