I received my bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto in 1996. Then, I began my PhD work in Biomedical Sciences at ICBAS, University of Porto under the supervision of Prof. Jorge Azevedo, at IBMC. My thesis focused on peroxisomal biogenesis and specifically in the biochemical purification and characterization of the peroxisomal transclocation machinery. I concluded my PhD in 2002 and shifted my research focus toward the development of pain neuronal circuitry by joining the pain research group leaded by Deolinda Lima at IBMC. In 2003, I was appointed as a faculty member (assistant professor) in the Dept. Experimental Biology of the Faculty of Medicine of Porto. I am currently studying the impact of phosphorylations on the role played by the transcription factor Prrxl1 in the differentiation of nociceptive neurons.