Francisca Ribeiro is a PhD student in the Vertebrate Development and Regeneration Group at i3S. Her thesis focuses on characterizing the functional impact of genetic alleles associated with Diabetic Retinopathy in regulatory sequences. Her research integrates genome editing strategies with molecular and cellular biology, leveraging high-throughput methods such as Massively Parallel Reporter Assays (MPRAs) in both cultured cell lines and the zebrafish model system.
Francisca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from University of Porto, where she worked on the optimization of a minimally-invasive nested-PCR approach for diagnosis and monitoring of visceral leishmaniasis at the Parasite Disease Group at i3s. She holds a Master's degree in Cell and Molecular Biology for the University of Porto, and developed her Master's thesis at the Vertebrate Development and Regeneration Group at i3S, where she investigated evolutionarily conserved mechanisms of gene regulation across plants and animals, particularly the interaction between pioneer transcription factors and chromatin remodelers. Francisca has worked as a R&D intern at Gelatex Technologies in Tallinn, Estonia, testing nano-fibrous scaffolds for 3D cell culture applications.