Dr. Filipa Simões

Biography

Filipa Simões is a Group Leader and British Heart Foundation Intermediate Basic Science Fellow at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, University of Oxford. Her research focuses on understanding immune cells, particularly macrophages, and their role in the repair of heart damage caused by heart attacks. Simões' team employs genomics, spatial omics, and functional in vivo and in vitro assays to dissect the spatiotemporal dynamics of cellular microenvironments. They aim to identify intercellular signaling networks and define macrophage identity, plasticity, and function in both healthy and diseased hearts. She earned a degree in Microbiology and Genetics from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, and a PhD in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra. During her postdoctoral work at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics at the University of Oxford, she identified distinct functional cell subpopulations involved in developing and regenerating the epicardium, which is crucial for heart development. Her findings have provided paradigm-shifting insights into collagen deposition and cardiac scar formation, with potential applications in other organ systems affected by fibrotic disease.

Research Interests