Joaquim Manuel Trigo Marquês (PhD) is a Junior Researcher at the Centro de Química Estrutural (CQE) (University of Lisbon). His primary scientific goal is to harness membrane biophysics to uncover the mechanisms behind microbial resistance and the mode of action of antimicrobials. In pursuit of this objective, he was awarded a highly competitive six-year research position (success rate: 8%) through the 2018 CEECInd program (score: 9.5/10), an initiative aimed at promoting scientific employment in Portugal. In 2021, he secured an FCT research grant as Principal Investigator of the project EXPL/BIA-BFS/1034/2021 (~€50k), which focuses on elucidating the role of sphingolipid hydroxylation in the organization of yeast plasma membranes and the mode of action of antifungal agents. With a background in Biochemistry, he completed his PhD in Molecular Biophysics, investigating how lipid membrane organization influences interactions with small molecules. To achieve his goals, he became proficient in numerous characterization techniques, including atomic force microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, electrochemistry, quartz crystal microbalance, surface plasmon resonance, and ellipsometry. After completing his PhD in 2015, he pursued postdoctoral research in various projects addressing the challenge of multidrug resistance in pathogenic microorganisms. During his postdoctoral studies, he also conducted research abroad. At the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Professor's Jin Gang lab, he investigated the dependence of protein adsorption and lipid bilayer formation on solid substrates with electric potential using a unique technique—total internal reflection imaging ellipsometry. At Professor Andreas Herrmann's laboratory at Humboldt University in Berlin, he explored the plasma membrane organization of different yeast strains using fluorescence microscopy approaches (confocal microscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy). J. T. Marquês is the co-author of 19 articles indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection and 3 international book chapters. The majority of his articles are ranked as Q1, with 4 in top 10% journals, including two in top 1% journals. His work has been presented in ~20 selected oral presentations and over 40 poster presentations, and he has been invited to deliver 4 seminars. He has received several peer recognitions, including Best Poster Awards and Travel Awards. Since 2020, he has served on the editorial board of the journal Membranes and, since 2021, on the board of Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences. In this capacity, he has reviewed articles for 11 international journals. Since signing his CEEC contract in 2020, he has been involved in supervising ~25 students, including postdocs (1), master's students (6), undergraduate students (6), research grant holders (5), and participants in international programs (5). In terms of pedagogy, he has one article indexed in the Web of Science and an international presentation with a published abstract. He has been involved in teaching the practical component of the Biochemistry course for Biology students (since 2020/2021) and taught Experimental Biochemistry I for Biochemistry students (2023). As a current member of CQE's image committee (since 2019), he contributes to the preparation of the Center’s monthly newsletter (46 editions to date) and has comprised the organizing committee resposnible for the organization of the annual meeting(CQEDays, editions 2021, 2022, and 2024). He also served on the scientific committee for the 2021 and 2024 editions. Furthermore, he co-organized and taught a practical workshop on yeast cell culture handling and preparation (2 editions). In terms of science communication, he has published a book chapter and delivered an oral presentation, in addition to participating in numerous outreach and community engagement activities aimed at promoting science.