Miguel Pinto
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Biosketch
I did my bachelor’s degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at FCT/UNL and started my research career at iMM where I studied Tumour Immunology at Dr. Bruno Silva Santos lab. I did my master thesis under the supervision of Dr. Karine Serre for my Masters in Oncology from ICBAS/UP. My project aimed at developing novel approaches to “reprogram” myeloid cells into anti-tumour myeloid cells (ATMc) in vivo during tumour responses and characterize their features.
We successfully demonstrated that myeloid cells can be induced to perform anti-tumour functions upon selective stimulation in vivo. In an orthotopic mouse model of mammary adenocarcinoma, injection of an immunotherapy cocktail stimulated macrophages to produce anti-tumour cytokines and enzymes. This approach provided a solid platform to question novel ways to dissecting the transcriptional program(s) that operate in ATMc, aiming at new strategies to manipulate immune cells in the context of cancer.
At the moment, I am a second year PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Eduardo Moreno at Champalimaud Foundation, Lisbon. My goal is to find and characterize novel Mechanical Cell Competition (MCC) regulators. Our aim is to understand how tissue development can be regulated by cell competition and mechanical cues. Interestingly, tumour cells mutated for the oncogene RAS are more fit and less prone to be eliminated by mechanical stress than normal cells.
Therefore, I am also interested in investigating the role of these new-find MCC regulators in cancer progression. My findings might lead to the development of novel therapies and innovative ways to treat cancer.
Testimony
I matured enormously during my master at iMM, not only as a researcher but as a person. I was able to prepare and perform scientific presentations to different types of audiences and cope with some experimental drawbacks, such as one time when I forgot to stain the cells with an antibody (don’t tell Karine, please!). In any case, I learned from this and after a few months of research experience I developed ways to avoid these mistakes (like placing the antibodies already used in a different location).
This small things really helped shaped me as a better bench scientist (which I believe was not my forte. I am more of a thinker). Being at BSS’s lab was a fantastic opportunity for me to work and exchange ideas and hypotheses side by side with great scientists, one of the aspects I like and value the most in our profession. I made a lot of friends and really miss iMM, Bruno and Karine.
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