Presenters' biography


Webinar presenters:


  • Vítor Borges, PhD (Biology, speciality Molecular Genetics) - ORCID

Senior researcher of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. He has been actively involved in Portugal’s capacity building for nationwide genomic surveillance of several human pathogens and advance the application of clinical metagenomics to support complex diagnosis. For instance, Vítor is the scientific coordinator and co-developer of  surveillance-driven, open-access bioinformatics tools, such as the INSaFLU-TELEVIR (https://insaflu.insa.pt/), a free bioinformatics platform for virus metagenomic detection and routine genomic surveillance. Vítor has led INSA’s participation in several EU-funded projects, including TELEVIR (https://onehealthejp.eu/jrp-tele-vir/), BeONE (https://onehealthejp.eu/jrp-beone), and the ongoing DURABLE project (https://durableproject.org/).


  • João Dourado Santos, PhD (Biology, speciality Bioinformatics Software Development and Genomics) - ORCID

Junior Researcher at the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (UGB) in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. João has been the main developer of the virus detection component of the INSaFLU-TELEVIR platform (https://insaflu.insa.pt/). He specializes in bioinformatics software development with an emphasis in genomics and his interests lie in accessibility and the development of infrastructures, tools and visualizations that facilitate decision making.


Webinar facilitators:


  • Luís Coelho, MSc (Biology, speciality Molecular Genetics) - ORCID

Laboratory technician of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. He has been actively involved in carrying out most of the wet-lab procedures associated with all GBU’s research projects, pathogen genomic surveillance activities and clinical diagnosis through metagenomics.


  • Daniel Sobral, PhD (Biology, speciality Bioinformatics) - ORCID

Researcher of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. He has been actively involved in INSA’s nationwide genomics-informed surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and Mpox. Daniel is co-developer of INSaFLU-TELEVIR (https://insaflu.insa.pt/), an open and user-oriented web-based bioinformatics platform for virus metagenomic detection and routine genomic surveillance.


  • Joana Isidro, MSc (Biology, speciality Molecular Biology and Genetics) - ORCID

Superior technician of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. She has vast experience in microbial genomics of multiple pathogens, namely in the context of genomic and epidemiological surveillance of clinically relevant pathogens. She is also experienced in NGS, in both second- and third-generation sequencing platforms.


  • Miguel Pinto, PhD (Biology, speciality Molecular Genetics) - ORCID

Researcher of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. He has a broad experience in microbial genomics and pathogen epidemiological surveillance. He has been actively involved on supporting genome-based surveillance of multiple bacterial and viral pathogens, as well as the development of surveillance-oriented bioinformatics tools.


  • Rita Ferreira, PhD (Biology, speciality Molecular Genetics) - ORCID

Superior technician of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. She has vast experience in microbial genetics and has been actively involved in carrying out most of the wet-lab procedures associated with all GBU’s research projects (the most recent falls under the One Health umbrella), pathogen genomic surveillance activities (SARS-CoV-2 and Mpox) and clinical diagnosis through metagenomics.


  • Verónica Mixão, PhD (Biomedicine) - ORCID

Researcher of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. She has vast experience in the analysis of NGS data, and a particular interest in the integration of clinical and environmental data towards a sustainable and efficient "One Health" surveillance. She has been actively involved in the development of bioinformatics solutions tackling some of the existing gaps in the field.


  • João Paulo Gomes, PhD (Biology, speciality Molecular Genetics. Head of Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit) - ORCID

Senior Researcher (Career level - Coordinator Researcher) of the Genomics and Bioinformatics Unit (GBU) of the Department of Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. He works in the field of microbial genomics and coordinates the activities of genomic surveillance of infectious diseases at INSA. He was designated by the Portuguese Ministry of Health as the national coordinator of the genetic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, being part of the Ministry of Health experts group for pandemic control. On behalf of this role, his team was awarded with the “Gold Medal for Distinguished Services” for the scientific contribution to decision-making in Public Health to control the COVID-19 pandemic. He is also coordinating the genomic surveillance of mpox virus at the national level on behalf of the still ongoing multi-country mpox outbreak.

Last modified: Monday, 19 January 2026, 12:38 PM