Affiliation: Neurolipids Group, i3S; Porto; Portugal

Tiago Silva obtained a BSc and MSc in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto. In November 2017, Tiago Silva obtained a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the ICBAS, University of Porto. His research as a PhD student aimed at determining the mechanisms behind the peroxisomal disorder Rhizomelic Chondrodysplasia Punctata (RCDP), using mice as models for the disease. The research resulted in a major paradigm shift in the understanding that plasmalogens, a class of ether-phospholipids defective in RCDP patients, are essential for the correct activation of AKT at the plasma membrane. The continued interest in the biological impact of lipids in the nervous system also allowed for the elucidation that myelin-derived lipids effect regeneration and identified cholesterol and sphingomyelin as novel myelin-associated inhibitors of axon regeneration. Since December 2017, Tiago Silva has been a Postdoc at the Neurolipid Biology group at IBMC and I3S. His major achievements include: determining that plasmalogens are crucial for neuronal excitability and the establishment of functional neuromuscular junctions, identifying a novel plasmalogen precursor that can restore plasmalogen levels in nervous tissue, and determining that profilin-mediated increases in cytoskeleton dynamics improves the maturation of neuromuscular junctions during regeneration. Tiago Silva published 7 articles in top-ranked journals, including The Journal of Investigation, Brain Pathology, and Molecular Neurobiology, with 198 citations and an h-index of 6. At the Host, Tiago Silva holds institutional activities as the elected representative of the Junior Postdocs at the IBMC's Executive Council and the i3S's Advisory Committee.