Sofia Moreira is an academic junior researcher with experience in different model organisms (Arabidopsis thaliana, Medicago truncatula, Drosophila melanogaster and Xenopus laevis) and scientific fields (Molecular and Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Genetics, Mechanobiology). She completed her Biology degree at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto (FCUP), in 2011. Her fascination about Developmental Biology and Genetics emerged as a master's student working on plant lateral organ development (IBMC, Porto) combining Arabidopsis thaliana and Medicago truncatula. After completing her master's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology (FCUP, October, 2013), Sofia joined the group of Professor Claudio Sunkel at IBMC as a research fellow, working on the project "Understanding the coordination between mitosis and cell polarity", under the scientific supervision of Dr Eurico Morais-de-Sá. During this time, Sofia became fascinated about cell polarity, live cell imaging and the powerful of Drosophila genetic tools. Encouraged by this experience, Sofia was awarded with a PhD fellowship from FCT in 2015 to pursue her work on cell polarity in the context of tissue proliferation, supervised by Dr Eurico Morais-de-Sá and co-supervised by Professor Claudio Sunkel. During her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology (i3S/IBMC/ICBAS), Sofia used Drosophila melanogaster and Schneider 2 cell lines to describe an important role for the protein phosphatase PP1 in controlling the cortical localization of Lgl (an important polarity protein and tumour suppressor) by direct dephosphorylation, contributing with new insights into daughter cell re-polarization at mitotic exit in epithelia. During her PhD, Sofia also had opportunity to participate in several meetings and outreach events, as also to improve fundamental skills, such as communication, writing and mentoring. In 2020, Sofia was awarded with the Best PhD thesis in Developmental Biology by SPBD, Portugal. After defending her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology, in September 2019, Sofia was strongly encouraged to remain in academia and persue an independent research path. Currently, she is a junior researcher holding a highly competitive 6-year contract from FCT (CEEC, 3rd edition, starting in April 2021). Sofia started his grant in Mechanisms of Morphogenesis lab (IGC) and currently she proceeds her investigation in  Cytoskeleton Regulation and Cancer group at i3s. During her scientific path, Sofia actively engaged in science outreaching initiatives, including the 2022 Open Day at IGC and serving as evaluator at ATG - Ciência Viva (from 5th to 7th Editions), among others. These experiences were rewarding by contributing to the democratization of science and breaking down barriers between the scientific community and society.

Publications:

[8] Ferreira F, Moreira S, Zhao M, Barriga EH (2025). Stretch-induced endogenous electric fields drive directed collective cell migration in vivo. Nat Mater. Jan 17;1–9. 

[7] Moreira, S.*, Espina, J.A*, Saraiva, J.E*, Barriga, E.H (2022). A Toolbox to Study Tissue Mechanics In Vivo and Ex Vivo. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol. 2438. (DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2035-9_29)

[6] Ventura, G.*, Moreira, S.*, Barros-Carvalho, A., Osswald, M., and Morais-de-Sá, E (2020). Lgl cortical dynamics are independent of binding to the Scrib-Dlg complex but require Dlg-dependent restriction of aPKC. Development 147. (DOI: 10.1242/dev.186593)

[5] Moreira, S., Osswald, M., Ventura, G., Gonçalves, M., Sunkel, C.E., and Morais-de-Sá, E. (2019). PP1-Mediated Dephosphorylation of Lgl Controls Apical-basal Polarity. Cell Rep. 26, 293-301.e7. (DOI:10.1016/j.celrep.2018.12.060)

[4] Moreira, S., and Morais-de-Sá, E. (2016). Spatiotemporal phosphoregulation of Lgl: Finding meaning in multiple on/off buttons. BioArchitecture 6, 29–38.(DOI: 10.1080/19490992.2016.1149290)

[3] Carvalho, C.A.*, Moreira, S.*, Ventura, G., Sunkel, C.E., and Morais-de-Sá, E. (2015). Aurora A Triggers Lgl Cortical Release during Symmetric Division to Control Planar Spindle Orientation. Curr. Biol. 25, 53–60. (DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.053)

[2] Moreira, S., Braga, T., Carvalho, H., and Campilho, A. (2013). The Arabidopsis HP6 gene is expressed in Medicago truncatula lateral roots and root nodule primordia. Plant Signal. Behav. 8. (DOI: 10.4161/psb.25262)

[1] Moreira, S. et al (2013) AHP6 Inhibits Cytokinin Signaling to Regulate the Orientation of Pericycle cell Division during Lateral Root Inititation. Plos One 8: 1-9 (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0056370)

*First co-authors