Sara Xapelli graduated in Biology from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC) in 2003 and obtained her PhD from the same Institution in 2008. For her PhD Sara studied the neuroprotective and antiepileptic role of neuropeptide Y and performed the work at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal, at the University of Southern Denmark, Denmark and at the University of Alberta, Canada. Then Sara performed her first postdoc at CNC, with an internship at the University of Southern Denmark. In 2011, she performed a second postdoc at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM) where she implemented the research field of neural stem cells. In 2016 Sara obtained an “investigador FCT” position. Since 2018 Sara Xapelli is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa, and is the PI of the group “Control of neurogenesis and postnatal oligodendrogogenesis” in the Neuroscience Unit at iMM. Her research group investigates modulators of neural stem cells to boost adult neurogenesis and oligodendrogenesis as a strategy for brain functional repair and aims to exploit them as a novel therapeutic platform to counteract brain pathologies such as Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy and Major Depressive Disorder. She is currently involved in the supervision of 7 PhD students and 2 MSc students. As a result of her work, she has published 5 book chapters and 47 peer-reviewed manuscripts. She is the PI and Co-PI of national and international grants and participated in the organization of several scientific events, being currently part of the program committee of ISN-ESN Meeting 2023 and of the Scientific Committee of Fens Regional Meeting 2023. She is the Secretary General of the Portuguese Society for Neuroscience, Member of the Fiscal Council of the Portuguese Society of Stem Cells and Cell Therapy and part of the Managing Committee of a COST Action. She has been an evaluator of several grant agencies, such as Marie-Curie fellowships and doctoral networks, H2020 projects, ALS Association Starter Grant Program, EuroTechPostdoc, French National Research Agency, among others. Moreover, she has been a Reviewer, Guest Associate Editor, Review Editor, Member of the Editorial Committee or Special Issue Editor of different Journals. Sara was recently awarded with the International Society for Neurochemistry Career Development Grant and with the IBRO Early Career Award.
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