With an academic background in Biology (BSc) and Biochemistry (MSc), both at the University of Coimbra, I started my journey in science by studying the role of microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in the dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier in glioblastoma (MSc thesis developed at iCBR-FMUC, Coimbra). 

In 2017, I won a research fellowship from the Liga Portuguesa contra o Cancro (NRC-LPCC/CIMAGO 2018) to develop my research project that aimed to develop a treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer combining chemotherapy and immune checkpoint blockade (Project developed at iCBR-FMUC, Coimbra).

In 2019, I returned to the North of Portugal and joined the Neuro & Skeletal Circuits (NeSk) Group at i3S as a research fellow, where I had the opportunity to work first on a project which aimed to explore the interplay between the skeleton and the nervous system in skeletal degenerative disorders, such as bone metastasis and osteoarthritis, and then in the scope of the RESTORE European project "User-centred smart nanobiomaterial-based 3D matrices for chondral repair".

Currently, I am enrolled on the BiotechHealth Doctoral Programme (ICBAS-FFUP) and my PhD project is focused on tissue engineering combining 3D bioprinting with nanotechnology in order to develop a functional approach to cartilage regeneration.