Alexandra Teixeira

Alexandra Teixeira is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and a PhD student in Health Sciences at the University of Minho's School of Medicine. Her research spans three institutions: INL, ICVS (University of Minho), and CINBIO (University of Vigo), focusing on integrating microfluidics, SERS, and molecular biology for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) diagnosis, particularly minimal residual disease (MRD).

Education:

• Biology and Geology, School of Sciences, University of Minho (2016)
• Master's in Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Minho (2018)

Her work centers on developing microfluidic devices for leukemic blast isolation and SERS substrates for MRD mutation detection. Current research investigates autophagy genes' impact on AML progression and patient survival, aiming to translate findings into clinical tools for precision oncology. This interdisciplinary approach bridges engineering, spectroscopy, and molecular diagnostics to address unmet needs in hematological malignancy management.

Publications reveal consistent innovation in cancer diagnostics, with emphasis on liquid biopsy implementation, cost-effective clinical technologies, advanced cell culture models, and SERS-based genomic profiling. Key themes include point-of-care device development, mutation detection sensitivity, and translational applications for real-world healthcare settings.

Teixeira contributes to an FCT-funded AML project at INL's Medical Devices group, co-authoring 11 journal articles (4 first-author), a book chapter, and 15+ conference presentations. As a core member of the Diéguez Research Group, she advances medical device prototyping for cancer diagnostics while leveraging multi-institutional collaborations to accelerate clinical adoption.