Sandra Antunes

Sandra Antunes is a Biologist with a PhD in Biomedical Sciences and is currently a Researcher at the Unit of Medical Parasitlogy of IHMT-NOVA and a member of the Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM) research center.

During the last years, centered research on the vector-tick and associated pathogens interactions, towards the mitigation of their impact in human and animal health. Significantly contributed to the field of transcriptomic and proteomic analysis of vectors, cooperating and coordinating different studies that target ticks and their response to zoonotic pathogens, particularly Babesia spp..

SA has collaborated in different research projects focused in her area of expertise and is currently the PI of the R&D Project “BabRed: A toolbox to decipher the cross-talk between Babesia ovis and the host cell”.

SA has been engaged in promoting knowledge transmission, lecturing in PhD and MSc programs (IHMT-NOVA), in parallel with advanced training with the supervision of BScs, MScs and PhDs students.

With 40 peer-reviewed publications and a h-index of 14, the vast majority of the her work is based on molecular biology in alliance with innovative methodologies for the study of vector-parasite interactions.

Current Research Interests include:

• Infectious diseases
• Ticks and tick-borne diseases
• Molecular biology of host-vector-pathogen interactions.

Sandra Antunes is a member of the team lead by Ana Domingos (Assistant Researcher with habilitation/agreggation), which includes Leonardo Moreira (PhD Student).

1. Torrejón E, Sanches GS, Moerbeck L, et al. Molecular Survey of Bartonella Species in Stray Cats and Dogs, Humans, and Questing Ticks from Portugal. Pathogens. 2022;11(7):749. Published 2022 Jun 30. doi:10.3390/pathogens11070749.
2. Couto J, Seixas G, Stutzer C, et al. Probing the Rhipicephalus bursa Sialomes in Potential Anti-Tick Vaccine Candidates: A Reverse Vaccinology Approach. Biomedicines. 2021;9(4):363. Published 2021 Mar 31. doi:10.3390/biomedicines9040363
3. Sanches GS, Villar M, Couto J, et al. Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato (Acari: Ixodidae) Tropical and Temperate Lineages: Uncovering Differences During Ehrlichia canis Infection. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021;10:611113. Published 2021 Jan 29. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2020.611113
4. Rosa C, Asada M, Hakimi H, Domingos A, Pimentel M, Antunes S. Transient transfection of Babesia ovis using heterologous promoters. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2019;10(6):101279. doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2019.101279
5. Antunes S, Couto J, Ferrolho J, et al. Rhipicephalus bursa Sialotranscriptomic Response to Blood Feeding and Babesia ovis Infection: Identification of Candidate Protective Antigens. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2018;8:116. Published 2018 May 4. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2018.00116