Sandra NunesSandra Nunes is Researcher at the Coimbra Chemistry Center, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra. Her expertise includes the development of coarse-grained models of polyelectrolyte systems, but his research interests also include the use ofab initio methods in conformational research in gas and condensed phases, Molecular Dynamics simulations applied to complex systems of chemical and biomedical interest. The aspects explored include the melting of nucleic acids and the preparation of three-dimensional structures with nucleic acids (DNA origami) with applications in gene therapy, the study of the phenomena of compaction and confinement of polyelectrolytes including crowding situations, the study of host-guest interactions, the modeling and rationalization of reaction mechanisms based on electronic structure calculations. These approaches are particularly useful for interpreting experimental results in the field of catalysis and organic synthesis, as well as for clarifying aspects related to drug/biomolecule interactions and biological membranes, both to improve the bioavailability and efficacy of drugs and to improve vectorization and transfection in biological membranes in normal and pathological situations.Current interests focus on (i) the development of new strategies to combat bacterial resistance, through the computational design of nanotransporters based on nucleic acids, (ii) the characterization of antibacterial molecules through electronic structure calculations and computational learning methods, and (iii) the interaction of polyelectrolytes with surfaces, ranging from the interaction between therapeutic agents and biological membranes in different situations, to the adsorption of polymers and biomolecules on nanoparticle surfaces with a view to the design/preparation of different therapeutic systems. Read More Read Less