Biografia

João José Cerqueira (JJC), born in 9th May 1977, is Assistant Professor at the School of Health Sciences, University of Minho and Neurologist at the Hospital de Braga. After completing his Medical Degree from the University of Porto, he obtained his PhD from the University of Minho, under Nuno Sousa. His thesis research focused in the behavioural, functional and structural changes induced by chronic stress and glucocorticoid manipulations. He was the first to demonstrate the importance of MR/GR balance in the regulation of prefrontal cortex structure and to identify, in the prefrontal cortex, the morphological correlates of stress-induced behavioural disruption. In parallel he completed his residency training in Neurology, with a special interest in Neuroimmunology. He then established himself as a junior PI in the same institute, where thefocus of his research has been the characterization of stress-induced cognitive deficits, including working memory and decision making, and the development and testing of strategies to prevent them, from pharmacological interventions to cognitive training and even electrical stimulation, in both animal models and in patients. As a clinical researcher he is member of the staff of the Braga Clinical Academic Centre (UM/Hospital de Braga), where he has been deeply involved in clinical and translational research, focusing on the novel diagnostic and prognostic markers of multiples clerosis and the role of the choroid plexus. JJC co-supervised 1 PhD and 5 MSc students and is the current the supervisor/co-supervisor of 4 additional PhD students. He is the author of 40 peer reviewed papers and 1 book chapter, with almost 1000 citations and an h factor of 15. His lab has strong behavioural testing capabilities, including a partnership with a major behavioural equipment company to develop and validate new cognitive tests, first class structural and morphological analysis equipment and experience as well as the ability to perform ex vivo (patch clamp, field potential) and freely moving in vivo (field potentials, synchrony) electrophysiological recordings.