Dr Mariana Marques

Mariana graduated in Biochemistry from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) and later obtained an MSc in Molecular Biomedicine from the University of Aveiro (Portugal). At this stage, she joined the Virus Host-Cell Interactions Laboratory under the supervision of Dr Daniela Ribeiro to embark on the studies of cellular responses to viral infection, with focus on the innate immune response and proteostasis. As part of this project, she enrolled an ERASMUS+ internship with Dr Wolfram Brune at the Heinrich-Pette Institute in Hamburg (Germany) where she explored the activation of stress responses during infection with murine cytomegalovirus. 

Mariana was awarded a PhD in Biomedicine in 2023 from the University of Aveiro. For her thesis, she carried out a project to study influenza A virus infection in human cells under the supervision of Dr Daniela Ribeiro (University of Aveiro), Dr Maria João Amorim (Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Lisbon, Portugal), and Dr Markus Islinger (Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim der Universität Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany). During this time, she explored and identified novel proteostasis-related mechanisms by which influenza A virus manipulates the host cell to propagate infection, as well as distinct processes that are important for an effective peroxisome-dependent immune response against RNA viruses.

Since 2024, Mariana has been at The Pirbright Institute. Her current work focuses on the study of cellular antiviral responses against foot-and-mouth disease virus, with focus on the assembly of biocondensates and the activation of innate immune responses during infection.