Natalie Ap. Rodrigues Fernandes

Dr. Tiago G. Fernandes completed a PhD in Biotechnology in 2009 at Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto Superior Técnico, and a "Licenciatura" degree in Biological Engineering in 2004 in the same Alma Mater. He is an assistant professor at Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, and a research scientist at the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lisbon, Portugal. He held a temporary position as invited visiting professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA, in 2020. His work is focused on providing an integrated platform that brings together engineering and biology in order to accelerate progress towards designing the stem cell fate and its microenvironment. The development of artificial cellular niches for studying the mechanisms that affect human stem cell pluripotency is of foremost importance and represents a major goal of his research. Human embryonic stem (ES) cells and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are used as model systems to establish in vitro artificial microenvironments that better mimic the extracellular environment. In addition to the influence of mechanical and matrix-related responses, the effects of microenvironmental conditions (e.g. morphogens) have been extensively studied due to their capacity to modulating intracellular pathways. This systems-based approach is expected to contribute to the development of innovative cell culture models that better reflect in vivo function, and the final goal is to generate cells and tissues to advance our understanding of biology and tissue regeneration, which will lead to further development of cell-based therapies.