Lima | Department of Medicine | School of Medicine

Dr. Patricia Lima MSc, PhD

Position(s)

Assistant Professor (Adjunct)

Molecular Imaging & Cytometry Specialist

Research Scientist at QCPU

Contact Info

Dr. Lima is a Scientist and an Assistant Professor (Adjunct) at the Queen’s Cardiopulmonary Unit (QCPU). She is also the Molecular Imaging and Cytometry Specialist and provides scientific assistance for over 30 ongoing research projects. Driven by the philosophy of “Let’s have this done and get it right”, Dr Lima is well known by her competence, organization skills and scientific knowledge. She co-supervises graduate students focusing on the development of their scientific skills and critical thinking. At QCPU, Dr. Lima directs the Imaging Lab (housing the super-resolution SP8 Leica MP and confocal microscope) and the Culture and Cytometry Lab (a fully equipped risk level 2+ facility with a cell sorter and an enclosed culture system).

Dr. Lima is graduated in Biological Sciences and obtained her Ph.D. in one of the top Universities in Brazil – UNICAMP in collaboration with Queen’s University. She has focused her graduate studies in Reproductive Immunology, specifically looking into the regulatory mechanisms of Natural Killer cells (NK) during pregnancy and the role of these cells in complications such as miscarriages and preeclampsia. During her postdoctoral training (Queen’s University and Ottawa Hospital Research Institute), Dr. Lima narrowed her research interest to study the immunological and metabolic aspects of women’s health particularly focusing on diabetes during pregnancy and infertility-driven by endocrine and metabolic disorders such as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Over the years, Dr. Lima has accumulated relevant publications and several awards recognizing the excellence of her research. Currently, she has two major research interests: 1) the immunological aspects of pulmonary hypertension, specifically macrophage polarization and inflammasome activation and 2) the phenotyping of neutrophils in risk stratification and prognostics of sepsis. Both studies are in collaboration with full professors at Queen’s.

Aside from Science, Dr. Lima dedicates her time giving back to the community. She is also a volunteer firefighter at Athens Fire Department where she is a member of the executive and training team. She also leads yearly the Muscular Dystrophy Canada fundraising for research (“The Boot Drive”). At Queen’s, Dr. Lima is the founder of the Women’s in Science at Queens (WiSQ), which is a hit amongst scientists of diverse fields, genders and professional levels. The group is funded by Queen’s Inclusive Community Funding and has the support of several departments at Queen’s.

Team

Faculty & Staff