SANDRO PEREIRA
Profile:
Neuroscientist and cell biologist with a PhD and over 20 years of research experience spanning stem cell metabolism, mitochondrial physiology, and neurodegeneration — with a particular focus on Parkinson's disease. Author of 30+ peer-reviewed publications (H-index 19, 1,475 citations) and contributor to securing over €2.5 million in research funding. At Exobiosphere, Sandro provides deep scientific expertise for the design and validation of in-vitro biological experiments aboard the Orbital High-Throughput Screener (OHTS). His background in iPSC-derived models, metabolomics, and high-content image analysis directly supports Exobiosphere's mission to produce more predictive, space-enabled preclinical data for neurodegeneration and broader biomedical drug discovery.
Work History:
2025 - CURRENT: EXOBIOSPHERE | LUXEMBOURGXXX
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2023 - 2025: Luxembourg Center for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of LuxembourgResearch & Development Specialist
Leading scientific projects at the intersection of mitochondrial biology and neurodegeneration, Sandro develops and applies iPSC-based models — including neuronal, astroglial, and microglial differentiation — to study the mechanisms underlying Parkinson's disease. He has been actively involved in the conception and writing of multiple funded research grants, contributing to over €2.5 million in total funding secured. He supervises PhD students, MSc students, and laboratory technicians, and has taught in the "Introduction to Biology for Data Scientists" course at the Master of Data Science programme of the University of Luxembourg (2022–2024).
2016 - 2023: Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB), University of LuxembourgPostdoctoral Research Associate
Conducted research on mitochondrial epigenetics, inflammatory responses, and mitochondrial DNA dynamics in Parkinson's disease models. During this period Sandro held a Visiting Scientist position at Columbia University's Division of Behavioral Medicine (2020) and a Visiting Scientist/Postdoc position at the Technical University of Braunschweig in Germany (2016–2017), where he worked on metabolomics. He also held a concurrent Scientist position at the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) focused on metabolism (2021–2023).
2014 - 2016: CNC, University of Coimbra, Portugal | Infogene Lda., PortugalPostdoctoral Fellow / Product Development Scientist
Carried out postdoctoral research on stem cell metabolism and pluripotency at the Centre for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC), University of Coimbra. In 2014 he worked as a Product Development Scientist at Infogene Lda., contributing to oncology-focused product development.
2008 - 2013: CNC, University of Coimbra, Portugal | Visiting: Karolinska Institute, SwedenPhD Student (FCT Scholarship)
Completed a PhD on mitochondrial involvement in neural stem cell differentiation under FCT scholarship funding, including a visiting PhD period at the Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden (2008–2009). Prior to the PhD, worked as a Research Assistant at CNC (2006–2008) and as a Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon (2003–2004).
EDUcation:
CNC, University of Coimbra, PortugalPhD, Stem Cell Metabolism
University of Azores, PortugalBSc (4-year), Biology
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
1. Pereira SL et al. (2023) Novel insights into Parkin-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammation in PD. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 80, 102720.
2. Smajić S, Prada-Medina CA, Landoulsi Z, … Pereira SL … (2021) Single-cell sequencing of human midbrain reveals glial activation and a Parkinson-specific neuronal state. Brain, awab446.
3. Borsche M, … Pereira SL … (2020) Mitochondrial damage-associated inflammation highlights biomarkers in PRKN/PINK1 parkinsonism. Brain; 143:3041–3051.
4. Wasner K, … Pereira SL, Grünewald A (2022) Parkin Deficiency Impairs Mitochondrial DNA Dynamics and Propagates Inflammation. Movement Disorders.
5. 30 total original articles in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Full list available on request. ORCID: 0000-0001-9498-3965.