Doctoral Candidates
Ana Laura Pereira-Lourenço
PhD Candidate – DC6
My name is Ana Laura, I was born and raised in Brazil in a half Portuguese family. I am a natural extrovert and curious person, always in the mood for new experiences.
Concerning my academic background, I have a bachelor’s in biotechnology from Universidade de Brasília (2016) and during my Bachelor’s, I was granted a Brazilian Government scholarship to study at Kent State University (USA). Also, I had a 2-month experience at Dr. Alan Bakalinsky ‘s lab at Oregon State University. I have a master’s in biotechnology by Universidade Católica de Brasília (2021), which the thesis is about encrypted antimicrobial peptides in combination with conventional antibiotics aiming to find synergistic activity against pathogenic bacteria. After my master´s I was involved in another project concerning biotechnology exploration (genomic, transcriptomic and metabolites) of Antarctic mosses. Because of this project, I had the opportunity to go and stay at the Brazilian Antarctic Station from December 2021 to February 2022, and, also, from January to February 2023.
Personally, working in a project as SSBB, matches my expectations as a young scientist since I wanted to continue my professional steps in the field of antimicrobial resistance. Studying microrganisms, especially bacteria, and trying to understand their survival mechanisms mesmerizes me; apparently simple and ancestral organisms having such flexible metabolism, always offering new exits. In addition to that, working on the development of possible new drugs that could avoid the death of millions of people and animals worldwide.