Ana is originally from Portugal and has been studying/working in the UK for 10 years, pursuing her passion for learning and discovery. Ana is a Postdoc in the Beall lab, currently investigating hydrogen sulfide donor compounds as potential anti-hypoglycaemic agents in rodent models of Type I diabetes. Ana recently completed her PhD with Dr. Craig Beall investigating the mechanisms that drive impairments in glucose homeostasis in diabetes, working in skeletal muscle cells in vitro and in vivo in rodents and humans.

Ana’s main research interest is in understanding the signalling and molecular mechanisms that regulate whole energy metabolism and glucose homeostasis in diabetes. The projects she has worked on include investigating the therapeutic potential of indirect and direct brain permeable AMPK activators to amplify the counterregulatory response to hypoglycaemia in Type 1 diabetes (read more) and investigating insulin-independent ways to recover skeletal muscle glucose disposal and insulin sensitivity in insulin-resistant states (read more).

Techniques:

Vascular surgery rodent
Glucose clamping
In vivo metabolic physiology
Western blotting
Live-cell imaging
Enzyme assays
Calcium imaging
Amino acid tracers
Cannulation/Venipuncture

Hobbies: Ana enjoys exercising (lifting heavy weights or group circuits), cooking and crocheting, all of which can be followed by a social visit to the pub.