Catarina M Henriques

Catarina M Henriques is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield's School of Medicine and Population Health. She leads a research group focused on Telomere Biology, Ageing, and Regenerative Medicine, with affiliations to the Bateson Centre, Healthy Lifespan Institute (HELSI), and CIMA (Centre for Integrated research into Musculoskeletal Ageing).

• BSc (Hons) in Molecular & Cellular Biology, University of Glasgow
• PhD in Immunology and Cancer, University of Lisbon (FCT Fellowship)

Her research explores the interplay between telomere dysfunction, cellular senescence, and immune/stem cell regulation in tissue homeostasis decline during ageing. Using zebrafish models, she investigates how telomerase-dependent mechanisms influence multi-tissue degeneration and therapeutic rejuvenation strategies. Recent work highlights telomere dynamics in immunity, intestinal permeability, and neurodegeneration.

Key publications include:

• 2024: Telomere length as an epigenetic trait in disease modeling
• 2023: p21-GFP senescence zebrafish for senolytic testing
• 2022: Gut leukocyte telomere dependence and retinal regeneration

Her work bridges the Versus Arthritis CIMA and Bateson Centre collaborations.

Scientific awards include:

• Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (Wellcome Trust/Royal Society)
• CIMA Research Fellowship
• Vice-Chancellor’s Fellowship

She supervises postgraduate researchers and contributes to undergraduate/postgraduate education via modules on multimorbidity, reproduction, and human disease modeling. The lab employs histology, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and cell culture to study zebrafish tissue repair mechanisms.