I have graduated in Microbiology from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in Porto, in 1997. Then, in 2000, I have completed an MSc degree in Toxicology from Universidade de Aveiro. I finished my PhD degree in Human Biology from Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto in 2010. Presently, I am a postdoc at the Translational NeuroUrology group. I am studying the pathophysiological mechanisms of chronic visceral pain associated with Bladder Pain Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis (BPS/IC). Recently we have demonstrated that sympathetic nervous system overactivity may be involved in the genesis of pain felt by BPS/IC patients. My working hypothesis is based on the idea that the increase levels of plasmatic/urinary noradrenaline (NA) observed in BPS/IC patients will induce adrenoceptors (AR) overstimulation and, consequently, an abnormal activation of the bladder nociceptors, promoting changes in organ motility, compromising the urothelium, inducing inflammation and changes in the bladder microvessels. In fact, we have demonstrated that chronic adrenergic stimulation induces visceral pain, urothelial disruption, mastocytosis and increase bladder frequency, through an alpha 1A adrenoceptor and TRPV1-mediated mechanism.