Principal Investigator of the Laboratory
Dr. Bruno Victor is a computational biochemist and medicinal chemist with more than two decades of experience at the intersection of molecular modeling, biophysics, and drug discovery. His career has successfully combined academic research and industrial innovation, focusing on applying computational approaches to understand biologically relevant systems and develop novel therapeutic strategies. He obtained his degree in Biochemistry from the University of Coimbra and completed his PhD in Computational Biochemistry at ITQB-NOVA, where he specialized in molecular modeling of redox proteins involved in the metabolism of oxygen and nitric oxide. Following his PhD, Dr. Victor expanded his expertise into membrane proteins and viral fusion mechanisms through postdoctoral research on influenza hemagglutinin peptides and membrane interactions.
Throughout his career, he has developed strong expertise in molecular dynamics simulations, structure-based drug design, virtual screening, free-energy calculations, chemoinformatics, and computational medicinal chemistry. His research has addressed a broad range of biological systems, including membrane proteins, aquaporins, amyloid-related diseases, metabolic enzymes, and protein–membrane interactions. As a Responsible Investigator, he has contributed to several multidisciplinary funded projects in both academic and biotech settings, including studies related to transthyretin amyloidosis, tuberculosis, cancer, membrane permeability, and aquaporin modulation.
Since 2019, Dr. Victor has been an Integrated Researcher at BioISI – Biosystems & Integrative Sciences Institute (Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon), where he coordinates the Structure-Based Drug Discovery research group. In this role, he supervised postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, and master’s students while leading nationally funded research projects and establishing collaborations with international biotechnology companies focused on computational drug discovery.
In parallel with his academic activities, Dr. Victor has held several industry-oriented positions, including Computational Scientist at BSIM Therapeutics and Senior Researcher at Zymvol Biomodeling, where he contributed to protein engineering and biotechnology applications. Between 2024 and 2025, he led the Computational Medicinal Chemistry Department at CoLAB AccelBio, supporting the development of innovative therapeutic discovery programs. Since 2026, he has served as Scientific and Strategic Consultant for the department, contributing to its long-term scientific and technological development. Simultaneously, he became a Coordinating Professor at IPLuso - Polytechnic Institute for Lusophony, where he has been actively involved in developing new study cycles, strategic academic planning, teaching, and research.
Dr. Victor’s current research interests focus on computational drug discovery, membrane biophysics, protein engineering, and the development of advanced computational methodologies to study complex molecular systems. His work increasingly emphasizes membrane-associated therapeutic targets, small-molecule modulation of membrane proteins, peptide permeability, and the integration of computational and experimental approaches to accelerate drug discovery. He is also particularly interested in applying machine learning and advanced simulation methodologies to medicinal chemistry and biotechnology.
To date, he has authored more than 40 peer-reviewed publications and contributed to several patents and international collaborative research initiatives.
