Carla Abreu studied Applied Biology in the University of Minho. For her undergraduate project, she joined the lab of Professor Noel Lowndes at the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUIG) as an Erasmus student to investigate the mechanisms by which cell cycle checkpoints are activated and regulated after DNA damage. Carla was then awarded a fellowship from FCT to continue her work in Prof. Lowndes’s lab as a PhD student until 2012. Her dissertation focused on the interplay between cell cycle regulation by the cyclin-dependent kinases and the activation of the DNA damage signaling pathway.

In her next career step Carla joined the lab of Professor Maria Jasin at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in USA. As a postdoctoral fellow, she investigated the mechanisms of meiotic DNA double-strand breaks repair by homologous recombination, an early step in the meiotic program required for the proper segregation of homologs and development of germ cells.

In September of 2018, Carla joined the IBMC/i3S with the aim to advance her career as an independent investigator and start her own line of research on the mechanisms regulating accurate cell division and proliferation during animal development, with special interest in neurodeveloment. She is working closely with Dr. Tiago Dantas, Dr. Reto Gassmann and Dr. Ana Carvalho.

Research Team:

- Diogo Rodrigues, MSc (PhD student)

- Ana Rita Castro, BSc (Master Student)

- Tiago Xavier Ribeiro, MSc (Researcher)

- Marcos Machado, BSc (Visiting Student)

- Maria João Castro, BSc (Visiting Student)

- Luisa Fonseca (Undergraduate Student)

Alumni Team members:

- Carmen Vieira, BSc, MSc (Master project 2018-2019)

- Telma Oliveira BSc (Final year project - 2018)

Funding:

CEECIND/01985/2018