Isabel Rocha appointed NOVA’s vice-rector

ITQB NOVA congratulates its researcher, Isabel Rocha, for her appointment as the new vice-rector of NOVA University Lisbon. The head of the Systems and Synthetic Biology Lab will coordinate the areas of entrepreneurship, technology and knowledge transfer, and the tourism and hospitality platform.

The new vice-rector of NOVA is one the founders of Biotempo and SilicoLife, two start-ups in the field of biotechnology. She is the vice-chairperson of the CoLab BIOREF and the chairperson of the Board of the InnovPlantProtect CoLab, and a member of the Board of Directors of Madan Parque, NOVA's technology-based incubator. Isabel Rocha is the primary PI leading the ITQB NOVA team in the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition.

Isabel completed her PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering in 2003, at Universidade do Minho, and obtained a post-doctorate the Technical University of Denmark. She focuses her research on Biotechnology topics such as Bioinformatics, Metabolic Engineering, Synthetic Biology and Systems Biology, and has over 140 complete published articles. Her lab is integrated in the MOSTMICRO research unit, and focuses on the design of cells capable of producing compounds like fuels, flavours, fragrances, sweeteners, cosmetic ingredients and drugs, using Metabolic Engineering and Bioinformatics techniques.