Dr Alexandra Correia

Alexandra Correia (AC) graduated in Animal Science Engineering (UTAD, 1998) and holds an MSc in Agrarian Sciences – Animal Production (UTAD, 2003). She defended her PhD thesis in Sciences, speciality Biology, at University of Minho in December 2012, addressing Candida albicans virulence factors as vaccination targets against systemic candidiasis. She worked as Postdoctoral Research Scientist at IBMC from 2013-2018 and Junior Researcher from January to February 2019 in the immune response to the parasite Neospora caninum. From March 2019 to August 2021, she was Assistant Researcher at i3S and is the PI of a project in mucosal vaccination against bovine neosporosis. AC authored/co-authored more than 50 scientific articles in international peer-review journals and 2 book chapters. She supervised/co-supervised several MsC or undergraduate students, and supervises two PhD students of Doctoral Animal Science or Veterinary Sciences PhD Programme. Additionally, AC cosupervises 3 PhD students in Veterinary Immunology or Immunology to Infection.

Her collaborative work with national and international partners is evident in joint publications. AC taught several curricular units at ICBAS-UP, FCUP-UP, U. Minho, and Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama. Currently, she is Assistant Professor at the Department of Immuno-Physiology and Farmacology of ICBAS and teaches immunology to the Integrated Masters in Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, and Dental Medicine, and to Bachelor in Bioengeneering. She has profited from her academic background on Animal Science to establish a new research line more focused on the translation of basic research, mostly done in the murine models, into hosts of veterinary interest.

Her main research interests concern mucosal vaccination, veterinary immunology with a focus on Neospora caninum infections and in the interaction between immunity and nutrition, and in immunobiology of infection, specially infections caused by Candida species, Toxoplasma gondii, the biofilm producing bacteria Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.