José Guimarães, BS MS

I was born and raised on the beautiful northern coast of Portugal, where the rainy, coastal winters make indoor lab work seem like a fantastic idea. I earned my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Porto. I have always been driven by the thrill of scientific discovery, and during my studies, I had the incredible opportunity to work with several research groups, applying distinct methodologies to complex scientific questions. My early research endeavours ranged from investigating host immunobiology for the development of a vaccination strategy to engineering a yeast-based assay to identify novel chaperone-kinase inhibitors for cancer therapy.
For my PhD, I joined the Intercellular Communication and Cancer lab at i3S, where I am investigating the fascinating mechanisms underlying resistance to targeted therapies in lung cancer. As part of my doctoral training, I am currently a visiting researcher at the McManus Lab in San Francisco. Here, I am leveraging high-throughput, genome-wide CRISPR screens to decode the molecular communication established between cancer cells. By understanding the exact nature of this interaction, my ultimate goal is to develop novel therapeutic strategies that overcome therapy resistance.
Outside the lab, you can usually find me reading, listening to music, drawing or playing video games, basically anything to keep the problem-solving part of my brain happy. More recently, I’ve also been exploring all that the city of San Francisco has to offer.