I am a talented early career researcher who specialises in combining interdisciplinary knowledge to tackle human diseases such as cancer. My specific research ambitions are to harness the immune system to develop new or improved immunotherapeutic strategies. My academic path has spanned several disciplines including biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology and immunology, resulting in 19 peer-reviewed publications to date (17 original articles and 2 reviews) with over 500 citations in total. During my Masters in the Vectors and Gene Therapy Group at CNC (Coimbra), I worked on targeted multimodal strategies combining chemotherapy and gene modulation for the treatment of glioblastoma. During my PhD at the University of Cambridge and the Karolinska Institutet, I worked on projects on immune cell biology, immunometabolism and immunotherapy. My work resulted in 3 original first-author and 1 co-first author publications, including one describing a novel strategy based on the fine-tuning of oxygen levels to boost T cell- based immunotherapy (eLife) and another describing the previously unknown role of T cell intrinsic nitric oxide in facilitating tumour infiltration (Cancer Immunology Research). During my career of more than 10 years as a researcher in 3 different laboratories across 3 countries, I have engaged in several collaborative projects. These collaborations resulted in 7 original second-author manuscripts, including one describing the role of glutarate as a new immunometabolite in T cells (Nature Metabolism) and another employing a targeted delivery of nucleic acids to glioblastoma using lipid-based nanoparticles (Journal of Controlled Release). I secured funding from the FCT (Portuguese Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) to conduct my graduate studies outside of Portugal. I also attended and presented at more than 5 international scientific conferences, having won two best Poster presentation prizes on two occasions. To pursue my career path in innovative immunology-related projects, after my PhD, in 2022, I joined the laboratory of Dr. Filipe Pereira (CNC, Coimbra), who is at the forefront of using direct cellular reprogramming to generate rare subsets of immune cells with therapeutic potential, as recently published in Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.adn9083). Since joining the Pereira lab, I set out to understand the molecular determinants of dendritic cell reprogramming. By combining my knowledge of genetic manipulation, metabolism, and immunotherapy, I have collected preliminary data that will lead to the improvement of a new immunotherapy modality based on dendritic cell reprogramming.