Ana Armada

Ana Maria Armada is an Assistant Researcher at the Teaching and Research Unit of Medical Microbiology (UEI MM) at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (IHMT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa (UNL, Lisbon, Portugal), and a Researcher at the THOP – TB, HIV, and Opportunistic Diseases and Pathogens group at the Centro R&D Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM, IHMT). Born in 1966, she holds dual Portuguese/Australian nationality. 

She graduated from the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Pharmacy, in 1991 (1985-1991). In 1998, she completed her Master’s degree in Biotechnology (Biochemical Engineering) at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon. She then became an Assistant Researcher and, after her public dissertation in 2008, advanced to Auxiliary Researcher at INETI/UTPAM (now dissolved). In 2019, she earned her PhD from IHMT/FCM/UNL in the PhD Program in Human Genetics and Infectious Diseases. 

Since 2022, Ana Maria has definitively joined the Leptospirosis and Lyme Borreliosis Group of UEI MM, IHMT, UNL. In this role, she conducts diagnostic analyses on samples received from hospitals, supervises Master’s students in this research area (since 2020), and is actively engaged in research projects related to Leptospirosis and Lyme Borreliosis. She also teaches classes in the area of Leptospirosis and Lyme disease, contributing to the education of students in this field. 

Besides her work in this new research area, she teaches several curricular units of Master’s and Doctorate courses at IHMT-NOVA in areas such as Immunology, Biosecurity, Cell Culture, and Intracellular Distribution and Activity of Antibiotics—one of which she coordinates (Cell Culture Course). She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the PhD programs in Biomedical Sciences at IHMT-NOVA. 

She is also a member of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (Professional License nº 8961) and part of the Flow Cytometry facility of GHTM/IHMT. Additionally, she serves as the IHMT-NOVA Coordinator of the Editorial Committee for the digital platform for vaccine information (https://www.imune.pt/sobre-o-imune-pt/). 

Since 2009, her research lines have been directed to the study (i) of inter-relations between pathogenic microorganisms (M. tuberculosis, Leishmania spp., B. burgdoferi s. l., and Leptospira interrogans) and the host cell (macrophages), and (ii) development of new diagnostic tools and alternative therapies for the treatment of drug-resistant diseases, in Tuberculosis , Cancer and Lyme disease, by examining the ability of microRNAs and natural compounds to revert drug resistance through interaction with ABC transporters and gene methylation patterns, thus acting as chemosensitizers. Since 2019 she is part of Leptospirosis and Lyme Borreliosis group in IHMT, and her research work has been focused on the study of spirochetes (Borrelia and Leptospira) with particular emphasis on the development of molecular tools for early diagnosis of leptospirosis, and application of new immunological techniques for neuroborreliosis diagnostic.

In parallel, she continues her close collaboration with the group of Drug Response and Resistance from NOVA Medical School (MicroRNA involvement in breast cancer susceptibility and progression, NGS, miRNA and infection).

1. Mendes A, Armada A, Cabral LIL, Amado PSM, Campino L, et al. 2022. 1,2,4-Trioxolane and 1,2,4,5-Tetraoxane Endoperoxides against Old-World Leishmania Parasites: In Vitro Activity and Mode of Action. Pharmaceuticals (Basel), 15(4):446. doi: 10.3390/ph15040446.
2. Gomes BC, Honrado M, Armada A, Viveiros M, Rueff J, Rodrigues AS. 2020. ABC Efflux Transporters and the Circuitry of miRNAs: Kinetics of Expression in Cancer Drug Resistance. Int J Mol Sci, 21(8):2985. doi: 10.3390/ijms21082985.
3. Armada A, Gomes BC, Viveiros M, Rueff J, Rodrigues AS. Regulation of ABCB1 activity by microRNA-200c and microRNA-203a in breast cancer cells: the quest for microRNAs’ involvement in cancer drug resistance. 2019. Cancer Drug Resist, 2(3):897-911. doi: 10.20517/cdr.2019.24.
4. Armada A, Martins C, Spengler G, Molnar J, Amaral L, Rodrigues AS, Viveiros M. 2016. Fluorimetric Methods for Analysis of Permeability, Drug Transport Kinetics, and Inhibition of the ABCB1 Membrane Transporter. Methods Mol Biol, 1395:87-103. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-3347-1_7.
5. Novo C, Martins TM, Prata S, Lopes A, Armada A. 2009. Gene sequencing, modelling and immunolocalization of the protein disulfide isomerase from Plasmodium chabaudi. Int J Biol Macromol, 45(4):399-406. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2009.07.001.