PT
creating a
healthier future
Carla Oliveira
Expression Regulation in Cancer
Group leader

Carla Oliveira, BSc, PhD

2015-present: Group Leader/Principal Investigator (tenure), Expression Regulation in Cancer Group, i3S Porto, PT

2013-present: Group Leader/Principal Investigator (tenure), Ipatimup, Porto, PT

2013-2023: Co-founder, Scientific Head and CEO, Bioinf2Bio Bioinformatics Company, Porto, PT

2006-present: Affiliated Professor, Dept. Pathology, Fac. Medicine, Univ. Porto, PT

2005-present: Consultant for gastric-cancer related syndromes, IPATIMUP Diagnostics, Porto, PT

2011-2012: Invited researcher, Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Tubingen, DE (E. Isaurralde Lab)

2008-2012: Junior Group Leader, Ipatimup, Porto, PT (Ciência 2008 – FCT)   

2005-2008: Team Leader, Ipatimup, Porto, PT (Agência de Inovação - FCT)   

2004-2005: Post-doc Researcher, Univ. British Columbia, Vancouver, CA (D. Huntsman Lab)

2002-2003: Post-doc Researcher, Ipatimup, Porto, PT (R. Seruca Lab) & INSERM, Paris, FR (R. Hamelin Lab)

March-2002: GABBA PhD in Human Biology, Fac. Medicine, Univ. Porto, PT

2001-2002: Visiting Ph.D. student, Ipatimup, PT (R. Seruca Lab)

1999-2000: Ph.D. student, CIMR - Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (C. Caldas Lab), Cambridge Univ., UK

1997-1998: Research Fellowship, Ipatimup-Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology UPorto, PT

1991-1996: Biochemistry Degree, Fac. Science and Technology, Univ. Coimbra, PT

 

H-INDEX = 61 (SCOPUS/ResearcherID) or 62 (GoogleScholar)

PUBLICATIONS: 215 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of Human Genetics and Molecular Oncology

Accumulated Impact Factor > 1.000,00: Citations: >18.000

 

C. Oliveira is recognized internationally for her work in E-cadherin/CDH1-related diseases and hereditary cancer. She disclosed novel germline causes of Hereditary Gastrointestinal Cancer and defined somatic events in tumours with impact for patient management and therapy.

Her main scientific aim is to disclose the missing heritability in Hereditary Gastric Cancer. For this, her team is exploring the whole genome, with particular emphasis in its noncoding portion. She also aims at finding biomarkers with clinical utility for earlier detection of sporadic and hereditary gastric cancer and to disclose actionable genotype-phenotype relationships in these diseases. The social and economic impact of hereditary cancer is a transversal aspect in her research and she privileges the interaction with Patient’s associations, such as EVITA, Europa Colon, No Stomach for Cancer, DeGregorio Foundation and Save our Stomachs. 

C. Oliveira has been a PI of projects funded with >9M€ and team member in projects with equivalent total budget. She independently raised additional 7M€ for human resources. She was invited speaker in >120 National and International conferences; She is the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of European Society of Human Genetics and member of its Scientific Program Committee (2017-2025); the President of the Portuguese Society of Human Genetics, after serving as Chair of its Scientific Program Committee from 2017-2023; and is the National Coordinator of the European Reference Network (ERN) on genetic tumour risk syndromes GENTURIS. She led the Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer branch of the ‘Solve-RD - solving the unsolved rare diseases’ EU-Project and currently coordinates the PREVENTABLE EU-project, leading teams from 16 Institutions across Europe to understand cost-effectiveness of active surveillance and disease prevention in asymptomatic carriers of cancer-predisposing variants (https://preventable.eu). She was recently the Chair of the 5th International Gastric Cancer Linkage Consortium (IGCLC) meeting, 13-15 June 2024, Porto, PT that will define the new clinical guidelines for HDGC patients. She is a member of the CDH1 Variant Curation Expert Panel a ClinGen National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded resource and a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, Integrated Cancer Research Site (Siric) Curamus, Sorbonne Université, Paris, FR. She was the Representative of the Porto.Comprehensive Cancer Centre (P.CCC) in the European Reference Network ERN-GENTURIS on genetic tumour risk syndromes till 2022, and a founding member of the Portuguese Group of Hereditary Tumours (PROGO) promoted by The Portuguese Society of Oncology. She is regular reviewer of National and International fellowship and grant applications. She trained 68 researchers at various career stages in postgraduate programs and supervised >30 students (Masters and PhD) to completion.

For details see: https://www.cienciavitae.pt/3011-EA6C-B5A3

C. Oliveira’s group has also gained expertise and visibility in genomics and bioinformatics, due to active participation in international consortia and large European Projects including the European-wide research project SOLVE-RD – Solve Rare diseases; the Consortium GEUVADIS and GTEx; Several COST actions, as well as the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks ITN TRAIN-EV. The group has relevant roles in management and executive functions in the GenomePT National Infrastructure for genome sequencing and the 1 Million European Genomes project. Her team is multidisciplinary with strong background in oncobiology and genetics, and supported by technical expertise in molecular and cellular biology, NGS, bioinformatics and a strong link with hospitals and clinical professionals. Her team was recently awarded with the Prize Alfredo da Silva on “Sustentabilidade de sistemas de saúde” for the work on optimized pathways of care in Hereditary cancer syndromes, and the NONO Award to study pediatric cancers in TP53 variant carriers.

Selected Publications

Garcia-Pelaez J., Barbosa-Matos R., Lobo S., Dias A., Garrido L., Castedo S., Sousa S., Pinheiro H., Sousa L., Monteiro R., Maqueda J.J., Fernandes S., Carneiro F., Pinto N., Lemos C., Pinto C., Teixeira M.R., Aretz S., Bajalica-Lagercrantz S., Balmaña J., Blatnik A., Benusiglio P.R., Blanluet M., Bours V., Brems H., Brunet J., Calistri D., Capellá G., Carrera S., Colas C., Dahan K., de Putter R., Desseignés C., Domínguez-Garrido E., Egas C., Evans D.G., Feret D., Fewings E., Fitzgerald R.C., Coulet F., Garcia-Barcina M., Genuardi M., Golmard L., Hackmann K., Hanson H., Holinski-Feder E., Hüneburg R., Krajc M., Lagerstedt-Robinson K., Lázaro C., Ligtenberg M.J.L., Martínez-Bouzas C., Merino S., Michils G., Novaković S., Patiño-García A., Ranzani G.N., Schröck E., Silva I., Silveira C., Soto J.L., Spier I., Steinke-Lange V., Tedaldi G., Tejada M.I., Woodward E.R., Tischkowitz M., Hoogerbrugge N., Oliveira C.
Genotype-first approach to identify associations between CDH1 germline variants and cancer phenotypes: a multicentre study by the European Reference Network on Genetic Tumour Risk Syndromes. The Lancet Oncology24(1):91-106, 2023. [Journal: Article] [CI: 19] [IF: 41.6]
DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00643-X SCOPUS: 85145669093

Ferreira D.A., Conde J.P., Rothbauer M., Ertl P., Granja P.L., Oliveira C.
Bioinspired human stomach-on-a-chip with in vivo like function and architecture. Lab on a Chip23(3):495-510, 2023. [Journal: Article] [CI: 12] [IF: 6.1]
DOI: 10.1039/d2lc01132h SCOPUS: 85146176758

Ferreira D.A., Rothbauer M., Conde J.P., Ertl P., Oliveira C., Granja P.L.
A Fast Alternative to Soft Lithography for the Fabrication of Organ-on-a-Chip Elastomeric-Based Devices and Microactuators. Advanced Science8(8):, 2021. [Journal: Article] [CI: 26] [IF: 17,5]
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202003273 SCOPUS: 85100571451

Blair V.R., McLeod M., Carneiro F., Coit D.G., D'Addario J.L., van Dieren J.M., Harris K.L., Hoogerbrugge N., Oliveira C., van der Post R.S., Arnold J., Benusiglio P.R., Bisseling T.M., Boussioutas A., Cats A., Charlton A., Schreiber K.E.C., Davis J.L., Pietro M.d., Fitzgerald R.C., Ford J.M., Gamet K., Gullo I., Hardwick R.H., Huntsman D.G., Kaurah P., Kupfer S.S., Latchford A., Mansfield P.F., Nakajima T., Parry S., Rossaak J., Sugimura H., Svrcek M., Tischkowitz M., Ushijima T., Yamada H., Yang H.K., Claydon A., Figueiredo J., Paringatai K., Seruca R., Bougen-Zhukov N., Brew T., Busija S., Carneiro P., DeGregorio L., Fisher H., Gardner E., Godwin T.D., Holm K.N., Humar B., Lintott C.J., Monroe E.C., Muller M.D., Norero E., Nouri Y., Paredes J., Sanches J.M., Schulpen E., Ribeiro A.S., Sporle A., Whitworth J., Zhang L., Reeve A.E., Guilford P.
Hereditary diffuse gastric cancer: updated clinical practice guidelines. The Lancet Oncology21(8):e386-e397, 2020. [Journal: Review] [CI: 275] [IF: 41,3]
DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(20)30219-9 SCOPUS: 85088930288

Rocha S., Carvalho J., Oliveira P., Voglstaetter M., Schvartz D., Thomsen A.R., Walter N., Khanduri R., Sanchez J.C., Keller A., Oliveira C., Nazarenko I.
3D Cellular Architecture Affects MicroRNA and Protein Cargo of Extracellular Vesicles. Advanced Science6(4):, 2019. [Journal: Article] [CI: 103] [IF: 15,8]
DOI: 10.1002/advs.201800948 SCOPUS: 85058843482

Oliveira C., Pinheiro H., Figueiredo J., Seruca R., Carneiro F.
Familial gastric cancer: Genetic susceptibility, pathology, and implications for management. The Lancet Oncology16(2):e60-e70, 2015. [Journal: Review] [CI: 307] [IF: 26,5]
DOI: 10.1016/S1470-2045(14)71016-2 SCOPUS: 84921774175

Corso G., Carvalho J., Marrelli D., Vindigni C., Carvalho B., Seruca R., Roviello F., Oliveira C.
Somatic mutations and deletions of the e-cadherin gene predict poor survival of patients with gastric cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology31(7):868-875, 2013. [Journal: Article] [CI: 144] [IF: 17,9]
DOI: 10.1200/JCO.2012.44.4612 SCOPUS: 84875753760

Pinheiro H., Bordeira-Carriço R., Seixas S., Carvalho J., Senz J., Oliveira P., Inácio P., Gusmão L., Rocha J., Huntsman D., Seruca R., Oliveira C.
Allele-specific CDH1 downregulation and hereditary diffuse gastric cancer. Human Molecular Genetics19(5):943-952, 2010. [Journal: Article] [CI: 80] [IF: 8,1]
DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddp537 SCOPUS: 77950533734

Oliveira C., Senz J., Kaurah P., Pinheiro H., Sanges R., Haegert A., Corso G., Schouten J., Fitzgerald R., Vogelsang H., Keller G., Dwerryhouse S., Grimmer D., Chin S.F., Yang H.K., Jackson C.E., Seruca R., Roviello F., Stupka E., Caldas C., Huntsman D.
Germline CDH1 deletions in hereditary diffuse gastric cancer families. Human Molecular Genetics18(9):1545-1555, 2009. [Journal: Article] [CI: 177] [IF: 7,4]
DOI: 10.1093/hmg/ddp046 SCOPUS: 64549109715

Oliveira C., Sousa S., Pinheiro H., Karam R., Bordeira-Carriço R., Senz J., Kaurah P., Carvalho J., Pereira R., Gusmão L., Wen X., Cipriano M.A., Yokota J., Carneiro F., Huntsman D., Seruca R.
Quantification of Epigenetic and Genetic 2nd Hits in CDH1 During Hereditary Diffuse Gastric Cancer Syndrome Progression. Gastroenterology136(7):2137-2148, 2009. [Journal: Article] [CI: 150] [IF: 12,9]
DOI: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.02.065 SCOPUS: 66149108352