Ana Lanham

Ana Lanham is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Bioengineering, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Universidade de Lisboa since 2022. She previously served as a lecturer in Water Science and Technology at the University of Bath, UK (2015-2022) and held a policy role as a scientific officer at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (2012-2015), leading water technology verification initiatives. Her education includes a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2012), specializing in biological nutrient removal systems.

Her research focuses on microbial ecology and environmental biotechnology applied to wastewater treatment and circular economy principles. Key areas include biological phosphorus/nitrogen removal, bioplastic production from wastewater, and anaerobic systems for medium-chain carboxylic acid production. She uses experimental tools (bioreactors, kinetic assays) and computational models (metabolic-ASM frameworks) to study microbial communities and process optimization. Her group emphasizes systems-level analysis for technology assessment and lifecycle thinking in water systems.

Ana has supervised 3 PhD and over 20 MSc/MEng students, with active roles in the International Water Association (IWA) since 2016. Her work bridges academic research and policy, contributing to guidelines for environmental technology verification and sustainable water management frameworks.