My first significant exposure to research came during my degree at the University of Aveiro (1998), where I completed two laboratory internships in Animal Physiology and Neurosciences under Professors Maria Ana Santos and Paula Gonçalves. In 1999, I pursued a Master's in Developmental Biology, conducting my thesis at the University of Oslo in Professor Philippe Collas’s lab, where I characterized a novel chromatin and nuclear matrix protein involved in nuclear envelope dynamics. This research continued into my PhD (2000-2003), where I demonstrated the critical role of chromatin and nuclear envelope protein interactions in initiating DNA replication. My findings led to high-impact publications, emphasizing the significance of nuclear architecture in cellular function. Driven by a desire to advance my career in Portugal, I became a postdoctoral fellow in Professor Maria do Carmo Fonseca’s lab at IMM-JLA (2004-2008), shifting my focus to mRNA biogenesis and alternative splicing regulation. In 2009, I joined the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lisbon as an Auxiliary Professor while continuing my research at MCFonseca’s lab as a staff scientist. Over the past six years, I have focused on mis-splicing in familial cardiomyopathies, playing a key role in developing an iPSC-derived cardiomyocyte model for pathogenic variants validation and RNA-based therapies. I also led a study identifying common alternative splicing signatures in heart failure. My recent research has resulted in impactful publications, a patent, and has been used to grant competitive national and international funding (Novo Nordisk Foundation, Leducq Foundation, British Heart Foundation, “La Caixa” Foundation). Throughout my career, I have secured independent funding (PhD and PostDoc from FCT) and have been actively involved in teaching and mentoring activities, including 12 MSc and 2 PhD students. Now, I am focusing on securing grants as a PI to establish my independent research group.