Rita Teixeira dos Santos

Junior Researcher

Research group: Biotechnology

Background: PhD in Biomedicine from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto (Porto, Portugal)

Major research topics

• Microbial adhesion and biofilm formation
• Antimicrobial and anti-adhesive coatings
• Characterization of antimicrobial mechanisms by flow cytometry
• Biofilm analysis
• Environmental and medical biofilms

Selected Publications

Gomes, M., Gomes, L.C., Teixeira-Santos, R., Pereira, M.F.R., Soares, O.S.G.P., Mergulhão, F.J. “Carbon nanotube-based surfaces: Effect on the inhibition of single- and dual-species biofilms of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis”. Results in Surfaces and Interfaces (2022), 9.

Teixeira-Santos, R., Gomes, L.C., Mergulhão, F.J. “Recent advances in antimicrobial surfaces for urinary catheters”. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering (2022), 22.

Vorobii, M., Teixeira-Santos, R., Gomes, L.C., Garay-Sarmiento, M., Wagner, A.M., Mergulhão, F.J., Rodriguez-Emmenegger, C. “Oriented immobilization of Pep19-2.5 on antifouling brushes suppresses the development of Staphylococcus aureus biofilms”. Progress in Organic Coatings (2022), 163.

Faria, S.I., Teixeira-Santos, R., Morais, J., Vasconcelos, V., Mergulhão, F.J. “The association between initial adhesion and cyanobacterial biofilm development”. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, (2021), 97.

Teixeira-Santos, R., Gomes, M., Gomes, L.C., Mergulhão, F.J. “Antimicrobial and anti-adhesive properties of carbon nanotube-based surfaces for medical applications: a systematic review”. iScience, (2021), 24.

Selected Projects

“Using modified carbon nanotubes to prevent biofilm formation in urinary catheters and stents” (PTDC/CTM-COM/4844/2020), funded by national funds (PIDDAC) through FCT/MCTES. Beginning: 2021. Duration: 36 months. Role: Researcher.

“The use of Escherichia coli biofilms for the production of recombinant proteins and other added-value compounds” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-029589), funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia. Beginning: 2018. Duration: 36 months. Role: Researcher