Maria Teresa Duarte
Teresa Duarte graduated in Chemical Engineering and got a PhD in Chemistry from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. She is a Fulbright Fellow and an Alexander von Humboldt grantee. In 2017 she became Senior Fellow of Institute of Advanced Studies of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna.
In 2016 she was elected as one of the "100 Women in Science in Portugal". Presently she is the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at Chemical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Her research is performed at Centro de Química Estrutural where she leads the X-ray Diffraction Facility and coordinates the Chemistry and Toxicology of Bioactive Molecules group. The group is part of the Biological, Medicinal and Environmental Chemistry Thematic Line.
She has co-authored about 230 papers in International Journals with peer review and published 5 book chapters with International distribution., and presented more than 380 Communications at International Conferences. I have coordinated different research Projects and currently coordinates the Portuguese site in IMPACTIVE, European Project in Innovative Mechanochemical Processes to synthesise green ACTIVE pharmaceutical ingredients.
Teresa Duarte graduated in Chemical Engineering and got a PhD in Chemistry from Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. She is a Fulbright Fellow and an Alexander von Humboldt grantee. In 2017 she became Senior Fellow of Institute of Advanced Studies of the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna.
In 2016 she was elected as one of the "100 Women in Science in Portugal". Presently she is the Head of the Chemical Engineering Department at Chemical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Her research is performed at Centro de Química Estrutural where she leads the X-ray Diffraction Facility and coordinates the Chemistry and Toxicology of Bioactive Molecules group. The group is part of the Biological, Medicinal and Environmental Chemistry Thematic Line.
She has co-authored about 230 papers in International Journals with peer review and published 5 book chapters with International distribution., and presented more than 380 Communications at International Conferences. I have coordinated different research Projects and currently coordinates the Portuguese site in IMPACTIVE, European Project in Innovative Mechanochemical Processes to synthesise green ACTIVE pharmaceutical ingredients.
Her scientific interests have turned to the use of Crystal Engineering principles and supramolecular synthesis to design and synthesize active pharmaceutical molecules with enhanced properties. Co-crystalization is being used to obtain new formulations more stable to moisture and temperature and with better solubility. Main aim is to improve bioavailability.
In the vast world of pharmaceutical compounds both academia and pharmaceutical companies have been searching for different solid forms, such as salts, molecular salts, solvates and particularly co-crystals to modify and stabilize the physicochemical properties of APIs, but none has been useful for controlling polymorphism.
Polymorphic studies on pharmaceutically relevant molecules, is also a major area of interest. A new pathway to control and avoid polymorphism is now being tackled recurring to ionic liquids.
Still searching for new and stable forms of pharmaceutically active molecules, a novel approach has been developed, the synthesis and characterization of bio-inspired Metal-Organic Frameworks, BioMOFs, using safe metal ions and active biomolecules as spacers or guests are underway. These systems are being designed for application in drug storage and delivery. This is again a new move towards enhancing the properties of these compounds, as this way it is possible to avoid the secondary toxic effects of using exogenous linkers and also to avoid the burst effect due to immediate release.
Besides conventional solution and solvothermal synthetic techniques, new green synthetic techniques are being applied in most synthesis referred above, with a major emphasis on mechanochemical and microwave synthesis.
In the vast world of pharmaceutical compounds both academia and pharmaceutical companies have been searching for different solid forms, such as salts, molecular salts, solvates and particularly co-crystals to modify and stabilize the physicochemical properties of APIs, but none has been useful for controlling polymorphism.
Polymorphic studies on pharmaceutically relevant molecules, is also a major area of interest. A new pathway to control and avoid polymorphism is now being tackled recurring to ionic liquids.
Still searching for new and stable forms of pharmaceutically active molecules, a novel approach has been developed, the synthesis and characterization of bio-inspired Metal-Organic Frameworks, BioMOFs, using safe metal ions and active biomolecules as spacers or guests are underway. These systems are being designed for application in drug storage and delivery. This is again a new move towards enhancing the properties of these compounds, as this way it is possible to avoid the secondary toxic effects of using exogenous linkers and also to avoid the burst effect due to immediate release.
Besides conventional solution and solvothermal synthetic techniques, new green synthetic techniques are being applied in most synthesis referred above, with a major emphasis on mechanochemical and microwave synthesis.