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• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (2022 – present)
• Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (2022)
• PhD in Developmental Biology, Hubrecht Institute, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands (2005)
• MSc (equivalent 5-year degree) in Biochemistry, University of Lisbon, Portugal (2000)

Rui started his research career as an undergraduate, studying Notch target genes in chick embryos at the Instituto de Histologia e Embriologia, University of Lisbon, Portugal. After graduating in 2000, he went on to pursue a PhD in Developmental Biology at the Hubrecht Institute, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands. He graduated in 2005, and during this period studied BMP signalling in mouse and in zebrafish. In 2006 he joined Prof Patient’s lab at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford to do research on developmental haematopoiesis. In 2014, he was awarded a BHF Intermediate Basic Science Research Fellowship and became a Principal Investigator at the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford. He became a University Research Lecturer in 2016. Rui joined the University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡ in 2018 as a Birmingham Fellow. In 2022 Rui became an Associate Professor.

• MBChB - Research Taster sessions, 1^st year students.
• MBChB – SGT on Cancer metastasis and invasion, 2^nd year
• Biomedical Sciences – 3^rd and 4^th year - SGT on TGFβ signalling for the ‘Cell communication in health and disease’ module.
• MSc Genomic Medicine - Lecture on the use of zebrafish for genomics research for the ‘Fundamentals of Human Genetics and Genomics’ module.
• MSc Genomic Medicine - Module lead for the Research Project and Literature Dissertation modules. 

Rui supervises undergraduate and postgraduate Master (MSc, MRes) and PhD students in the following areas of research:

• The role of transcriptional and epigenetic regulators in endothelial and haematopoietic development
• The role of endothelial and haemogenic-specific cis-regulatory elements in zebrafish
• Screening of modifiers of blood stem cell fitness, survival and differentiation
• In vivo modelling of the genetic basis of human disease in zebrafish

If you are interested in studying any of these subject areas please contact Rui on the contact details above.

Research interests:

Zebrafish has become an important resource for biomedical research, helping to understand human disease and addressing critical questions in regenerative medicine. Because zebrafish share the same genes with other vertebrates, including humans, and angiogenesis and haematopoiesis are so well conserved, the lessons we learn from this model can be directly applied to other vertebrate systems and to human health. The Monteiro Lab are interested in learning how extrinsic signalling and intrinsic transcriptional regulators control lineage fate decisions and thus programme the embryonic endothelium towards a blood stem cell (HSC) fate. To this end, they use a mix of classical developmental biology approaches with novel cutting edge approaches like genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9, single cell transcriptional and epigenetic profiling and screening by transient transgenesis.

Current projects: 

1.    The role of  TGFβ signalling in the formation of HSCs and how that relates to its function in making blood vessels. Gaining insights into the role of TGFβ in vascular and blood stem cell biology in vivo is particularly relevant, given that the TGFβ pathway is an attractive therapeutic target in haematopoietic malignancies and cardiovascular disease.

2.    The interplay between epigenetic regulators and cis-regulatory elements that drive cell fate specification in endothelium and in blood stem cells. We are interested in identifying key tissue-specific drivers of gene expression and cellular fate during the haematopoietic process. Understanding their activity in vivo will help to dissect their contribution to the development of the embryonic cardiovascular and haematopoietic systems. 

3.   To develop in vivo leukaemia models in zebrafish. Transcriptional regulators that are important for HSC formation in the embryo are frequently mutated or mis-expressed in haematopoietic malignancies. For example, the Monteiro lab has developed a zebrafish model for GATA2 deficiency and shown that disease progression is linked to defects in DNA damage repair pathways.

Professional Body Memberships

• 2014 - Member of the British Society of Developmental Biology
• 2015 - Member of the Biochemical Society
• 2018 - Member of the Zebrafish Disease Models Society
• 2018 - Member of the International Society of Experimental Hematology
• 2017 - Member of the European Zebrafish Society 

Institutional Responsibilities

• 2020 – present – Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences (ICGS) Early Career Researcher lead, University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡, UK
• 2020 – present – Member of the ICGS Postgraduate Research Committee, University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡, UK
• 2020 – present - Member of the ICGS Executive Committee, University Â鶹¾«Ñ¡, UK. 

Reviewing and Editorial Activities

• 2022 – present – Review Editor, Frontiers in Hematology
• 2022 – 2023– Topic Editor, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
• 2014 – present – Peer reviewer for Developmental Cell, Nature communications, Blood, Haematologica, Stem Cell Reports, Development, others.
• 2014 – present – Grant reviewer for UK (MRC, BBSRC, KKLF, GOSH Charity, BHF, Leukaemia UK, Royal Society) and European research funders (KWF)