Rúben F. Pereira is an Assistant Professor in biomaterials and bioengineering at the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS, University of Porto) and researcher at the Biofabrication Group at i3S (Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto). 

He is graduated in Biomechanics (2009) and holds an MSc in Product Design and Engineering (2011), both from the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (Portugal). Rúben Pereira completed his PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2018 with the support of a FCT PhD fellowship. During the PhD he specialized in the design and synthesis of biofunctional biomaterials capable of instructing skin morphogenesis within bioprinted 3D cell microenvironments. Then, he developed his post-doctoral research at i3S focusing on advanced biofabrication strategies to create hierarchical 3D in vitro tissue models for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. As a result of the impact of his research in the field of biomedical engineering, Rúben Pereira was awarded with the prestigious "Professor Francisco Pulido Valente Prize 2018" by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and Fundação Professor Francisco Pulido Valente. 

Rúben Pereira has been involved in +10 research projects supported by the industry, national, and international agencies in the fields of bioengineering, 3D bioprinting, tissue engineering and medical engineering. He has also been invited as a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry, providing advice on the design novel biomaterials for skin repair. He has solid experience in supervising team members, including the (co)supervision of 1 PhD student, 9 MSc students and 4 BSc students. Overall, his research attracted more than 1400 citations (h index = 15; source: G. Scholar). 

His research aims at developing bioengineered hydrogels that closely mimic the biophysical and biochemical features of cell microenvironment as biomimetic platforms for biomedical applications. By exploring bioprinting technologies and smart hydrogels, is research focuses on the fabrication of advanced 3D in vitro skin models as biologically functional platforms to address relevant challenges in skin healthcare.