Celso Cunha

Celso Cunha has a PhD in Biology (1992) by the University of Lisbon (1992). In 2012 was awarded the title of Aggregate in Microbiology by NOVA University of Lisbon. During his career, virology was the focus of research. African swine fever, influenza, rotaviruses, adenoviruses, Hepatitis B and D, HIV, and more recently SARS-CoV-2 were investigated in distinct contexts and using different approaches.

CC supervised 7 PhD thesis, and several students at the Post-doc, Master’s, and undergraduate levels. He coordinated a master’s program and currently is member of the scientific committee of 3 PhD programs.

CC was part of scientific evaluation committees for several funding agencies in Portugal, Spain, France, Czech Republic, Georgia, South Africa, India, and Hong Kong.

He was awarded 3 national prizes and is co-author of 42 articles, 3 book chapters, and 1 patent.

Currently is Associate Professor with Habilitation and Director of the Medical Microbiology Unit of IHMT-NOVA.

Main research interests are related to host-pathogen interactions in virus infection. Our research has been focused on fundamental aspects of the biology Hepatitis B and D viruses using in vitro models and state of the art approaches.

More recently, new research lines and viruses were introduced, and new collaborations were set up. In particular, we investigate the molecular epidemiology and drug susceptibility of Rotaviruses, HIV, and SARS-CoV-2, and these viruses are now also part of the portfolio of research interests.

1. Rodrigues L, Bento Cunha R, Vassilevskaia T, Viveiros M, Cunha C. Drug Repurposing for COVID-19: A Review and a Novel Strategy to Identify New Targets and Potential Drug Candidates. Molecules (2022) Apr 23;27(9):2723.
2. Manjate F, João ED, Chirinda P, Garrine M, Vubil D, Nobela N, Kotloff K, Nataro JP, Nhampossa T, Acácio S, Tate JE, Parashar U, Mwenda JM, Alonso PL, Nyaga M, Cunha C, Mandomando I. Molecular Epidemiology of Rotavirus Strains in Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Children in Manhiça District, Southern Mozambique 2008-2019. Viruses (2022) Jan 12;14(1):134.
3. Tavanez, JP, Carneiro R, Pereira, A, Vassilevskaia T, Quina AS, Cunha C. (2020). Hepatitis Delta virus interacts with splicing factor SF3B155 and alters the expression of cell cycle control genes. The FEBS Journal;287(17): 3719-3732.
4. Freitas N, Abe K, Cunha C, Menne S, and Gudima SO (2014). Support of the infectivity of hepatitis delta virus particles by the envelope proteins of different genotypes of hepatitis B virus.  Journal of Virology, 88 (11): 6255-6267.
5. Cavaco-Silva J, Abecassis A, Miranda AC, Poças J, Narciso J, Águas MJ, Maltez F, Almeida I, Germano I, Diniz A, Gonçalves MF, Gomes P, Cunha C, Camacho RJ (2014). HIV-2 Integrase Polymorphisms and Longitudinal Genotypic Analysis of HIV-2 Infected Patients Failing a Raltegravir-Containing Regimen. PLoS One, 9(3): e92747