Biography

The main focus of Renata Freitas's research is to unravel the mechanisms activated by the Hox transcription factors during embryonic development, evolution, and disease and how they are regulated at the transcriptional level. In the past, she uncovered developmental mechanisms in lampreys and sharks (e.g. Nature 2006) and explored the role of HOX genes in morphological evolution (e.g. Developmental Cell 2012). More recently, her team discovered novel targets affected by HOX gene modulation in breast cancer (e.g. Biomedicines 2021) and pursued studies in Evo-Devo using zebrafish as a preferential model (e.g. Scientific Reports 2021). In addition, her team is currently carrying out drug tests to discover novel cancer therapies (e.g. RSC Medical Chemistry, 2022).