Leonor de Oliveira Pires

Room in IBEB

1.09

Contacts

E-mail: ldpires[at]ciencias.ulisboa.pt

Professional networks

Curriculum

Research topics

• Realistic Computer Modelling
• Medical Imaging
• Non-invasive Brain and Spine Stimulation
• Artificial Intelligence
• 3D and VR Modelling

Biography

Leonor de Oliveira Pires, born in 2000, is a PhD Student Researcher at Instituto de Biofísica e Engenharia Biomédica (IBEB). She completed the Bachelor’s Degree in Ciências da Engenharia – Engenharia Biomédica e Biofísica in 2021 and the Master’s Degree in Engenharia Biomédica e Biofísica in 2023 at Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (FCUL).

She interned at KU Leuven Robot-Assisted Surgery Group in 2021, working on a machine learning algorithm for detecting breaches in pedicle screw placement phantom models using intravascular ultrasound imaging.

During the Master’s programme, Leonor pursued a second internship at IBEB. The work aimed to optimize the induced electric field in transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the motor cortex through computational numerical simulations, which resulted in a conference paper, presented at the 44th Annual International Conference EMBC 2022.

Leonor’s Master thesis focused on studying functional connectivity alterations related to Parkinson’s disease (PD) by applying explainable artificial intelligence (XAI). A convolutional neural network classifier was developed to classify brain connectivity matrices to identify Parkinson’s Disease patients. XAI methods were used to identify potential functional biomarkers of PD pathophysiology.

Leonor has been attending the PhD Programme in Engenharia Biomédica e Biofísica at FCUL since January 2024. Her research is involved in the International Consortium DC4MND – “Multidimensional Mechanistic Investigations of Trans-Spinal Direct Current Stimulation in Motor Neuron Disease” (Project ID JPND/0003/2022). Her role involves developing MRI-based realistic computational models of in vitro (iPSC) and in vivo (murinae) systems to simulate and optimize the effects of trans-spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) in these systems. Later that year, Leonor was granted a four-year scholarship by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia to continue her PhD.

Leonor is currently the co-founder and head of technology of the medtech startup IMAGI Health, and an Invited Assistant at FCUL.

Publications