My scientific journey initiated in 1997 with a 4-year undergraduate degree in Biology at the Faculty of Sciences, Univ. of Porto, culminating with the top score of my class (18/20). From 2001-2002, I enrolled on the Graduate Program in Areas of Basic and Applied Biology (GABBA) at Abel Salazar Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICBAS), Univ. of Porto under the supervision of Prof. Maria de Sousa. In late 2002, I move to the Univ. of Cambridge in the UK to do my PhD and a short postdoc in Mammalian Developmental Epigenetics with Prof. Anne Ferguson-Smith (current Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at the Univ. of Cambridge. Main outputs from my period in Prof. Ferguson-Smith's lab were the publication of 9 articles, 4 of which as a 1st author. In 2008, I joined the lab of Prof. Edith Heard (current Director General of the EMBL - European Molecular Biology Laboratory) at Institute Curie, France. Here, I studied Molecular Epigenetics and authored a total of 9 peer-reviewed articles, 3 of which as a 1st author and 1 as a senior and corresponding author, in high-impact Journals such as Cell, Mol Cell, Nature Struct Mol Biol and EMBO Rep. In 2015, I joined the lab of Prof. Maria do Carmo Fonseca (Founder and former Director of the Instituto de Medicina Molecular - iMM) as a senior researcher. For that, I was initially awarded with an Investigator FCT (iFCT) assistant research position, followed an individual CEEC (Call Estímulo ao Emprego Científico Individual) Assistant researcher contract that I obtained in 2019. Main scientific outputs of this period included 9 publications, which included 5 as senior author in Journals such as Stem Cell Res, Hum Mol Genet and Nucleic Acids Res, as well as 5 project grants as a Principal Investigator - PI (securing a total of ¿484,035.00). During this period, I supervised 12 MSc students and initiate the supervision of one PhD student, plus 2 as co-supervisor. In Sept 2018, I also became an invited assistant professor at Faculty of Medicine, Univ. of Lisbon. In 2021, I became the responsible for the 'Stem Cell Epigenetics' Lab at Institute for Bioengineering and Biosciences, Instituto Superior Técnico (iBB/IST), Univ. of Lisbon for which I was awarded a 2nd CEEC Assistant researcher contract. My current lab interests intersect epigenetics and stem cell biology with 3 main avenues of research: (1) mechanisms of epigenetic regulation of gene expression in stem cells; (2) epigenetic fidelity of stem cell models; (3) stem cell-based disease modeling of human developmental disorders. I have 2 ongoing projects as a PI from FCT & Angelman Syndrome Alliance, and two as co-PI from Foundation for Prader-Willi Research & 'La Caixa' Foundation securing a total of ¿788,568.18. I am also a Working Package leader substitute of the EURAS consortium funding by the European Commission (iBB/IST budget: ¿484.576,15) on neurodevelopmental disorders. In these 3 years, I have authored 7 articles including a senior author paper in Nature Comms. I have (co)-supervised one PhD and one MSc student who successfully defend their thesis. My current research group consists of 1 senior researcher, 1 postdoctoral researcher, 3 PhD students, 3 research assistants and 1 MSc and 2 BSc students. Starting from April 2024, I'll be joining as an Assistant Professor in Molecular and Cell Biology at the Department of Bioengineering (DBE) of IST, University of Lisbon. In summary, I have published 36 peer-reviewed publications (h-index: 19; 2,391 citations), including 10 as a first author and 14 as senior and corresponding author. I have secured funding from 9 project grants as a PI/co-PI, 4 of which are currently ongoing. I have an extended experience in advanced training (have/am supervised/supervising 21 MSc and 5 PhD students). I currently lead the 'Stem Cell Epigenetics' Lab at SCERG, iBB/IST and I will become an Assistant professor at DBE IST-UL from April 2024.