Postmortem – Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies

GROUP LEADER | MAJOR INTERESTS | RESEARCH TEAM | CURRENT PROJECTS | RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS

postmortem

GROUP LEADER
Inês Alexandra Costa de Morais Caldas | ORCID

MAJOR INTERESTS

In its broadest sense this research line focusing the study the etiology of violent death (i.e., accident, suicide, homicide), the cause, mechanism and circumstances of death. One particular object is to develop models devoted to estimate the time since death and toxicological methods to quantify drugs in alternative samples such as hair.

Specifically the aims of this research line are:

Forensic and Clinical Toxicology and the study of toxicodynamic mechanisms and toxicokinetics of xenobiotics (e.g., focusing in the metabolism of psychoactive substances) and factors that influence them (e.g., pharmacogenomics and membrane transporters and intracellular enzymes);
development of analytical techniques to become a reference center in the diagnosis of intoxications and therapeutic drug monitoring;
Forensic Anthropology and Odontology namely, forensic age estimation in the living, focusing on dental techniques and environmental factors, and postmortem, focusing on several techniques, namely on the neonatal line
Jurisprudence;
Forensic Pathology, namely the determination of time since death and the manner and cause of dead
Forensic Genetics and the development of new methods for DNA analysis in putrefied samples and new biomarkers of disease
Forensic Botanics and Palynology, namely the study of palynomorphs, specifically pollen and plant spores, that will provide important information not only about the provenance of a questioned sample but also on the existence or non-existence of relationship between victims, suspects, witnesses, objects and/or locations
Forensic Social Work, Victimology and intergenerational transmission of violence and dating violence
Forensic Serology and biomarkers of the inflammatory, oxidative stress and erythropoietic disturbances by using different models (e.g., obesity, psoriasis);
Forensic Entomology and the study of the insect community (and its succession patterns) associated to cadavers in order to calculate the postmortem interval;
Forensic Geology and characterization of the unique, mineral and organic, signature of earth materials, in order to perform the association / dissociation of a victim or a suspect to an object or a crime scene;
Document and Handwriting Examination aims to determine the authenticity or reveal forgery of a document, signature or text, analyzing for example inks, printing processes, paper and handwriting;
Forensic Ballistics, namely gunshot residues (GSR), firing distance estimation, bullet and cartridge casings identification, weapons transformation and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED);
Forensic Computation and the study of algorithms and signal processing methodologies related to generic pattern analysis, particularly in the field of bloodstain pattern analysis, handwriting comparison, forensic voice comparison and information security.

RESEARCH TEAM

Researchers

PhD Students

MSc Students

Armanda Ferreira | armanda.barrosferreira@gmail.com | ORCID
Mariana Azevedo Soares | azevedosoares.mariana@hotmail.com | ORCID

BSc Students

Ângela Silva | A22567@alunos.cespu.pt |
Ariana Pereira | A21427@alunos.cespu.pt |

Research Technician

Patrícia Silva | patricia.silva@cespu.pt | ORCID

CURRENT PROJECTS

Project TramTap-CESPU-2016: Tramadol and tapentadol: the role of the MRP2 transporter, toxicity and pharmacogenetic determinants. | PI: Ricardo Dinis |Team: Ricardo Dinis, Maria Fernanda Real, Félix Carvalho, Juliana Faria, Joana Barbosa, Odília Queirós Roxana Moreira | Funding Entity: CESPU | Period covered: 04-2016 to 03-2017

Project PM.CTCL/MAST/PSO-CESPU-2016: Pruritus mediators in cutaneous T-cell lymphomas, mastocytosis and psoriasis. | PI: Susana Coimbra | Team: Susana Coimbra, Alice Santos-Silva, Margarida Lima | Funding Entity: CESPU | Period covered: 04-2016 to 03-2017

Project BioCat-CESPU-2016: Unravelling the molecular mechanisms underlying metabolic modulators inhibition of tumor progression and treatment resistance. | PI: Odília Queirós | Team: Odília Queirós, Roxana Moreira, Ricardo Dinis, Diana Valente, Andrea Cunha, Ana Margarida Barbosa, Joana Vieira | Funding Entity: CESPU | Period covered: 04-2016 to 03-2017

Project FDAE-2016: Project Forensic dental age estimation in children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. | PI: Daniel Pérez Mongiovi | Team: Daniel Pérez Mongiovi, Inês Caldas, Américo Afonso, Hugo Cardoso | Funding Entity: CESPU/FMDUP | Period covered: 04-2016 to 04-2017

Project TTE-2016: Project Usefulness of teeth trace elements in forensic human identification. | PI: Daniel Pérez Mongiovi | Team: Daniel Pérez Mongiovi, Inês Caldas, Américo Afonso, Susana Braga, Alexandra Teixeira | Funding Entity: CESPU/FMDUP | Period covered: 09-2016 to 09-2018

Project CESPU-2016: Magnetic Susceptibility Measurement of Urban Soils for Forensic Application. | PI: Áurea Carvalho | Team: Áurea Carvalho, Ariana Pereira, Helena Ribeiro, Bruno Valentim, Alexandra Guedes, Helena Sant´ovaia | Funding Entity: CESPU: FCUP colaboration | Period covered: 12-2015 to 09-2016

RELEVANT PUBLICATIONS