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Laboratory of Human Immunobiology and Pathogenesis NOVA Medical School / Faculdade de Ciências Médicas Universidade Nova de Lisboa Rua Câmara Pestana nº 6| 1150-082 | Lisboa | Portugal

Helena Soares

Investigador  Investigador Auxiliar

Helena Soares has a Pharm D degree by Faculdade Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal. In 2001 she entered the Gulbenkian PhD Program in Biomedicine (PGDB). Her PhD thesis work (2002-2006) on dendritic cells was developed in Ralph Steinman’s lab, at The Rockefeller University, NYC (USA). After being awarded her PhD degree, Helena moved to Pasteur Institute to work on the cellular biology of T cells and HIV-1-T cell interactions, as an EMBO post-doctoral fellow. In 2014, Helena returned to Portugal, first as an Invited Scientist at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) and on the following year as a Group Leader at Centro de Estudos de Doenças Crónicas da Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. Her research group is dedicated to the study of the variations of the immune response throughout human lifespan: from before birth to adulthood and aging, including our particular interest in addressing why female and male immune responses are different. 

  • Amaral-Silva D, Gonçalves R, Torrão RC, Torres R, Pimentel-Santos F, Mourão AF, Costa M, Falcão S, Araújo MP, Gonçalves MJ, Lopes C, Neto A, Marona J, Costa T, Costa W, Branco JC, Helena Soares. Direct tissue sensing reprograms TLR4+ Tfh-like cells inflammatory profile in the joints of rheumatoid arthritis patients. Communications Biology 2021. 4:1135 doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02659-0
  • Alenquer M, Ferreira F, Lousa D, Valério M, Medina-Lopes M, Bergman M-L, Gonçalves J, Demengeot J, Leite RB, Lilue J, Ning Z, Penha-Gonçalves C, Soares H, Soares CM, Amorim MJ. Amino acids 484 and 494 of SARS-CoV-2 spike are hotspots of immune evasion affecting antibody but not ACE2 binding. PLOS Pathogens 2021. 17(8): e1009772.
  • Lopes D, Henriques R, Santos-Dias M, Nunes da Silva C, Gonçalves J, Dinis de Sousa R, Abdhulgani S, Eletério J, Braga S, Soares H, Branco J, Canhão H, Rodrigues A. Staff SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and mental health as key factors in university response to COVID-19 pandemic. Front Pub Health. 2021.  
  • Santos-Pereira A, Triunfante V, Araújo PMM, Martins J, Soares H, Poveda E, Souto B, Osório NS. Nationwide Study of Drug Resistance Mutations in HIV-1 Infected Individuals under Antiretroviral Therapy in Brazil. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021. 22(10), 5304
  • Gonçalves J, Juliano AM, Charepe N, Alenquer M, Athayde D, Ferreira F, Archer M, Amorim MJ, Serrano F, Soares H Envelope destaque. non-neutralizing secretory IgA and T cells targeting SARS-CoV-2 spike protein are transferred to the breastmilk upon BNT162b2 vaccination. MedRxiv 2021 https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.03.21256416
  • Gonçalves J, Sousa RL, Jacinto MJ, Amaral-Silva D, Paula F, Sousa R, Zahedi S, Carvalho J, Cabral MG, Costa M, Branco JC, Canhão H, Alves JD, Rodrigues A, Soares H. Evaluating SARS-CoV-2 Seroconversion Following Relieve of Confinement Measures. Front Med 2020. doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.603996
  • Silva Z, Ferro T, Almeida D, Soares H, Ferreira JA, Deschepper FM, Hensbergen PJ, Pirro M, van Vliet SJ, Springer S, Paula A. Videira. MHC class I stability is modulated by cell surface sialylation in human dendritic cells. Pharmaceuticals. 2020. 12(3):E249
  • Alencar D, Gonçalves J, Cerqueira AS, Soares H, Petronilho AEnvelope destaque. Development of Triazoles based on AZT and their Anti-Viral Activity Against HIV-1. BioRxiv 2019
  • Silva JG, Martins NP, Henriques R, Soares H. HIV-1 Nef Impairs the Formation of Calcium Membrane Territories Controlling the Signaling Nanoarchitecture at the Immunological Synapse. J. Immunol. 2016. 197: 4042 Highlighted in J Immunol November 15, 2016, 197 (10) 3749-3750
  • Soares H. HIV-1 intersection with CD4 T cell vesicle exocytosis: intercellular communication goes viral. Frontiers in Immunology. 2014. 5:454
  • Secretary-General on the Board of Direction of Portuguese Society for Immunology (since 2021)
  • Expert and collaborator of JCR Ispra (Italy) on the project “Modelling the pathogenesis of Covid-19, based on the Adverse Outcome Pathway paradigm” coordinated by. Clemens Wittwehr and Brigitte Landesmann (since 2021)
  • Scientific coordinator of COVID-19 serological taskforce and Institutional representative of Serology4Covid Consortium (since 2020)
  • Faculty Representative in Infectious and Chronic Diseases Workgroup at NOVA University (since 2018)