1. Current Status, Position

Prof Dr Joao Goncalves (PhD in Pharmacy) is Head of the Biopharmaceutical and Molecular Biotechnology Unit at the iMed-Research Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Professor of Immunology and Biotechnology both part of the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is also Head of Antibody Engineering Laboratory at iMed – “Faculdade Farmacia Universidade Lisboa”.  

2. Education

Prof Dr Joao Goncalves has a pharmaceutical degree and PhD in Infectious Diseases/Immunology from Harvard University and University of Lisbon and has postdoctoral experience at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla. 

3. Research Area

Prof Dr Joao Goncalves’ research focuses on therapeutic antibody discovery and development ranging from autoimmune diseases to oncology. At the center of his biopharmaceutical research, he aims at rational antibody engineering as an approach to validate the theoretical concepts in autoimmune, inflammatory, cancer and infectious diseases. He is also interested in the development of better characterisation assays and monitoring of antibody therapy in patients, including immunogenicity and pharmacokinetics. The evaluation of quality, efficacy and safety attributes of biosimilar antibodies and fusion proteins is at the centre of his clinical collaborations. Prof Dr Joao Gonçalves is also member of the Portuguese Pharmacopoeia Commission and Portuguese Commission of Veterinarian Medicines Evaluation. He is also a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals and has authored more than 90 scientific papers.

4. Confict of interest: Prof Dr Joao Goncalves currently receives research grant from Shire.