The team is united by a shared commitment to develop a reliable, cutting-edge methodology that surpasses current standards for marine toxins detection through innovative nano-optical sensor technology.
Our complementary expertise — from chemical sensors and marine chemistry to toxin identification and analytical validation — drives a collaborative effort to achieve the proposed objectives.
The project team has extensive experience in the field of potentiometric sensors and was a pioneer in the development of such sensors for detecting paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs). Nowadays, the team seeks to broaden its horizons to include diarrheic shellfish toxins (DSTs) detection in bivalve extracts, developing optical screening tests for the rapid detection of both PSTs and DSTs.
NANOCEAN will harness the knowledge and experience of the research team in such areas as polymeric ionophore-based chemical sensors and electronic tongues, environmental chemistry, marine toxins analysis, polysaccharide chemistry, and supercritical extraction to contribute to progress in the implementation of screening tools for marine toxins detection.
Alisa, the project PI, was one of the first researchers to develop electronic tongue sensor systems, and several applications of such systems were reported over the years.
The University of Aveiro is represented by Alisa Rudnitskaya, Maria Tereza Gomes and Cláudia Passos. The Portuguese Institute for the Sea and Atmosphere is represented by Maria João Botelho, Miguel Caetano and Sara T. Costa.
Learn more about them in the section above!
Alisa Rudnitskaya
Alisa is the Principal Investigator of the project. She has authored 355 scientific publications, including 107 articles with an associated h-index of 44 (Scopus, 2025), of which 33% were with international collaboration. She has participated in 11 national and 3 international projects, of which she was a PI in 2 international and PI in 5 and co-PI in 1 national ones. She has a strong experience in the field of chemical sensors including electrochemical, optical and piezoelectric ones, multisensor systems for gas and liquid analysis and their analytical applications, novel sensing materials and chemometrics. She has chaired an international conference dedicated to sensors and sensor systems - ISOEN 2022.
Maria Tereza Gomes
Tereza is an Associate Professor at the Aveiro University. Besides her teaching activity and interest in education, her scientific research has been mainly devoted to the development of sensors and analytical sensing systems for the analysis of gases in beverages, exhaled air, or VOCs emitted from books, health concerning compounds in food, permeation of pharmaceuticals through skin, as many other applications including detection of phase changes and pour point in biodiesel. She has authored 239 scientific publications, including 83 articles. She chaired a two days course devoted to Sensors in 2021, an international conference – IBERSENSOR 2022, and served as a member of the Technical Program Committee for the EuroSensors Conferences for several editions. She is a member of the Permanent Committee of the Ibersensor forum.
Maria João Botelho
Maria João is a researcher at IPMA, I.P. and Head of Division of Oceanography and Marine Environment. She is the responsible for the National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins of Portugal, integrating the National Bivalve Mollusc Monitoring Program. She is an expert in the field of fate and pathways of marine toxins, toxins sorption to microplastics and application of sensors to toxin detection. She has authored more than 40 articles with associated h-index of 19. She participated in 18 national and 5 international projects serving as a PI in 3 of them.
Miguel Caetano
Miguel is a senior researcher at IPMA, I.P. and a team leader of the Contaminant Pathways and Interactions with marine organisms Group at the Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research (CIIMAR). He has a strong track record in the studies of anthropocene impact on the marine environment, particularly biogeochemical processes. He has authored 149 articles and participated in 30 national and international research projects serving as a PI in 6 of them and was responsible for 6 contracts with private and public entities. He represents Portugal in the Marine Chemistry Working Group and is a member of the Advises Committee of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES).
Cláudia Passos
Cláudia is a researcher at Aveiro University. She has a strong track record in the development of green technologies for extraction and separation, such as supercritical fluids, microwaves and ultrafiltration applied to the extraction of high-added-value compounds from food residues and their processing into novel functional materials. She has authored 152 publications including 51 articles with an associated h-index of 25. She participated in several national projects serving as a PI in 1 of them. She is an active member of European networks, presently serving as a member country representative in the COST action Acryred and is core member of the COST action INFOTECH-DATA.
Sara T. Costa
Sara is a laboratory technician of the National Reference Laboratory of Marine Biotoxins (IPMA, I.P.). Her expertise lies in Marine Biotechnology, specifically in the areas of bioaccumulation, biotransformation, and elimination of toxins in marine organisms; liquid chromatography methodologies for toxin profile studies in bivalves and algae, including method validation and optimization; identification and scale-up of toxin-producing microalgae species; and enzymatic biosensors for the detection of paralytic shellfish toxins.
