Rafaela Dias Oliveira

  • Cancer therapeutics
  • Melanoma
  • Natural Products
  • 3D cell culture models

Rafaela Oliveira completed her BSc in Biochemestry 2019 and her MSc in Molecular Genetics in 2022, both at the University of Minho. During her bachelor project, supervised by Dra. Maria João Sousa, she evaluated the possible application of Torulaspora delbrueckii in bread and wine fermentation. Then, during the master’s thesis, she evaluated the antitumor capacity of Portuguese propolis against BRAF-mutated melanoma cell lines. This work was performed under the supervision of Dra. Fátima Baltazar and Dra. Cristina Aguiar. Currently is involved in the project: “Deciphering the role of the serine protease inhibitor SPINT2 managing melanoma tumorigenesis and therapeutic response” (Supervisor: Marta Viana-Pereira). Her scientific interest is mainly related to cancer biomarkers, therapeutics and resistance.

Scientific Highlights

1- Oliveira, R. D., Celeiro, S. P., Barbosa-matos, C., Freitas, A. S., Cardoso, S. M., Viana-pereira, M., Almeida- aguiar, C., & Baltazar, F. (2022). Portuguese Propolis Antitumoral Activity in Melanoma Involves ROS Production and Induction of Apoptosis. Molecules, 27, 3533.
2- 2- Araújo C#, Oliveira RD#, Pinto-Ribeiro F, Almeida-Aguiar C. An Insight on the Biomedical Potential of Portuguese Propolis from Gerês. Foods. 2022; 11(21):3431. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods11213431 (# Equal Contribution)