Pedro L. Melo

Pedro Melo graduated in Aquatic Sciences from the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas de Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto in 1995, has a Master in Quality Control (Environment) from the Faculty of Pharmacy (FFUP), University of Porto since 2000, and completed his PhD degree in Human Biology from the Faculty of Medicine (FMUP), University of Porto in 2006. From 2007 to 2011, Pedro Melo has developed a Postdoctoral project in the area of neuronal aging at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Porto. He has also been a Postdoctoral fellow in a Project entitled Cognition and synaptic function in calcium channel disease (PTDC/SAU-NEU/100701/2008) funded by FCT and developed at Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC). Presently, Pedro Melo is an Invited Professor at the Escola Superior da Saúde and at Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Polytechnic Institute of Porto. He also a researcher at the Centro Interdisciplinar de Investigação Marinha e Ambiental, University of Porto where he is interested on the neurochemical changes and oxidative stress of vertebrate brain and retina after exposure to psychopharmaceuticals. During his Master, the candidate has validated a method based on SPE/SPME followed by HPLC-DAD to determine and quantify toxic phenolic compounds in different water matrices. Since the year 2000, the candidate has focused his research on the aspects of CNS development and aging concerning the exposure to psychoactive substances using the visual system as a model. The correlation between methamphetamine and accelerated aging concerning neurochemistry and recognition memory has also been a target of research. The data generated directelly from his PhD and Postdoctoral project are included in 6 first authors publications in international scientific periodicals with referees. He is also an author of the chapter Los grupos básicos de nutrientes: Los glúcidos, los lípidos, las proteínas in the book Bases Micronutricionales de la Salud Ocular (2009), THEA LABS. Pedro Melo was co-supervisior of a PhD student from the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo (Brazil) financed by CAPES/4389/07-7 and developed at FMUP and IBMC. Pedro Melo has also teaching/supervion experience at postgraduate levels (Ph.D. and Master levels). He has also been in PhD Evaluation Committees for the examination of the doctoral dissertations. Moreover, he was editor of the European Journal of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, an is ad hoc reviewer of international peer-review journals and collaborator in programs related with society and science. Since 2005, Pedro Melo has a solid collaboration (both research and postgraduate teaching) with Maria Dolores Pinazo Duran, head of the Unidad de Investigación Oftalmológica Santiago Grisólia, and Professor of the Facultat de Medicine I Odontologia of the Universitat de Valencia, in Spain.