Expertise: Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (hiPSCs), Human Heart Organoids, Disease Modelling, Drug Discovery.
Thesis: Modelling Myocardial Infarction with Human Heart Organoid Models: A Cutting-edge Platform for the Discovery and Validation of Novel Therapeutics
Thesis Advisor: Mariana da Mota Veiga de Araújo Branco (CoLAB AccelBio), Maria Margarida Diogo (iBB-IST), Miguel Luis Cunha Mano (Centro de Inovação em Biomedicina e Biotecnologia)
Company: CoLAB AccelBio
Short Bio:
Ana Luísa Rayagra is a PhD student in Bioengineering and Biosciences at Instituto Superior Técnico and CoLAB AccelBio. She holds an MSc in Biomedical Engineering and Biophysics (Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 2023). As a Research Assistant at AccelBio, Ana Luísa supported the development of AccelBio’s “Advanced In Vitro Systems” platform, with the generation of hiPSC-derived heart, brain and kidney organoid models for toxicology screening applications. Currently, her research is focused on the establishment of a novel in vitro human-based platform to elucidate the mechanisms underlying post-myocardial infarction (MI) remodelling and the identification of new therapeutics for MI.
Research Focus:
Advanced human heart organoid models for disease modelling and therapeutic screening.
PregnancySAFE: A human placenta-heart microfluidic device for drug safety validation during pregnancy (10.54499/2023.11807.PEX)
Branco, M. A., Marzec, J., Nunes, M. M., Bica, M., Rayagra, A. L., Tenreiro, M. F., Cabral, J. M. S., & Diogo, M. M. (2026). Modelling embryonic heart vascular plexus development and sympathetic innervation on a human heart organoid. iScience, 29(3), 115071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2026.115071