Ana Armada was born in 1966, she has dual nationality Portuguese/Australian. She graduated from the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Pharmacy in 1991. In 1998 she concluded her Master degree in Biotechnology (Biochemistry Engineering) at the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Lisbon. Since that time she has become an Assistant researcher and, after her public dissertation in 2008, she became an Auxiliary Researcher in INETI/UTPAM (now dissolved).

Her main research interests included monoclonal antibodies, immunology of malaria, epitope mapping, and vaccines. In 2009 she became part of IHMT/UNL and in January 2011 she had an opportunity to join the group of Mycobacteria, Unit of Microbiology at the IHMT/UNL where her primary line of research has been developing and has been directed to the study of mechanisms of multidrug resistance (MDR) of prokaryotes and eukaryotic cells (parasites, cancer cells). In 2013 she decided to join a phD programme (IHMT/FCM/UNL) where she is specializing in Human Genetics and Infectious diseases.

The main lines of work carried out, notably:

• Development methods for assessment and evaluation of efflux pump activity of MDR by bacteria/parasites/cancer cells.
• Study of mechanisms by which efflux pumps are genetically controlled and regulated.
• Development of efflux pumps inhibitors and/or regulators.
• Development of drugs that inhibit ABC transporters of MDR by cancer cells and parasites.
• Study of new efflux pumps inhibitors which enhanced the killing of infected macrophages.
• Immunology of Tuberculosis.

Team: Miguel Viveiros, Isabel Couto, Jorge Ramos, Sofia Costa

1. Pinto-Almeida, A., Mendes, T., Armada, A., Belo, S., Carrilho, E., Viveiros, M., and Afonso, A. (2015) The Role of Efflux Pumps in Schistosoma mansoni Praziquantel Resistant Phenotype, PloS one 10, e0140147.
2. Rabna, P., Ramos, J., Ponce, G., Sanca, L., Mane, M., Armada, A., Machado, D., Vieira, F., Gomes, V. F., Martins, E., Colombatti, R., Riccardi, F., Perdigao, J., Sotero, J., Portugal, I., Couto, I., Atouguia, J., Rodrigues, A., and Viveiros, M. (2015) Direct Detection by the Xpert MTB/RIF Assay and Characterization of Multi and Poly Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, PloS one 10, e0127536.
3. Armada, A., Gazarini, M. L., Goncalves, L. M., Antunes, S., Custodio, A., Rodrigues, A., Almeida, A. J., Silveira, H., Rosario, V., Santos-Gomes, G., and Domingos, A. (2013) Generation of an antibody that recognizes Plasmodium chabaudi cysteine protease (chabaupain-1) in both sexual and asexual parasite life cycle and evaluation of chabaupain-1 vaccine potential, Experimental parasitology 135, 166-174.
4. Armada, A. M., Alexandru, T., Machado, D., Danko, B., Hunyadi, A., Dinache, A., Nastasa, V., Boni, M., Ramos, J., Viveiros, M., Molnar, J., Pascu, M. L., and Amaral, L. (2013) The in vitro activity of products formed from exposure of chlorpromazine to a 266 nm laser beam against species of mycobacteria of human interest, In vivo (Athens, Greece) 27, 605-610.
5. Novo, C., Martins, T. M., Prata, S., Lopes, A., and Armada, A. (2009) Gene sequencing, modelling and immunolocalization of the protein disulfide isomerase from Plasmodium chabaudi, International journal of biological macromolecules 45, 399-406.