Rafaela Ferrão
Rafaela Ferrão is a Ph.D. student in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra. Her Ph.D. is focused on developing a nanoparticle-based formulation able to cross the brain-blood barrier (BBB) and clear senescent brain cells to treat cognitive dysfunction associated with ageing. She has been developing her work at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, under the supervision of Professor Lino Ferreira. At Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, Los Angeles, California, she will test the developed nanoformulations in a BBB-on-a-chip platform. She will evaluate the permeation of the formulations through the BBB model and investigate the impact on the BBB properties and the anti-senescence effects in other brain cells. Rafaela will benefit from the expertise of the Terasaki Institute team of renowned scientists in the field of organ-on-a-chip technology.
Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation
Grant duration: 9 months