Team Members
Here you can see how each individual team member contributed to the development of P(L)AST.
| Name | Work Developed |
|---|---|
| Guilherme Vilela Alves | Student Leader. Responsible for organizing the students' work and for bridging the gap between professors and students. Helped where necessary. Spokesperson for the Wet Lab group collaborating in the wet lab work design and planning. Member of the Engineering group researching and developing the engineering prototypes' designs. One of the team's go to communicators. Presented our project in the LATAM MeetUp. |
| Alexandre Coelho | Member of the Engineering group researching suitable ways of microplastic collection and degradation, as well as the 3D design of possible prototypes. Member of the Modeling group working in the incorporation of the microplastic degradation enzymes in B. subtilis. |
| Ana Ferreira | Member of the Wet Lab group helping in the research for the mutants enzymes with the best performance. Member of the Human Practices group, organizing the event "International Ocean Conference [iGEM Edition]", that ended up not occurring. Also took part in the realization of interviews to experts regarding the life cycle of microplastics and their environmental impact. |
| André Luis | Spokesperson of the Engineering group designing the engineering prototype. Member of the Wet Lab group collaborating in the laboratory work. Helping hand in the Human Practices and Public Relations groups. Presented our project in the LATAM MeetUp. |
| Bárbara Fernandes | Member of the Wet Lab group designing the experimental procedures. Member of the Human Practices group collecting information about microplatic's life cycle and environmental impact. |
| César Duarte | Member of the Wet Lab group researching for PE and PET degradation assays. Member of the Engineering group researching the implementation and development of the prototype. |
| David Cortiço | Member of the Human practices group organizing and promoting events, promoted our project in the IGEMNawi podcast. Member of the Public Relations group that developed the promotional video and help develop content for the team's social media account. |
| Diogo Torres | Co-spokesperson of the Public Relations group partly responsible for Social Media and fully responsible for creating and managing fundraising. Made the study of the impact of microplastics in the economy and contacted stakeholders. |
| Fábio Queiroz | Member of the Wet Lab group researching for the plasmid, enzymes and signal peptide sequences. Helped designing the full plasmid to use and the primers. Member of the Modelling group taking care of task organization of the group, strated the process of adding metabolites on the iBsu1103 model and operated simulations using Optflux software. Also help with several miscellaneous tasks for the team. |
| Francisco Sobral | Member of the Engineering group responsible for designing a suitable bioprocess for microplastic degradation. Member of the Modelling group researching possible PE and PET degradation pathways that can be inserted in Bacillus metabolism. |
| Fredi Brigham | Member of the Wet Lab group researching and designing PE and PET degradation assays. Member of the Modelling group researching and developing the PE degradation pathway in B. subtilis. |
| Henrique Silva | Member of the Modelling group researching for PE and PET degradation pathways, as well as genome-wide metabolic models for our model organism, Bacillus subtilis. Besides this, helped build the metabolic model we worked with. |
| Marta Cação | Member of the Wet Lab group taking part in the design of the parts and the experimental procedures. Member of the Engineering group researching microplastics separations methods. |
| Olga Chervonovska | The first person to bring up the microplastic issue, then together with Rodrigo expanded further the theme to present to the rest of the group. Member of the Wet Lab group conducting experiments. Member of the Public Relations group responsible for interacting with other teams on social media, as well as posting and promoting our team, interviewed Paula Sobral and helped with fundraising. Recruited the person responsible for the drawing of the promotional video (Beatriz Almeida). One of the creative and crafty members, came up with the medal idea and then, its realization. Presented our project in the LATAM MeetUp. |
| Pedro Nunes | Main Wiki developer - responsible for writing the wiki code, as well as monitoring the wiki content, structure and design. Spokesperson of the Human Practices group, with the responsibility of 1) Coordinating the workflow for the interviews conducted throughout the project 2) Participating in the overall organization of the events developed by our team 3) Being one of the main contact bridges with other iGEM teams. |
| Rodrigo Barriga Alves | Spokesperson of the Modelling group collaborating in the design of the PET and PE pathways. Together with Olga, we were the ones who first presented to the group the microplastics issue. Member of the Human Practices group, made the first contact with Zero P (one of our main collaborators) and interviewed Anne-Sophie from Hoola One. Helping hand in the Wet Lab and Public Relations groups. One of the main recruiters. |
| Vítor Mordido | Member of the Engineering group researching the prototype. Member of the Human Practices group contacting and interviewing specialist whenever Engineering needed more informations about different subjects. Often acting as a bridge between the two groups. |
Acknowledgements
A big thank you to all the people who supported us throughout our journey. We couldn’t have made it without you!
General Support
- Primary PI Isabel Rocha: Team PI. Promoter of the iGEM competition, responsible for all round guidance, and in particular for organizing the workload of the Modelling group, troubleshooting with the model and simulations and for analyzing the dry lab results. Provided the funds to cover both the registration and the jamboree fees.
- Secondary PI Sofia Ferreira: Team co-PI. Promoter of the iGEM competition, responsible for all round guidance, ranging from extensive wet lab guidance, both in design and execution, to engineering and communication advice, responsible for the HQ-team contacts and paperwork submission.
- Instructor Alexandra Balola: Team Instructor. Responsible mostly for wet lab guidance, both in design and execution, but also for general advice.
- ITQB NOVA: Provided the funds to pay for the registration fee and endorsed our team. Also offered us ways to divulge our project, a space to develop our activities and allowed us access to an equipment we needed to collaborate with another iGEM team. Finally, the institution’s Communication department also participated in the development of our project’s image and digital presence, as well as contributing with valuable advice and guidance.
- Paula Chicau: Kindly helped us when working with the Zetasizer, an instrument needed for a collaboration with iGEM TEC CEM.
Dry Lab Support
- Instructor Ana Alão: Team Instructor. Responsible mostly for dry lab guidance, especially in troubleshooting the model and simulations, for analyzing the dry lab results and for offering ideas on who to improve the project, but also for general advice.
- Instructor André Fonseca: Team Instructor. Responsible mostly for dry lab guidance, especially in troubleshooting the model, running the simulations and for analyzing the dry lab results, but also for general advice.
Mentorship Support
- Chloe Wayman: MSc in Freshwater and Marine Biology from the University of Amsterdam. Chloe published an article during her Master's, reviewing the fate of plastics in aquatic environments. She shared with our team her knowledge of plastics in the oceans and their impacts on the environment and health.
- Luís Veríssimo: Teaches Strategic Communication, as a guest, at NOVA FCSH. With over 30 years of professional experience related to communication, worked as an executive-director and strategic planning director in different national and international agencies. Helped our project by giving us an overview of good practices and strategies related to science communication
- Paula Sobral: Coordinator of the Environmental Risk thematic line at MARE - NOVA (Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre). With over 10 years of experience in the field, has published several publications and is a designated expert in microplastics for the Science and Technology Foundation. In the early stages of our project, she advised us on the best course of action and gave us valuable information regarding microplastic pollution and its dynamics, as well as technologies currently available for tackling this problem.
- Rosa María C. Murillo Torres: Geologist Engineer from IPN, with a master's degree and PhD in Environmental Engineering from UNAM, specializing in water treatment and soil remediation. She has a post-doctorate on the Elimination of emerging pollutants present in springs, using microfiltration. She is currently a full professor at the ITESM campus Estado de México. Through a collaboration with team iGEM TEC CEM, she has answered our questions regarding wastewater treatment plants. The information collected was extremely useful in improving our implementation plan, which revolves around said infrastructures.
- Sabrina Magalhães: PhD student in Bioremediation and Ecosystems Functioning in CIIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research. Sabrina has published several papers about microplastics and contributed to our project with her insights on their effects on human health and aquatic environment. She also provided useful information on wastewater treatment plants and on a technology based on nanobubbles, which we used in our implementation plan.
Financial Support
- Bacillus Genetic Stock Center (BGSC): Provided us with Bacillus subtilis strains w168 and KO7, as well as E.coli DH5α cells containing the integration plasmids pBS1C and pBS2E.
- iGEM Uppsala 2021: This team has also sent us E.coli DH5α cells containing the integration plasmids pBS1C and pBS2E. These were essential to our strategy, as they are necessary for gene integration in Bacillus subtilis, our chassis of choice.
- GoFundMe: A big thank you to all the people who donated money on our GoFundMe fundraising campaign, it was a great help! We will not mention any names here, as the donors wished to remain anonymous.
Science Communication Support
- Advisor Henrique Pereira: Formally trained in Microbiology and currently a master’s student in Science Communication at NOVA FCSH. Works to bridge the gap between the scientists and their different publics and is currently working in science communication at ITQB NOVA. Advised in developing an audio-visual identity for the P(L)AST team, especially with the videography, and to design the strategy of the communication group and outreach activities, how to execute them in social media platforms and between institutions.
- Advisor Inês Ventura: A researcher in love with storytelling, she's a biologist with a MSc in Biomedical Research (Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Coimbra) and a master’s student in Science Communication at NOVA FCSH. Works as a Communication Officer at Instituto de Sistemas e Robótica, a research institute affiliated to Instituto Superior Técnico. Helped develop communication strategies, managing social networks, planning and executing events.
- Advisor José Marques: Master’s student of Science Communication at NOVA FCSH. Public Relations Co-spokesperson & Human Practices member. Helped develop communication strategies , managing social networks, planning and executing events, and contacting different partners.
- Beatriz Almeida: Responsible for the animation and assembly of the Promotion Video.
