Committees

A. M. Silva is Full professor at the Chemistry Department, University of Aveiro, President of the Portuguese Chemical Society and Vice-rector for Research, Innovation and 3rd Cycle. He published more than 750 SCI papers (> 16000 citations, h 56), 1 e-book, 50 book chapters, and 60 lectures. Prof. A. M. Silva supervised 31 PhD and 41 MSc students, and participated in 29 financed Portuguese and European projects. His research interests include chemistry (synthesis and transformations) of polyphenolic and nitrogen heterocycles; isolation and structural characterization of natural products from terrestrial and marine sources; and synthesis and biological evaluation of biologically active oxygen and nitrogen heterocyclic compounds. Prof. A. M. Silva is fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and of the Chemistry Europe, and Elect Correspondent Fellow of the Sciences Academy of Lisbon – Section of Chemistry, and President of Portuguese Society of Chemistry (2016-2023).

M. L. Pereira is Associate Professor with Habilitation at Department of Medical Sciences of UA. With more than 40 years of teaching experience and research in histology and cell biology, and as a member of the Associate Laboratory CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, research has been focussed on adverse effects of pesticides, nanomaterials and drugs on in vitro and pre-clinical models. As a member of the World Union for Herbal Drug Discovery, studies on natural products with biomedical applications have been done. She was President of the Portuguese Society of Electron Microscopy and Cell Biology (2004), Director of the Master in Molecular and Cellular Biology at UA (2008-2018) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, London (2021), being a member of the Pathology Council. She published several papers in international journals, collaborates as editor and organized several international conferences, as the International Symposium on Integrative Medicine & Health, University of Aveiro, Portugal (2023). She received the Dr. Matthew A. Eichler Memorial Award Research Fellow by the Asia-Pacific Consortium of Researchers and Educators (2022), and was distinguished with three Pedagogical Innovation Awards, in co-authorship, at University of Aveiro. 

Dr Veeranoot is a medical doctor (MBBS) graduated from Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), University of Delhi, India and Master of Clinical Tropical Medicine from Mahidol University, Thailand. She was working as a contract lecturer and later an Associate Professor at the Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia for two decades (1999 to 2017). She is now working as an Associate Professor at the School of Allied Health Sciences, Walailak University, Thailand. Her research areas of interest include: 1). Infectious parasitic diseases, epidemiology and clinical relevant, 2). Diagnostic challenges, 3). Natural products, 4). Water-based research, and 5). Health awareness on anthropologic and zoonotic aspects. Dr Veeranoot is a coordinator of international research networks (IRN); Southeast Asia Water Team (SEA Water Team) and World Union for Herbal Drug Discovery (WUHeDD). She has published more than 155 papers including book chapters and is an editorial board member of reputable journals, and an active reviewer of over 60 international journals. She is also Editor (Guest, Academic and Associate), Speaker, Adjunct faculty, and Visiting Professor. Dr Veeranoot is the recipient of an outstanding Dr Matthew A. Eichler "Research Fellow Award" from Asia Pacific Consortium for Researchers and Educators (APCORE)-Philippine held at Westin Resort Hotel, Guam, USA in 2018. She is also a recipient of “Outstanding Scientist Award” at the 9th International Scientist Awards on Engineering, Science and Medicine, India in 2020. Dr Veeranoot has been listed in the World Top 2% Scientists in the disciplines of Tropical Medicine, Mycology and Parasitology, and Clinical Medicine (2021) and General and Internal Medicine (2022) by Stanford University, USA.

Graduate and Research Pro-Rector of Padre Albino University Center (UNIFIFA), Catanduva, SP,

Prof. A. P. Girol holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biological Sciences from the Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho of São José do Rio Preto-SP (IBILCE / UNESP), Brazil, Master in Morphology from the Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo-SP (UNIFESP / EPM), Brazil, PhD in Genetics (concentration area in Cell and Molecular Biology) and Post-Doctorate in Immunomorphology at IBILCE / UNESP, Brazil. She is Professor and Pro-Rector of Graduate Studies and Research at the Padre Albino University Center (UNIFIPA), Catanduva-SP, Brazil and accredited at the Graduate Program in Biosciences at IBILCE / UNESP and at the Graduate Program in Structural and Functional Biology at UNIFESP / EPM. She has experience in Morphology, with emphasis on Cell Biology, Histology and Embryology and she develops research related to the study of mast cells, the anti-inflammatory protein annexin-A1, natural bioactive compounds from medicinal plants and biomembranes in inflammatory, regenerative and tumoral processes.

Prof. A. P. Girol was the Chair of the 3rd International Conference on Natural Products and Human health (ICNPHH-2023), held at Padre Albino University Center (UNIFIPA), Catanduva, SP, 9th to 11th October, 2023.

CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials & Department, Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Portugal

Prof. Mara G. Freire holds a BSc in Chemistry, receiving the “Best Chemistry Student Award” from Dow Portugal, a PhD in Chemical Engineering, field of Bioengineering, and Habilitation in Biotechnology, by the University of Aveiro. She carried out post-doctoral activities at ITQB2, New University of Lisbon, Portugal and was an invited professor at Tiradentes University, Sergipe, Brazil. Currently, Dr. M. Freire is a Coordinator Researcher at CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials, Chemistry Department, University of Aveiro, Portugal. She is the Coordinator of Group 5 - Biomedical and Biomimetic Materials - of CICECO, and Deputy Chair of the Scientific Council of the University of Aveiro. She is member of the European Academy of Sciences and of the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. In addition to being member of several journal editorial boards, Prof. M. Freire is one of the 17 Chairs of the Content Selection Advisory Board (CSAB) from Scopus. She coordinated/participated in 25 R&D projects, among which two European Research Council (ERC) grants and 2 PathFinder projects from the European Innovation Council (EIC). She has filled +15 national/international patents and is the co-founder of the RYAPURTECH spin-off. Her research interests include the development of costeffective technologies for the (1) extraction of natural compounds with application in health from biomass resorting to alternative solvents; (2) production and purification of biopharmaceuticals; and (3) synthesis and preparation of excipients and new ionic-liquidbased drugs.

Recently, a European patent for a colorimetric sensor for the detection of L-asparagine was submitted in co-authorship.

Prof. A. Kijjoa is na Emeritus Professor at Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal (since 2023).

Born in Pathumthani, Thailand, he obtained his BSc (Pharmacy) from Chulalongkorn University, then he moved to Brazil  with the scholarship from the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) to work for his PhD with Professor Otto R. Gottlieb on Natural Products Chemistry at the University of São Paulo. After his PhD he moved to Portugal and took a position of Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Science, University of Porto. In 1984, he moved to the Biomedical Sciences Institute of Abel Salazar of the same university and in 1985 he spent three months working on Plant Cell Culture with Professor Hans Becker at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Heidelberg. In 1986, he won a post-doctoral fellowship from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Portugal to work with Professor Werner Herz in the Department of Chemistry, the Florida State University at Tallahassee, USA. In 1990 he was appointed Associate Professor at the Biomedical Sciences Institute of Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto and in 1994 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry at the same Institute. Current projects include, among others, antitumor and antifungal activity of bioactive compounds from plants, marine sponges and fungi.

Prof. A. Kijjoa received the Thai Professional Award – In recognition of his outstanding contributions to Science & Technology Development of Thailand by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment; Office of Higher Education; NSTDA and TRF, at the Thai Professionals Conference 2008, Bangkok, Thailand, June 2-4, 2008. He also received na Honorary Doctorate in Chemistry-Burapha University, Thailand, 25 November 2008, na Honorary Doctorate in Chemistry -Kasetsart University, Thailand, 30 July 2009, and na Honorary Doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences -Khon Kaen University, Thailand, 07 December 2018.

Prof. B. Oliveira is Full Professor developing research in Food Science, with focus on Food Security. Her research group is concerned in adding value to by-products of food industries, mainly on olive and coffee production chains. She published 425 papers in international peer reviewed journals, 54 book chapters, 210 proceedings in international and national meetings and 1200 communications in scientific meetings. She supervised 22 PhD students from University of Porto and 16 from foreign universities; and 92 MSc from different Master courses. She is author of 4 patents, one of them licenced at industrial level. She won several awards, namely the BFK award in the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Crédito Agrícola 2018, awarded by ANI.

Prof. Ramesh K. Goyal, Advisor to IIM-SLS University in Gujarat, Ex-Vice Chancellor, Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences & University & The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India      

The fifteenth Vice-Chancellor (2008-2011) of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Prof. R. K. Goyal, is currently the Distinguished Professor, Institute of Life Sciences, Ahmedabad University, Ahmedabad. He also served as the Director of many institutions in Gujarat and Maharashtra. With over 36 years of experience in Teaching and Research in Cardiovascular Pharmacology & Diabetes, he is a visiting scientist and visiting Professor across several many universities. Dr. Goyal has been invited to deliver lectures in India and abroad. He has three patents, 18 books and several publications in National and International journals. He has guided many research and is the recipient of several awards. He is the Fellow of many professional bodies and Member of different committees. He has been the Chairman of Central Regional Committee of AICTE, Bhopal and Member, Executive Committee of AICTE, New Delhi. During three years as the Vice Chancellor at MSU, besides getting the University re-accreditation he organized several International and National Conferences. He has been successful in getting sizable financial support to MSU (about 100 Crores). Three major contributions as the Vice Chancellor at the University were: 1. Showcasing the legacy and distinguished features of the University by preparing and releasing '60 reasons why I like MSU, ' and 'Nostalgic memories of MSU'. These also culminated further in the form of Alumni reunion 2013. 2. Encouragement and Administrative support to the faculty members for research by giving them opportunities for research, academic initiatives and annual awards. Over 200 conferences and seminars were held in three years. 

School of Pharmacy, Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha Hunan, China

Prof. Wei Wang is Yangtze River Scholars Distinguished full Professor selected by the National Hundreds, Thousands of Talents Project "Young and Middle-aged Experts with Outstanding Contributions". Director of TCM and Ethnomedicine Innovation & Development International Laboratory, Deputy Dean of School of Pharmacy, Hunan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Deputy Director of the Institute of Innovative Medicine. He is also Visiting professor of Karachi University, Macau University of Science and Technology, Wenzhou Medical University, Changchun University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shaanxi University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southwest University for Nationalities and Hunan Medical College, Consultant of Liuzhou Municipal Government, Guanxi, China.

His research group focus on of the material basis of TCM in Hunan Province, the new method of screening the activity of TCM based on specific target, and the research on the targeted synergistic effect of active components of TCM. Dr. Wei Wang is the principal investigator of over 30 national, provincial and international cooperation scientific research projects, and has developed over than 10 standards about national, industry and enterprise.

He published more than 300 papers, obtained 13 authorized patents and won 7 provincial scientific progress awards, including the First Prize by Hunan Provincial Association of Chinese Medicine & Intergration of Traditional and Western Medicine: Research on the substantial basis and mechanism of anti-rheumatoid arthritis efficacy substances of Tujia medicine Xuetong (2022). He is executive editor of Current Traditional Medicine, chief editor of Current Chinese Science (natural product section), and associate editor of Heliyon (Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology).

Librarian in the Library, Documentation Information, and Museology Services of the University of Aveiro since 2008. She holds a degree in Modern Languages and Literatures - Portuguese Studies and a postgraduate degree in Documentary Sciences from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra. She is currently the coordinator of the American Corner Program at the University of Aveiro.

Matilde Cidrais is a second-year student of the BSc degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. During her first year, she was the student representative in helping with pedagogical issues and difficulties faced by international students. In addition to this interest in education and pedagogical methods, she also has research interests in areas such as cellular and molecular biology, toxicology and health sciences.