Vitor Pinheiro

Graduated from University of Cambridge (UK) in Natural Sciences, Prof. Pinheiro pursued a PhD in bacterial pathogenesis at University of Cambridge looking at the molecular evolution of Yersinia pestis. Interested by the behaviour of complex systems, Vitor pursued his post-doctoral research at the UK Medical Research Council where he pioneered the development of the first synthetic or xenobiotic genetic materials (XNAs). Vitor joined University College London in 2013 as an independent researcher focused on applying Directed Evolution to Synthetic Biology and on further developing the XNA world. Despite its acknowledged impact, Directed Evolution (DE) remains an artisanal practice and the Pinheiro group works to transform DE into an engineering tool to probe the limits of functional biopolymers. Since 2018, Vitor is an Associate Professor at KU Leuven as a member of the Medicinal Chemistry group at the Rega Institute and actively contributing to the growing Belgian Synthetic Biology community.