Ângela Crespo, Ph.D.

Ângela Crespo, Ph.D. has a diverse work experience in the fields of biomedicine and immunology. Ângela is currently a Senior Scientist at Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc., where they have been working since 2021. Prior to this, they held the role of Scientist II at the same company from August 2021 to May 2022.

Before joining Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc., Ângela worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital from June 2016 to December 2020. During their postdoctoral work, they focused on studying the role of decidual natural killer cells in protecting the fetus from bacterial and viral infections, particularly Zika virus and Listeria. Ângela successfully led a collaborative project with their PhD lab, which resulted in a publication in Cell. The project uncovered a new mechanism by which human uterine NK cells eliminate bacterial pathogens in placental cells without harming the host cell through direct delivery of antimicrobial granulysin via nanotubes.

Ângela's educational background includes a Ph.D. in Biomedicine from Universidade de Coimbra/Harvard University, where they were a PhD candidate from September 2009 to January 2016. Ângela'sPhD research focused on the regulation of the maternal immune system during pregnancy, specifically examining the balance between tolerance to the fetus and clearance of viral and bacterial infections. Ângela conducted extensive research on decidual natural killer cells (dNK) and their role in facilitating extravillous trophoblast (EVT) invasion through cytokine secretion.

Prior to their Ph.D., Ângela worked as a Masters student at Instituto Nacional De Saúde Dr Ricardo Jorge from February 2008 to September 2009. Ângela'smaster's project investigated the relationship between Alzheimer's disease and iron metabolism at a cellular and genetic level. Ângela explored the role of impaired brain iron homeostasis in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, which is the most common form of dementia in elderly individuals.

Overall, Ângela Crespo, Ph.D. has a strong background in immunology, biomedicine, and cellular biology, with expertise in understanding the maternal immune system during pregnancy and the mechanisms involved in protecting the fetus from infections.

Ângela Crespo, Ph.D. obtained their Bachelor of Science degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa in 2007. Ângela then pursued a Master of Science degree in Human Molecular Biology at the same institution from 2007 to 2009. Ângela went on to complete their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Human Maternal-Fetal Immunology at Universidade de Coimbra from 2009 to 2016.

In addition to their formal education, Ângela also obtained a certification in "15.480x: The Science and Business of Biotechnology" from MITx on edX in February 2021.