Sarah Azinheiro

Sarah Azinheiro is an FCT Research Fellow at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) in the Food Quality and Safety Research Group. Her work focuses on developing innovative and faster detection methods for pathogenic microorganisms and allergens using DNA analysis.

Education:

• PhD in Food Safety and Pathogen Detection from the University of Santiago de Compostela (awarded FCT scholarship in 2018)

Research Interests: Sarah's research spans Food Safety, Pathogen Detection, Molecular Biology, DNA Analysis, Microbiology, Biotechnology, Genetic Analysis, and Miniaturized Devices. She is particularly interested in creating fast, affordable, and multiplexed detection systems for foodborne pathogens on miniaturized devices to improve food safety and reduce analysis time from the current week-long processes to near-real-time solutions, addressing the WHO statistic that 1 in 10 people globally falls ill from contaminated food annually.

Scientific Awards:

• Testing for Life Student Award from the AOAC/Eurofins Foundation

Teaching and Grants: Sarah has been increasingly requested to teach in health, microbiology, and biotech areas across academic institutions. Her research was supported by an FCT scholarship in 2018 for her PhD project development at INL, focusing on miniaturized diagnostic platforms for food safety applications.

Laboratory and Team: She operates within INL's Food Quality and Safety Research Group, which recently developed a fully integrated DNA analysis platform for identifying food frauds, allergenic ingredients, and pathogens as reported in May 2023 institutional news.