ORBITAL: Member of Supervisory Board; Member of Communications and Public Engagement Sub-Committee

Chemical Engineering Department, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon
Degree in Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, 1994
PhD in Chemistry (Biomaterials), Instituto Superior Técnico, 2001
Telephone: +352 21 8419240
Email-adress: anapaula.serro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.pt/citations?user=Kye0FbAAAAAJ&hl=pt
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6603259828
Orcid: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6179-9296
ResearcherID: http://www.researcherid.com/rid/H-7797-2012 

Scientific affiliations 

I am researcher of CQE – Centro de Química Estrutural and CiiEM – Centro de investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz and Coordinator of the Biomaterials Research Group at IST. Currently my research group has two main research lines: (RL1) Hydrogel based materials for therapeutic applications (RL2) Dental materials 

Present research interests 

• Controlled drug release; 
• Biomaterials characterization; 

• Biotribology; 
• Adsorption of biomolecules onto biomaterials; 
• Sterilization 

Research projects 

• “SurfLenses – Surface modifications to control drug release from therapeutic ophthalmic lenses” M-ERA.NET/0005/2012 (2013-2017) (Coordinator) https://surflenses.wixsite.com/surflenses 
• “STEReoSTRAT – “Sterilization of clinically active hydrogels: looking for efficient strategies”, PTDC/CTM-BIO/3640/2014 (2016-2019) (Coordinator) https://sites.google.com/view/stereostrat 
• “3D-DentalPrint – Additive manufacturing of zirconia and nanostructured alumina/zirconia dental prosthesis”, 02/SAICT/2016/023940 (2017-2019) (Coordinator) https://sites.google.com/view/3ddentalprint/home 
• “CartHeal – Cartilages for hip prosthesis with controlled drug release ability”, PTDC/CTM-CTM/29593/2017 (2018-2021) (Coordinator) 
• ORBITAL – Ocular Research By Integrated Training And Learning, H2020-MSCA-ITN-2018 Proposal Number: SEP-210492283 (2019-2023) (Partner Coordinator) https://www.orbital-itn.eu/ 

Main publications in the last 5 years 

RL1 

• P. Paradiso, R. Galante, L. Santos, A.P. Alves de Matos, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Comparison of two hydrogel formulations for drug release in ophthalmic lenses. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials 102(6) (2014) 1170-1180. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1002/jbm.b.33099 
• P. Paradiso, L. Santos, V. Chu, A.P. Serro, R. Colaço, B. Saramago; Effect of plasma treatment on the performance of two drug-loaded hydrogel formulations for therapeutic contact lenses. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials 103(5) (2015)1059-1068. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.33287 
• R. Galante, P. Paradiso, M.G. Moutinho, A.I. Fernandes, J.L. Mata, R. Colaço, B. Saramago, A.P. Serro; About the effect of eye blinking on drug release from pHEMA based hydrogels: an in vitro study. Journal of Biomaterials Science: Polymer Edition, 26(4) (2015) 235-251. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09205063.2014.994948 
• D. Silva, A. Fernandes, T. Nunes, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro; The effect of albumin and cholesterol on the biotribological behaviour of hydrogels for contact lenses. Acta Biomaterialia 26 (2015) 184-194. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/j.actbio.2015.08.011 

• P. Paradiso, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago, R. Colaço, A. Chauhan; Controlled release of antibiotics from vitamin-E loaded silicone-hydrogel contact lenses, Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. 105(3) (2016) 1164-1172. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3549(15)00193-8 
• H.P. Filipe, J. Henriques, P. Reis, P.C. Silva, M.J. Quadrado, A.P. Serro; Contact lenses as drug controlled release systems. A narrative review. Revista Brasileira de Oftalmologia 75(3) (2016) 241-247. http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/0034-7280.20160051 
• A.F.R. Pimenta, A. Valente, J.M.C Pereira, J.C.F Pereira, H.P. Filipe, J.L.G. Mata, R. Colaço, B. Saramago, A.P. Serro; Simulation of the hydrodynamic conditions of the eye to better reproduce the drug release from hydrogel contact lenses: experiments and modeling. Drug Delivery and Translational Research 6(6) (2016) 755-762. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13346-016-0303-1 
• D. Silva, L.F.V. Pinto, D. Bozukova, L.F. Santos, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Chitosan/alginate based multilayers to control drug release from ophthalmic lens. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 147 (2016) 81-89. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2016.07.047 
• R. Galante, C.F. Rediguieri, I.S. Kikuchi, P.A.S. Vasquez, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, T.J.A. Pinto; About the sterilization of chitosan hydrogel nanoparticles. PLoS ONE 11(12) (2016) e0168862: 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168862 

• A.F.R. Pimenta, J. Ascenso, J.C.S. Fernandes, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Controlled drug release from hydrogels for contact lenses: drug partitioning and diffusion. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 515(1-2) (2016) 467-475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2016.10.047 
• A.F.R. Pimenta, A.P. Serro, P. Paradiso, B. Saramago, R. Colaco; Diffusion-based design of multi-layered ophthalmic lenses for controlled drug release. PLoS ONE 11(12) (2016) e0167728: 1-15. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167728 
• P. Paradiso, R. Colaço, J.L.G. Mata, R. Krastev, B. Saramago, A.P. Serro; Drug release from liposome coated hydrogels for soft contact lenses: the blinking and temperature effect. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials 105B (2017) 1799-1807. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.33715 
• R. Galante, D Ghisleni, P. Paradiso, V.D. Alves, T.J.A. Pinto, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro; Sterilization of silicone-based hydrogels for biomedical application using ozone gas: comparison with conventional techniques. Materials Science and Engeneering C 78 (1) (2017) 389-397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2017.04.073 
• A.F.R. Pimenta, A.P. Vieira, R. Colaço, B. Saramago, M.H. Gil, P. Coimbra, P. Alves, D. Bozukova, T.R. Correia, I.J. Correia, A.J. Guiomar, A.P. Serro; Controlled release of moxifloxacin from intraocular lenses modified by Ar plasma-assisted grafting with AMPS or SBMA: an in vitro study. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 156(1) ( 2017) 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.04.060 

• A.P Vieira, A.F.R. Pimenta, D. Silva, M.H. Gil, P. Alves, P. Coimbra, J.L.G.C. Mata, D. Bozukova, T.R. Correia, I.J. Correia, A.P. Serro, A.J. Guiomar; Surface modification of an intraocular lens material by plasma-assisted grafting with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), for controlled release of moxifloxacin. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 120 (2017) 52-62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2017.08.006 
• R. Galante, T.J.A. Pinto, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro; Sterilization of Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications: A Review. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials 106B (2018) 2472-2492 https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.34048 
• R. Galante, A.S. Oliveira, A. Topete, D. Ghislenia, M. Braga, T.J.A. Pinto, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro; Drug-eluting silicone hydrogel for therapeutic contact lenses: impact of sterilization methods on the system performance. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 161 (2018) 537-546. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.11.021 
• A. Topete, A.S. Oliveira, A. Fernandes, T.G. Nunes, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Improving sustained drug delivery from ophthalmic lens materials through the control of temperature and time of loading. European Journal of Pharmaceutic Sciences 14:117 (2018) 107-117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2018.02.017 
• A.F.R. Pimenta, A.P. Serro, R. Colaço, A. Chauhan; Drug delivery to the eye anterior chamber by intraocular lenses: an in vivo concentration estimation model. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 133 (2018) 63-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2018.10.004 

• D. Silva, H.C. Sousa, M.H. Gil, L.F. Santos, M.G. Moutinho, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Antibacterial layer-by-layer coatings to control drug release from soft contact lenses material. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 553(1-2) (2018)186-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.10.041 
• A. Topete, A.P. Serro, B. Saramago; Dual drug delivery from intraocular lens material for prophylaxis of endophthalmitis in cataract surgery. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 558(10) (2019) 43-52 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpharm.2018.12.028 
• A.F.R. Pimenta, A.P. Serro, R. Colaço, A. Chauhan; Optimization of intraocular lens hydrogels for dual drug release: experimentation and modelling. European Journal of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics 141 (2019) 51-57 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpb.2019.05.016 
• H.P. Filipe, D. Bozukova, A. Pimenta, A.P. Vieira, A.S. Oliveira, R. Galante, A. Topete, M. Masson, P. Alves, P. Coimbra, M.H. Gil, A.J. Guiomar, J. Mata, R. Colaço, B. Saramago, L. Werner, N. Mamalis, A.P. Serro, Moxifloxacin-loaded acrylic intraocular lenses: in vitro and in vivo performance. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery 45 (2019) 1808-1817. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrs.2019.07.016 
• A.S. Oliveira, O. Seidi, N. Ribeiro, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, Tribomechanical comparison between PVA hydrogels obtained using different processing conditions and human cartilage. Materials 12(20) (2019) 3413 (1-17). https://doi.org/10.3390/ma12203413 

RL2 

• C.G. Figueiredo-Pina, N. Patas, J. Canhoto, R. Cláudio, S. Olhero, A.P. Serro, A. C. Ferro, M. Guedes; Tribological behaviour of unveneered and veneered lithium disilicate dental material. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials 43 (2016) 226-238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2015.08.007 
• F.T. Rodrigues, A.P. Serro, M. Polido, A. Ramalho, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina; Effect of bleaching teeth with hydrogen peroxide on the morphology, hydrophilicity, mechanical and tribological properties of enamel. Wear 374-375 (2016) 21-28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wear.2016.11.001 
• F. Santos, A. Branco, M.C. Polido, A.P. Serro, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina; Comparative study of the wear of the pair human teeth/Vita Enamic vs commonly used dental ceramics through chewing simulation. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 20:88 (2018) 251-260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.08.029 
• A.C. Branco, V. Moreira, J.A. Reis, R. Colaço, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina, A.P. Serro; Influence of contact configuration and lubricating conditions on the microtriboactivity of the zirconiar-Ti6Al4V pair used in dental aplications. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials 91 (2019) 164-173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmbbm.2018.12.009 

• R. Galante, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina, A.P. Serro; Additive manufacturing of ceramics for dental applications: a review. Dental Materials 35 (2019) 825-846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2019.02.026 
• A. C. Branco, J. Brito, M. Codorniz, M. Steinhausen, F. Martins, J. Reis, P. Maurício, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, Tribological behavior of restorative dental microcomposites after exposure to mouth acids. Tribology Letters 67:90 (2019) 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-019-1204-5 
• A.C. Branco, N. Ribeiro, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro; Characterization of the nanostructure of collagen fibers following the application of dilute hydrogen peroxide used in dental whitening treatments. Analytical Letters (in publication). https://doi.org/10.1080/00032719.2019.1668946 
• A.C. Branco, R. Silva, T. Santos, H. Jorge, A.R. Rodrigues, R. Fernandes, S. Bandarra, I. Barahona, A.P.A. Matos, K. Lorenz, M. Polido, R. Colaço, A.P. Serro, C.G. Figueiredo-Pina; Suitability of 3D printed nanostructured zirconia pieces for dental applications. Dental Materials (2020) (in publication) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2020.01.006