Ana Malheiro is currently a Research Engineer at AEMIS Facility. She is in charge of maintaining cutting-edge electron microscopy instrumentation in top-notch shape to pave the way for scientific advances. She also provides hands-on training, technical support and characterization services to internal and external users from academia and industry. She has extensive experience analysing soft matter and biological samples using electron microscopy techniques.

Ana Malheiro graduated in Pathological Anatomy and holds a PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology from the University of Porto, Portugal. During her PhD, she uncovered the duality of neuronal and glial dysfunctions in the neuropathogenesis of plasmalogen deficiency. In this line of research, it was unravelled that plasmalogens are crucial for the formation and maintenance of healthy myelin sheaths, being also essential mediators of cellular signalling at the plasma membrane.

Before joining INL in October 2022, Ana worked five years as an electron microscopy technician in the Histology and Electron Microscopy Platform (HEMS) at the Institute of Research and Innovation in Health (i3S), Porto, Portugal.

• Malheiro AR, Correia B, Ferreira da Silva T, Bessa-Neto D, Van Veldhoven PP, Brites P. (2019)
  Leukodystrophy caused by plasmalogen deficiency rescued by glyceryl 1-myristyl ether treatment
  Brain Pathol, Jan 22. doi: 10.1111/bpa.12710

• Ferreira da Silva T, Eira J, Lopes AT, Malheiro AR, Sousa VF, Luoma A, Avila RA, Wanders RJA, Just WW, Kirschner DA, Sousa MM and Brites P. (2014)
  Peripheral nervous system plasmalogens regulate Schwann cell differentiation and myelination
  Journal of Clinical Investigation, 124(6): 2560-70. doi: 10.1172/JCI72063

• Morais M, Machado V, Dias F, Figueiredo P, Palmeira C, Martins G, Fernandes R, Malheiro AR, Mikkonen KS, Teixeira AL, Medeiros R. (2022)
  Glucose-Functionalized Silver Nanoparticles as a Potential New Therapy Agent Targeting Hormone-Resistant Prostate Cancer cells
  Int J Nanomedicine. 2022 Sep 16;17:4321-4337; doi: 10.2147/IJN.S364862

• Cruz AF, Fonseca NA, Malheiro AR, B Melo J, Gaspar MM, Fernandes R, Moura V, Simões S, Moreira JN. (2022)
  Targeted liposomal doxorubicin/ceramides combinations: The importance to assess the nature of drug interaction beyond bulk tumor cells
  Eur J Pharm Biopharm. 2022 Mar; doi: 10.1016/j.ejpb.2022.01.006

• Melo J, Pinto V, Fernandes T, Malheiro AR, Osório H, Figueiredo C, Leite M. (2021)
  Isolation Method and Characterization of Outer Membranes Vesicles of Helicobacter pylori Grown in a Chemically Defined Medium
  Front Microbiol. 2021 Jun 2; doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.654193