João Rocha

Systems Integration Pharmacology, Clinical & Regulatory Science

Our group aims to support integrative systems pharmacological research focusing in developing innovative pharmacological tools to be used both in a non-clinical and clinical development pipeline, while predicting and modelling preventive or therapeutic clinical effects in a translational approach, profoundly anchored in state-of-the-art principles and guidance of Regulatory Science.

Instead of considering the effect of a drug to be the result of one specific drug-protein interaction, our lab applies systems biology principles to the field of basic and clinical pharmacology, epidemiology and regulatory science, seeking to understand how chemical, biological and naturally occurring substances are affected by and affect the human body as a complex biological system. By focusing on these effects as the outcome of a network of interactions these substances may have, a better translatability to a future clinical application is sought.

Applying the reversed principle of “bedside to bench and back”, together with the experience gathered with new and repurposed active substances, our group has also special interest in ethnopharmacology, ethnopharmacy and traditional use of foods for health, as a valuable source of new drug substances that could be used as a preventive or therapeutic tool.

Additionally, aiming at clinical translation, the expertise of the group is also spread among basic and clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, top knowledge of molecular markers of disease and proper clinical and real-world data designs to generate evidence given the expertise in epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology.

All our research is properly anchored in state-of-the-art regulatory science, as several members of the research team are European opinion leaders in regulatory science.

Silva I, Alípio C, Pinto R, Mateus V. Potential anti-inflammatory effect of erythropoietin in non-clinical studies in vivo: A systematic review. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 139 (2021) DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2021.111558
Augustijns P, Vertzoni M, Reppas C, Langguth P, Lennernäs H, Abrahamsson B, Hasler WL, Baker JR, Vanuytsel T, Tack J, Corsetti M, Bermejo M, Paixão P, Amidon GL, Hens B. Unraveling the behavior of oral drug products inside the human gastrointestinal tract using the aspiration technique: History, methodology and applications. Eur J Pharm Sci 2020; 155: 105517. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejps.2020.105517
Torre C, Guerreiro J, Longo P, Raposo JF, Leufkens H, Martins AP. Intensive monitoring of adverse drug events associated with the use of new glucose lowering drugs: results from an inception cohort study in Portugal. Diabetic Medicine. 2020 37(4): 648-656. DOI: 10.1111/dme.14168
Rocha J, Direito R, Lima A, Mota J, Gonçalves M, Duarte MP, Solas J, Peniche BF, Fernandes A, Pinto R, Ferreira RB, Sepodes B, Figueira ME. Reduction of inflammation and colon injury by a Pennyroyal phenolic extract in experimental inflammatory bowel disease in mice. Biomed Pharmacother 2019; 118: 109351. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2019.109351.
Eichler HG, Koenig F, Arlett P, Enzmann H, Humphreys A, Pétavy F, Schwarzer-Daum B, Sepodes B, Vamvakas S, Rasi G. Are Novel, Nonrandomized Analytic Methods Fit for Decision Making? The Need for Prospective, Controlled, and Transparent Validation. Clin Pharmacol Ther 2020; 107(4): 773-779. DOI: 10.1002/cpt.1638.
Malmir M, Serrano R, Caniça M, Silva-Lima B, Silva O. A Comprehensive Review on the Medicinal Plants from the Genus Asphodelus. Plants (Basel) 2018; 7(1): 20. DOI: 10.3390/plants7010020.

João Rocha

Group Leader

Email: jrocha@ff.ulisboa.pt

Phone: (+351) 217946400 (Ext. 14339)

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Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa | Av. Professor Gama Pinto
1649-003 Lisboa | Portugal


Phone | +351 217 946 400
Fax | +351 217 946 470
Web | www.imed.ulisboa.pt
Email | imed.ulisboa@ff.ulisboa.pt

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