Diana Alves

Diana Alves is a Research Fellow at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), working in the Nanochemistry group since February 2022. Her research focuses on developing nanomaterial-based functional additives, particularly hydrophobic materials and antimicrobial coatings for biomedical applications. She previously held roles including Postdoctoral Researcher (2016-2018) and Junior Researcher (2019-2021) at the Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho.

Education:

• PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering (2016), University of Minho (Portugal)
• Master's in Biomedical Engineering (2011), University of Minho

Research Interests: Her work integrates nanotechnology and biomaterials to address challenges in healthcare and food safety. Key areas include functionalizing surfaces to inhibit microbial growth, encapsulating bacteriophages in polymeric matrices for food safety applications, and developing antimicrobial coatings for medical devices like endotracheal tubes. She has collaborated internationally, including at Northwestern University (USA) and the University Medical Centre Groningen (Netherlands).

Labs/Teams: She is part of the Kolen'ko Research Group at INL and previously contributed to projects at the Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho.