Maria Gabriela Gomes de Figueiredo Rodrigues. My research focus was first in cell biology, during my PhD work, which took place in the Gulbenkian Institute of Science, working under the supervision of Lucinda Mata, mainly using primary cultures of the epithelial layer of the seminal vesicle. This model was used to study epithelial physiology in a controlled system in which we could evaluate the effect of several hormones and neural mediators in cell behavior. After the PhD, I then switched to work in FCUL, in the group of Development and Evolutionary Morphogenesis, with Sólveig Thorsteinsdóttir, focusing now on the development of the somites in chick embryos, collaborating in several works on this theme. I then also approached the influence of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in the behavior of the C2C12 myoblast in vitro model, were we could uncover the important role of fibronectin in the orientation, and consequently the fusion, of the myoblasts to form myofibers. I later contributed with my in vitro models expertise to participate in several collaborative projects concerning the use of biomaterials for regenerative medicine, either using mesenchymal stem cells for bone production and now, more recently, skin fibroblasts for dermis substitution. I am currently aiming to use my in vitro modelling background to contribute to understand the developmental onset of congenital muscular dystrophies, using myofiber cultures, as well as decellularized muscle as a substrate to culture myoblasts collected from normal or dystrophic mouse embryos, or other myoblast cell lines.