Rita Elias

Having obtained a PhD in Pharmacy from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, in 2026, I am currently working in the Pathogen Biology and Global Health Group at CE3C. My research aims to analyse bacterial genomes, in particular those of Escherichia coli of animal origin, with the main objective of reconstructing their phylogenetic and phylodynamic history, as well as characterising their resistome, virolome and mobilome. Over the past five years, I have been working in the field of microbial genomics on clinical isolates of Klebsiella pneumoniae, with the main objective being to understand the epidemiology and phylodynamics of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae, including the identification of high-risk clones and the reconstruction of their evolutionary trajectories. In addition, I have also sought to understand the virulence strategies employed by the strains with the greatest impact in Portugal, as well as the molecular mechanisms responsible for their pathogenicity.