iBB People

Diana Marques is an IST Bioengeneering PhD student who has a Master's degree in Biotechnology from IST and a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from the NOVA School of Science and Technology. Her scientific interests are in sustainable food systems, specifically in the cellular agriculture field. Currently, in her PhD studies, Diana is focused on edible and plant-based materials for scaffolding fabrication, fish cell eletrical stimulation, bioreactors, and fish cell culture, namely, fish adipogenesis and myogenesis. In her master's thesis, Diana developed novel edible vegan bioinks for 3D bioprinting using algae-based materials. This work was published. After that, Diana developed her research in SCERG at iBB, working on the project Algae2Fish, funded by the US non-profit "The Good Food Institute" (GFI), to produce algae- and plant-based scaffolds to fabricate seabass fish fillets using 3D bioprinting and electrospinning techniques. Diana is also recently involved in the projects VitaminSea (funded by GFI) and CleanFish (funded by FCT). Diana is the co-founder and co-president of "The University of Lisbon Alt Protein Project," a GFI program that aims to promote education, awareness, and opportunities for students and researchers who work with alternative proteins. Diana is also the vice president of the fiscal council of the Portuguese Association for the Development of Cellular Agriculture.