My primary role is being a mother of two boys, constituting my first full-time job. Additionally, I am a Researcher at Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa (IHMT NOVA, Portugal), and I am part of Vector-Borne Diseases and Pathogens Group at the Global Health and Tropical Medicine Research Center ( GHTM). I have a degree in Biology and PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Parasitology from NOVA. My thesis with focused on the genetic diversity of Leishmania population from Portugal. With a project focused on the in vitro biological behaviour of Leishmania hybrid strains and the use of proteomic and genomic approaches to search for potential biomarkers that could account for differences in terms of parasite virulence, I was awarded a two-year Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant at TH Wildau in Brandenburg, Germany, under the EU-COFUND programme in 2014. After receiving an FCT Investigator Starting Grant in 2017, I went back to Portugal to iniciate a research aimed at investigating natural and synthetic compounds as anti-Leishmania chemotypes. In 2021, I was responsible for a project supported by pharma industry to update epidemiological situation of canine leishmaniasis in Portugal and associated risk factors. To date I have participated in 18 international and national research projects (EU/FP5, FP6, FP7, BMBF, FCT, Pharmaceutical Industry, PARSUK), 3 as Principal Investigator, and in 2 international networks. I am author/ co-author of 1 book chapter over 50 publications. I also teach regularly at national and international universities. At IHMT-NOVA, I coordinate 2 curricular units (under MsC) and teach in 1 PhD and 3 MSc programs. I have supervised/ co-supervised the work of 14 MSc and 15 BSc students, and many undergraduate students. Other supervision includes national and international visiting postdocs and PhD students. In 2021, I attended an ERASMUS+ training at the Institute of Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation at Glasgow University, focused on gene editing techniques. Throughout my career, I have actively participated in various scientific and translational courses and workshops covering a range of topics (e.g. electron microscopy and sequencing, Laboratory Animal Sciences- FELASA, Management Skills for Research, Leadership and Team Development, Communications Skils). I actively take part in a number of outreach activities aimed at high school students and the general public (IHMT NOVA Open Day, school visits, Science Alive in the Laboratory programme, FCT). My main areas of interest and production are in the medical and health sciences, parasitology, and specifically leishmaniasis. I have made contributions to the fields of molecular epidemiology, diagnostics, host-parasite interactions, leishmania drug susceptibility and drug discovery, and human and canine leishmaniasis. I am an member of Ordem dos Biólogos (OB), British Society for Parasitology (BSP), and the Marie Curie Allumni Association (MCAA).