Journal of Membrane Science & Technology

Luis P. Fonseca

Luis P. Fonseca
Bioengineering Department University of Lisbon Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences Lisboa, Portugal phone: +351 - 218 419 139 (065) fax: +351 - 218 419 062
University of Lisbon
Portugal

Biography

Luis P. Fonseca is Associate Professor at the Department of Bioengineering of Instituto Superior Técnico (I.S.T.), University of Lisbon (UL), and PI and Research Scientist at the BioEngineering Research Group (BERG), based in the Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (iBB) at I.S.T. After graduating in Chemical Engineering in 1983, Luís got an MSc in Biochemical Engineering in 1989, a PhD in Biotechnology in 1995, and later his DSc in 2006 in Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis, all degree received at I.S.T. His PhD was focused on the development and implementation of an integrated strategy for the production, extraction and purification of penicillin acylase produced by Escherichia coli. Upon completion of the PhD, his research efforts continued to focus on the development of integrated strategies for the production and in-situ recovery of proteins using process membranes. Simultaneously, he gradually became interested in the development of biosensors for process monitoring, namely based in FIA/SIA systems and hence became deeply involved in the design of microreactors with immobilized enzymes. Within this scope, Luís stayed one year (1998-1999) as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at The School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Leeds, and later (2004-2005) as Visiting Scholar at Chemical Engineering Department in University of California, Berkeley. Current research efforts focus in the development of nano/micro-biocatalysts (biocomposites) mostly based on hydrogels containing protein/cell assemblies and encapsulating nano-magnetic particles. The resulting biocomposites are intended to be used as nano/micro-bioreactors integrated with process membranes.

Research Interest

Industrial Biotechnology, Integrated processes, Bioproducts recovery