Prata João

Curriculum Vitae

João obtained his Integrated Master’s degree in Bioengineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal, which included a year abroad at Sungkyunkwan University in South Korea. For his master’s thesis, he joined Professor Pedro Fonte’s group at the Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, where he focused on developing lipid nanoparticles for drug delivery applications. After completing his degree, he worked as a research assistant at UNSW, Australia, before joining Professor Kristen Kozielski’s group in 2025 to pursue his PhD in the Neuroengineering Materials Department. João is fluent in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, and in his free time, he enjoys playing padel tennis, volleyball, and traveling.

Research

João is currently focused on surface modifications of magnetoelectric nanoparticles to improve target delivery and possible joint DBS and drug delivery. He is also performing stimulation experiments in human neuronal cell cultures.

Publications

2023

Viegas, C.; Patrício, A.B.; Prata, J.M.; Nadhman, A.; Chintamaneni, P.K.; Fonte, P. Solid Lipid Nanoparticles vs. Nanostructured Lipid Carriers: A Comparative Review. Pharmaceutics 2023, 15, 1593.

Viegas, C.; Patrício, A.B.; Prata, J.; Fonseca, L.; Macedo, A.S.; Duarte, S.O.D.; Fonte, P. Advances in Pancreatic Cancer Treatment by Nano-Based Drug Delivery Systems. Pharmaceutics 2023, 15, 2363.

Karine Cappuccio de Castro, Julia Cedran Coco, Érica Mendes dos Santos, Janaína Artem Ataide, Renata Miliani Martinez, Mônica Helena Monteiro do Nascimento, João Prata, Pedro Ricardo Martins Lopes da Fonte, Patrícia Severino, Priscila Gava Mazzola, André Rolim Baby, Eliana Barbosa Souto, Daniele Ribeiro de Araujo, André Moreni Lopes, Pluronic® triblock copolymer-based nanoformulations for cancer therapy: A 10-year overview, Journal of Controlled Release, Volume 353, 2023, Pages 802-822.