Degree: Doctor

Affiliation(s):

CIQUP

Bio

Carlos Fernandes graduated in Chemistry (2011) and finished his Master’s in chemistry in 2012 at the Faculty of Sciences University of Porto (FCUP) with a final classification of 18 (out of 20). After that, CF was awarded with 3 fellowships to work in 3 research groups (REQUIMTE – 2012, CIQUP and LEPABE – 2013). In 2014, CF was awarded for an international PhD fellowship by Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). In 2018, CF was awarded with the European Doctorate title, and his PhD research was recognized by the prestigious Paul Ehrlich MedChem Network (http://www.pehrlichmedchem.eu/) as one of the best European PhD thesis in the Medicinal Chemistry field.

Afterwards, CF was awarded with a Post-doctoral fellowship (2018) and hired by FCUP as principal researcher of a project funded by FCT (2019). In 2020, CF was hired as a doctorate researcher in a pharmaceutic/cosmetic company (MitoTAG), where he was responsible for the production of antioxidant compounds. In 2021, he was awarded with a 6-year contract in the IV call of Scientific Employment Stimulus funded by FCT (2021.04016.CEECIND). From 2020 up to now, CF has been lecturing BSc and MSc classes within the curricular units at the FCUP and during the years of 2022 and 2023, he was invited by FCUP as assistant professor to give “Drug transport systems for intracellular delivery” classes. He is a member of the Researchers Committee of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, FCUP (2023-now) and also an integrated member of the CIQUP-IMS (Chemistry Research Center-Institute of Molecular Sciences) research unit.

He was a guest editor of a special issues of Molecules and actively collaborates as a referee in several journals in the Medicinal Chemistry and Nanomedicine areas.

Projects
This CIQUP member does not yet have any projects linked with him.
Publications
Total 1 publications.
1. Efficacy of Novel Quaternary Ammonium and Phosphonium Salts Differing in Cation Type and Alkyl Chain Length against Antibiotic-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Nunes, B; Cagide, F; Fernandes, C Borges, A Borges, F; Simoes, M in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES, 2024, ISSN: 1661-6596,  Volume: 25, 
Article,  Indexed in: crossref, scopus, unpaywall, wos  DOI: 10.3390/ijms25010504 P-00Z-SVS
Abstract Antibacterial resistance poses a critical public health threat, challenging the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections. The search for innovative antibacterial agents has spurred significant interest in quaternary heteronium salts (QHSs), such as quaternary ammonium and phosphonium compounds as potential candidates. In this study, a library of 49 structurally related QHSs was synthesized, varying the cation type and alkyl chain length. Their antibacterial activities against Staphylococcus aureus, including antibiotic-resistant strains, were evaluated by determining minimum inhibitory/bactericidal concentrations (MIC/MBC) <= 64 mu g/mL. Structure-activity relationship analyses highlighted alkyl-triphenylphosphonium and alkyl-methylimidazolium salts as the most effective against S. aureus CECT 976. The length of the alkyl side chain significantly influenced the antibacterial activity, with optimal chain lengths observed between C-10 and C-14. Dose-response relationships were assessed for selected QHSs, showing dose-dependent antibacterial activity following a non-linear pattern. Survival curves indicated effective eradication of S. aureus CECT 976 by QHSs at low concentrations, particularly compounds 1e, 3e, and 5e. Moreover, in vitro human cellular data indicated that compounds 2e, 4e, and 5e showed favourable safety profiles at concentrations <= 2 mu g/mL. These findings highlight the potential of these QHSs as effective agents against susceptible and resistant bacterial strains, providing valuable insights for the rational design of bioactive QHSs.