About
Vitor Bernardes Pinheiro is a Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences of KU Leuven, leading the Medicinal Chemistry Group within the Rega Institute for Medical Research. His research focuses on harnessing directed evolution to engineer DNA polymerases and xenobiotic nucleic acids (XNA), aiming to create synthetic genetic systems beyond natural biopolymers.
- Developed novel selection platforms for XNAzymes (DOI:10.1038/nature13982)
- Explored phosphonomethyl oligonucleotides for in vivo applications (DOI:10.1021/jacs.8b03447)
- Pioneered tools for library assembly optimization and indel-driven evolution
- Current projects include microbial synthetic biology and CRISPR-based genomic imaging
His group emphasizes multidisciplinary training and collaborative environments, with alumni successfully transitioning to leading academic and biotech roles. Research is supported by grants like COLUMBO and Symbody platform development.
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