Isaura Simões graduated in Biochemistry (BSc.1996) at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. She got her MSc in Cell Biology at the University of Coimbra in 1998, and her Ph.D. in 2004 in Biochemistry - Enzymology at the University of Coimbra. She pursued post-doctorate studies at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology of Coimbra (CNC) developing work on structure-function relationships of plant atypical aspartic proteases. In 2006 she joined Biocant - Biotechnology Innovation Center and was involved in the implementation of the Molecular Biotechnology Unit. In 2008 and 2009, Isaura Simões was an Invited Professor at the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Coimbra, responsible for two core disciplines (Molecular Biology and Laboratories of Molecular Biology). In 2010, she joined CNC as an Auxiliary Researcher. All her research activities have been developed at the Molecular Biotechnology Unit in Biocant, and are currently based (since October 2013) at the new UC-Biotech Building in Cantanhede. She was also a Visiting Researcher at the University of Massachusetts (2007), and she was co-founder and manager of Cynara Lda., a spin-off company from Biocant (2011-2014). She had an appointment as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Pathobiological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA (Oct2015-Dec2016). Isaura Simões is currently the leader of the Microbial and Molecular Biotechnology Group at CNC. Since January 2024, she has been an Associate Professor at the Department of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University (Norfolk, USA). Her research activities as a PI and co-PI have been extramurally funded by governmental agencies and venture capital funds. She established over 15 scientific collaborations with national and international researchers, as well as companies. Scholarly activity associated with her research and mentoring has resulted in 29 peer-reviewed publications (17 as senior corresponding author), 4 granted patents, co-founding of a spin-off company, and numerous presentations. Isaura Simões trained 1 Post-doc, 3 Ph.D. students (plus 2 ongoing), 11 MSc students, and 10 research fellows. She has participated in the organization of seminars and international courses as well as in numerous outreach activities. She served on the scientific committees of the 30th, 31st, and 32nd Meetings of the American Society for Rickettsiology (2019/2022-2023). She served as Co-Editor of the Research Topic 'Obligate Intracellular Bacteria:Evasion & Adaptative Tactics Shaping the Host-Pathogen Interface' (2021) and Co-Editor of the Research Topic ¿Women in Bacteria and Host vol. II. (2024) in Front Cell Infect Microbiol, and as Review Editor (Molecular Bacterial Pathogenesis section) in the same Journal (2021-), Review Editor, for Signaling in Host-Microbe Interactions, in Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology (2024-), and in peer-review process in many journals. Her group has made significant contributions both in fundamental aspects of structure-function relationships of aspartic proteases as well as in exploring the biotechnological potential of these enzymes. Isaura Simões' group pioneer work on a novel retropepsin-type protease (APRc) from Rickettsia, revealed a new and highly conserved putative virulence factor, whose function and potential targetability are currently being explored in her lab. Her group's studies on the interaction between Spotted fever group (SFG) Rickettsia and macrophages revealed macrophage colonization as a new virulence trait, opening several exciting hypotheses that they are currently validating. Therefore, Isaura Simões' current research program aims at exploring two understudied aspects of rickettsial biology: 1) How proteolytic pathways modulate Rickettsia-host cell interactions; and 2) How pathogenic Rickettsia hijack macrophage function. This will illuminate new factors or pathways critical to developing new therapeutic interventions.