Ana Luisa Carvalho (ORCID 0000-0001-8368-6666) presently serves as an Associate Professor at the Department of Life Sciences and as a group leader at the CNC-Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Portugal. Additionally, she holds the position of Vice-President at CNC and coordinates the Neuroscience and Disease Thematic Line at the Associate Laboratory CIBB-Center for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology. She trained in Neuroscience during her PhD with Carlos B. Duarte (University of Coimbra) and Richard Huganir (Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA), and later during her postdoctoral work guided by Ann Marie Craig (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada). With a two-decade tenure as a Neuroscientist, Ana Luisa's research is focused on uncovering cellular and molecular mechanisms governing neuronal excitability and synaptic function, and their implications in brain diseases. Noteworthy contributions include identifying receptor/channel-associated proteins and metabolic hormones regulating synaptic function and plasticity. Her work also provides insights into synaptic dysfunction in brain disorders. Ana Luisa's research impact is evident in over 65 publications in reputed journals like PNAS, Molecular Psychiatry, Neuron, Nature Communications, and J Cell Biology, a H index of 37 and over 4600 citations. As a mentor, Ana Luisa has guided 20 Ph.D. and 19 MSc students, in agreement with her dedication to nurturing the next generation of scientists. She has coordinated the H2020-MSCA-ITN European Training Network Syn2Psy, focused on Synaptic Dysfunction in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (2019-2023). Her leadership extends to coordinating 12 research grants funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology - FCT, the EU, or private foundations, with an additional involvement in 20 other grants, amassing approximately 5.8M Euros in funding as PI. Ana Luisa served on the Scientific Research Council for FCT (2013-16) and regularly participates in evaluation committees for reputed institutions globally, including the Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF), Health Research Board Ireland, ERA-NET, and the Portuguese Agency for Accreditation of Study Programmes (A3ES). She regularly acts as an ad hoc reviewer for international funding institutions and journals. Her expertise and contributions are recognized on an international stage, as demonstrated by >40 invited presentations at prominent international conferences.