Joana Vidal Silva

Team leader and manager of 20+ projects. Responsible scientist for antibody discovery and engineering projects (from proposal and workflow design based on concept to leads selection and characterization) working with challenging target classes and exigent candidate profiles under strict project timelines. Subject matter expert on animal immunisations as well as SPR and BLI assays, involved in design, optimization, implementation and support on assays carried out within the company's Discovery and Engineering Division, according to each project specific needs.

Team leader and manager of 20+ projects. Antibody discovery and engineering projects proposal and workflow design: from initial concept to delivery of pre-clinical leads (including functional assay development) for human therapy, pharmacokinetic and anti-drug antibodies assays and imaging applications - programs with ambitious success criteria like function and specificity, working with challenging target classes and exigent candidate profiles under strict project timelines. Subject matter expert on SPR and BLI: design, optimization and support on assays carried out within the company's Discovery and Engineering Division, according to each project specific needs. Implementation of QA documentation (templates, SOPs).

Team leader and project responsible for a variety of fee-for-service programs (both discovery and engineering), exploring different antibody formats (IgG/ Fab/ scFv/ scFv-Fc/VHH/VHH-Fc/Bispecifics) and host species (human, rodents, rabbit, chicken, llama), for different customers and within the different research areas (immunology, oncology, neurology, pain pathologies). Subject matter expert on animal immunisations: design, optimization and support on immunisation programs carried out within the company's Discovery and Engineering Division, according to each project specific needs. Management of immunisation CROs. Implementation of QA documentation (templates, SOPs).

Besides antibody discovery, development of skills within antibody engineering field: tailored affinity maturation and humanization projects. Mentoring and direct supervision of Junior Reseach Associate team members.

Antibody discovery through phage display technology: from library construction (acquiring specific molecular biology skills) to hits screening and posterior leads characterization (via ELISA, FC, SPR, BLI).

Development of master's thesis, focusing on the design, construction and study of the first nucleic-acid based structure to act as a therapeutic tool for neuroprotection and/or neuroregeneration.

In the scope of the ERASMUS+ Program, at Integrated Center of Cellular Therapy and Regenerative Medicine (ICCT) / International Clinical Research Center (ICRC). A 5 months training in the project "Control of tissue-specific stem cell proliferation and differentiation and their preparation for tissue engineering applications".