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4. Sofia Rodrigues Teixeira

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Biography

Sofia Teixeira received her doctoral degree in Nanotechnology from Swansea University (April 2014). Her doctoral research was supported by an awarded KESS scholarship and was performed in the field of development of novel nanosensors for the detection of disease-associated biological molecules She obtained strong know-how in biomedical devices, electronic materials and micro/nanofabrication techniques using the strict protocols and methods of a cleanroom environment (Class 10,000 and 1000); micro-fabrication, soft-lithography, prototype design, surface characterization (chemical and physical), chemistry and electrochemistry. Currently, Sofia Teixeira is a senior researcher at Tyndall National Institute where she works on several projects including HOLISTICS - Holistic Human Sensing for Health, Aging and Wellness. HOLISTICS is funded by the Irish Government’s Disruptive Technology and Innovation Fund, DTIF. Her research interests are focused on nanodevice fabrication, 3D fabrication using additive manufacturing, electrochemical functionalisation and biosensors optimisation. Sofia has recognised skills in clinical sample processing and analysis, immune diagnostics, surface electrochemistry and characterisation, electronic materials and microfabrication techniques. Sofia combines advanced material science with molecular and cellular biology techniques. Sofia Teixeira proficiency and collaborations in research have been applied to several projects. She worked on the EU Ecsel JU Position II project (Reference: 783132) with TE Medical/Creganna and Philips to produce the next generation of smart catheters. She worked on the Enterprise Ireland funded PATsule project (Reference: CF/2015/0065A) in collaboration with NIBRT (National Institute for Bioprocess Training and Research) to develop novel sensor solutions for inline bioreactor monitoring to improve yield and reduce costs of biologic medicines. On the Ireland-Wales CALIN INTERREG Guide Dog 4.0 project, she worked in collaboration with the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind to develop sensors for monitor the wellbeing of the dogs. Her most recent project was the SFI Confirm Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre target project with Johnson & Johnson, which aimed to develop novel inline sensors to enable improved manufacturing efficiency, supporting jobs and industry in Ireland. During her professional activities, she performed several secondments, interacted with 12 R&D projects, published 28 research papers in high impact peer-reviewed journals receiving more than 390 citations with a Scopus h-index of 11. She was invited for several scientific actions: as referee for more than 7 peer-review international journals, and as session organisation/chair at one early career researches meeting, academic jury board, interviews and projects evaluation. Sofia has one patent and 3 invention disclosure forms were submitted and granted resulting from scientific research and industrial product development. Scientific co-supervision of 3 PhD students (3 finished) and main supervision of 3 MSc students; 7 main supervisions for the BSc and MSc (all finished). She is also an invited professor at University College Cork Department of Chemistry, (since 2019). She is a Co-chair of the Medical Devices Working Group in the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine (ETPN); and a Vice-chair of the Tyndall Early Career Researchers Networks (TEC-NET). Sofia was awarded the I3S-Hovione Capital Health Innovation Prize – an international award aimed at distinguishing innovative ideas in the field of health – recognising a sensor for the early detection of ovarian cancer. Also, my MSc thesis was acknowledged and awarded as the best national MSc thesis by the Portuguese Association for Quality.‍

Research Interests

My research focus is the development of novel nanosensors for the detection of disease associated biological molecules. Working within the Tyndall National Institute, my research involves molecular and cell biology techniques together with high-resolution material fabrication, functionalization and characterisation to develop next generation biosensors. 
Physical, biochemical and biological characterisation of the sensor platforms is achieved with a number of techniques such as: Ultra violet and electron-beam lithography, chemical etching, physical vapour deposition (PVD) and rapid thermal annealing for fabrication. High-resolution characterisation tools such as Autolab (electrochemical), Scanning Electron Microscopy, Raman Spectrosocpy and Atomic Force Microscopy are also used in conjugation with biological techniques such as quantitative PCR, chromatin Immunoprecipitation, Methylated DNA immunprecipitation and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay’s. With the aim of meeting the clinical need for rapid, simple and accurate diagnostics tests, my research is undertaken with clinical context in mind. In the short-term this involves adapting immune-based capture methods to microfluidic devices, whilst longer term goals will focus on multiplex platforms and novel recognition technologies.

Research Grants

	Project	Funding Body	Start Date	End Date	Award
	Novel Electrochemical Sensor for Point of Care Diagnosis	Enterprise Irl	27-AUG-20	26-AUG-21	€11,605.00

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Publications

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Conference Publications

	Year	Publication
	(2013)	Hetero-SIC-WASMPE13 Burwell G., Teixeira S., Castaing A., Guy O. (2013) Synthesis and characterization of (3-aminopropyl)triethoxysilanemodified epitaxial graphene Hetero-SIC-WASMPE13 [Details]
	(2011)	Institute of Industrial Engineers Annual Conference Teixeira, S., Sampaio, P. (2011) Food safety management systems implementation and certification: survey results Institute of Industrial Engineers Annual Conference [Details]

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Peer Reviewed Journals

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	'Non-invasive molecular assessment of human embryo development and implantation potential' Abreu CM;Thomas V;Knaggs P;Bunkheila A;Cruz A;Teixeira SR;Alpuim P;Francis LW;Gebril A;Ibrahim A;Margarit L;Gonzalez D;Freitas PP;Conlan RS;Mendes Pinto I; (2020) 'Non-invasive molecular assessment of human embryo development and implantation potential'. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 157 [DOI] [Details]
	(2020)	'Environmental enrichment induces intergenerational behavioural and epigenetic effects on fish' Berbel, WM;Berry, N;Rodriguez-Barreto, D;Teixeira, SR;de Leaniz, CG;Consuegra, S (2020) 'Environmental enrichment induces intergenerational behavioural and epigenetic effects on fish'. Molecular Ecology, [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Measuring the impact on impedance spectroscopy of pseudo-reference electrode accumulations' Sawhney M.;Azzopardi E.;Rodrigues Teixeira S.;Francis L.;Conlan R.;Gazze S. (2019) 'Measuring the impact on impedance spectroscopy of pseudo-reference electrode accumulations'. Electrochemistry Communications, 105 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Direct monitoring of breast and endometrial cancer cell epigenetic response to DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase inhibitors' Teixeira SR;Abreu CM;Parkes L;Davies J;Yao S;Sawhney MA;Margarit L;Gonzalez D;Pinto IM;Francis LW;Conlan RS; (2019) 'Direct monitoring of breast and endometrial cancer cell epigenetic response to DNA methyltransferase and histone deacetylase inhibitors'. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 141 [DOI] [Details]
	(2019)	'Physical Structure and Electrochemical Response of Diamond-Graphite Nanoplatelets: From CVD Synthesis to Label-Free Biosensors' Santos, Nuno; Pereira, Sónia; Fernandes, António; Vasconcelos, Thiago; Fung, Chung Man; Archanjo, Braulio; Achete, Carlos; Teixeira, Sofia Rodrigues; Silva, Rui; Costa, Florinda. (2019) 'Physical Structure and Electrochemical Response of Diamond-Graphite Nanoplatelets: From CVD Synthesis to Label-Free Biosensors'. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 11 (8) [DOI] [Details]
	(2018)	'Ultrasensitive environmental assessment of xeno-estrogens in water samples using label-free graphene immunosensors' Barton H;Berbel-Filho WM;Consuegra S;Francis L;Tizaoui C;Conlan RS;Teixeira SR; (2018) 'Ultrasensitive environmental assessment of xeno-estrogens in water samples using label-free graphene immunosensors'. Analytical Biochemistry, 548 [DOI] [Details]
	(2017)	'Chromophores in operative surgery: Current practice and rationalized development' Azzopardi EA;Owens SE;Murison M;Rees D;Anne Sawhney M;Francis LW;Sofia Rodrigues Teixeira R;Clement M;Steven Conlan R;Whitaker IS; (2017) 'Chromophores in operative surgery: Current practice and rationalized development'. Journal Of Controlled Release, 249 [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Clinical applications of amylase: Novel perspectives' Azzopardi E;Lloyd C;Teixeira SR;Conlan RS;Whitaker IS; (2016) 'Clinical applications of amylase: Novel perspectives'. Journal of Surgery, 160 (1) [DOI] [Details]
	(2016)	'Polyaniline-graphene based a-amylase biosensor with a linear dynamic range in excess of 6 orders of magnitude' Teixeira SR;Lloyd C;Yao S;Andrea Salvatore Gazze ;Whitaker IS;Francis L;Conlan RS;Azzopardi E; (2016) 'Polyaniline-graphene based a-amylase biosensor with a linear dynamic range in excess of 6 orders of magnitude'. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 85 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Label-free human chorionic gonadotropin detection at picogram levels using oriented antibodies bound to graphene screen-printed electrodes' Teixeira, S;Conlan, RS;Guy, OJ;Sales, MGF (2014) 'Label-free human chorionic gonadotropin detection at picogram levels using oriented antibodies bound to graphene screen-printed electrodes'. Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 2 :1852-1865 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Chitosan/AuNPs Modified Graphene Electrochemical Sensor for Label-Free Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Detection' Teixeira S., Ferreira N. S., Conlan R S., Guy O. J., M. Goreti F. Sales (2014) 'Chitosan/AuNPs Modified Graphene Electrochemical Sensor for Label-Free Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Detection'. Electroanalysis, [Details]
	(2014)	'Epitaxial graphene immunosensor for human chorionic gonadotropin' Teixeira, S;Burwell, G;Castaing, A;Gonzalez, D;Conlan, RS;Guy, OJ (2014) 'Epitaxial graphene immunosensor for human chorionic gonadotropin'. Sensors and Actuators, B: Chemical, 190 :723-729 [DOI] [Details]
	(2014)	'Novel single-wall carbon nanotube screen-printed electrode as an immunosensor for human chorionic gonadotropin' Teixeira, S;Conlan, RS;Guy, OJ;Sales, MGF (2014) 'Novel single-wall carbon nanotube screen-printed electrode as an immunosensor for human chorionic gonadotropin'. Electrochimica Acta, 136 :323-329 [DOI] [Details]
	(2013)	'Food safety management system implementation and certification: survey results' Teixeira, S;Sampaio, P (2013) 'Food safety management system implementation and certification: survey results'. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 24 :275-293 [DOI] [Details]

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Professional Activities

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Honours and Awards

	Year	Title	Awarding Body
	2017	Award a prize from I3S-Hovione Capital Health Innovation Prize. This international award aims at distinguishing innovative ideas in the area of health.	Hovione (Portugal)
	2011	Best MSc thesis	Associação Portuguesa para a Qualidade (APQ): Lisbon

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Patents

	Patent Number	Title	Granted
	us 16094325	Method of detecting bacterial infection in a biological sample	25-APR-19

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Conference Contributions

	Year	Publication
	(2020)	71st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Sofia Rodrigues Teixeira and Paul Galvin (2020) Electrochemical pH sensor for continuous monitoring in minimal invasive device. [Oral Presentation], 71st Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry, Online . [Details]
	(2020)	2nd Symposium on Welfare in aquaculture, Sofia Teixeira (2020) Innovation on Operational Welfare Indicators (OWI) using sensors. [Invited Oral Presentation], 2nd Symposium on Welfare in aquaculture, Online . [Details]
	(2019)	ISSC-22 Interdisciplinary Surface Science Conference, Sofia Rodrigues Teixeira and Paul Galvin (2019) Multiplexed biosensing for disease diagnosis and health monitoring. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], ISSC-22 Interdisciplinary Surface Science Conference, Swansea, UK . [Details]
	(2018)	Oriel Science: Showcasing science in the community, Sofia Teixeira (2018) Organ on a chip. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Oriel Science: Showcasing science in the community, Swansea, UK . [Details]
	(2018)	Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s Sixth International Molecular Diagnostics Europe, Sofia Teixeira, Lewis Francis, Steve Conlan (2018) Graphene Biosensor for Early Diagnostics of Ovarian Cancer. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Cambridge Healthtech Institute’s Sixth International Molecular Diagnostics Europe, Lisbon, Portugal . [Details]
	(2018)	International Conference on Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology – ICONAN 2018, Teixeira, S., L. Parkes, L. W. Francis, Conlan, R. S. (2018) Graphene immunosensor for epigenetic profiling of cancer cell treatment response and circulating cell free DNA hypomethylation in endometrial cancer. [Oral Presentation], International Conference on Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology – ICONAN 2018, Rome, Italy . [Details]
	(2017)	7th International Congress Nanotechnology in Biology & Medicine, Teixeira, S., Pinto, I. Conlan, R. S. (2017) Biosensor for quantitative detection of hCG. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], 7th International Congress Nanotechnology in Biology & Medicine, Krems, Austria . [Details]
	(2015)	12th International Conference on Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies (NN15), Teixeira, S., Conlan, R.S. (2015) Immunosensor for detection of epigenetic markers. [Oral Presentation], 12th International Conference on Nanosciences & Nanotechnologies (NN15), Thessaloniki, Greece . [Details]
	(2013)	Imaginenano2013, Teixeira, S., Castaing, A., Burwell, G., Conlan, R.S., Guy. O.J. (2013) Graphene biosensor for detection of hCG biomarker. [Oral Presentation], Imaginenano2013, Bilbao, Spain . [Details]

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Committees

	Committee	Function	From / To
	Tyndall Early Career Researchers Networks (TEC-Net), Tyndall National Institute, Ireland	Founding Member and Vice-chair	2020 /
	Medical Devices Working Group in the European Technology Platform for Nanomedicine (ETPN).	Co-chair	2019 /

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Employment

	Employer	Position	From / To
	Tyndall National Institute	Senior Researcher	01-SEP-20 /
	Tyndall National Institute	Researcher	01-OCT-18 / 30-MAY-21
	International Iberian Nanotechnology laboratory	NRN Research Fellow placement	01-SEP-15 / 31-JAN-16
	Swansea University	NRN Research Fellow (Early Career Researcher)	01-JAN-15 / 30-SEP-18
	Swansea University	Post-doctoral Researcher	01-APR-14 / 31-DEC-14

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Education

	Year	Institution	Qualification	Subject
	2014	Swansea University	PhD	PhD in Nanotechnology
	2010	University of Porto and University of Minho	MSc in Technology, science and food safety	MSc by Research (Honours)
	2005	University of Minho	Graduation in Biological Engineering (5 years’ degree)	Level in National or International Classification: 14 out of 20

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Languages

	Language	Reading	Writing	Speaking
	English	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent
	Portuguese	Fluent	Fluent	Fluent

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Journal Activities

	Journal	Role	To / From
	Biosensors & Bioelectronics	Referee	-
	Electrochemistry Communications	Referee	-
	Bioelectrochemistry	Referee	-

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Teaching Activities

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Teaching Interests

2019 - Current Advanced Electrochemistry course, Electroanalytical Chemistry (CM4027/CM6013) University College Cork Department of Chemistry, Ireland

2016 - 2018 Colloids module, MEng Chemical Engineering (EGDM01) Swansea University College of Engineering, United Kingdom 

2015 - 2018 Diagnostics and Imaging course of the Nanomedicine Maters studies (PMNM02) Swansea University Medical School, United Kingdom

2015 - 2018 Diagnostics and Imaging course of the Nanomedicine Maters studies (PMZM13) Swansea University Medical School, United Kingdom

2015 - 2016 Wastewater treatment of the Civil Engineering Maters studies (EG-401) Swansea University College of Engineering, United Kingdom 
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Research Information

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Internal Collaborators

	Name	Institute	Country
	Daniela Iacopino	Tyndall National Institute	IRELAND

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External Collaborators

	Name	Organisation / Institute	Country
	Sonia Consuegra	Swansea University	UNITED KINGDOM
	Florinda Costa	University of Aveiro	PORTUGAL
	Nadja Melo	Wales Fertility Institute Singleton Hospital	UNITED KINGDOM