I earned my PhD from ICBAS, University of Porto, in 2013 through a mixed FCT fellowship between Portugal and Norway. Since then, my focus has been on studying plant responses to environmental constraints and investigating the molecular interactions between plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to enhance tolerance to external stresses. Currently based at the University of Évora (UE), I am a part of the Molecular Biology Lab (MED/UE), collaborating with researchers with diverse expertise in studying plant molecular mechanisms under stress, including epigenetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics responses. My research primarily revolves around wet lab epigenetics and bioinformatic analysis of high-throughput sequencing data from plants and AMF. In 2013, I participated in the IAPP-Marie Curie Action (AGRO-AMF-AOX, 533 942), which focused on identifying polymorphisms in stress-related genes in AMF isolates of different origins. From 2016 to January 2019, I was a post-doctoral researcher funded by FCT, contributing to the Portugal (Alentejo) 2020 project aimed at improving pasture production in acid soils in montado. Our findings highlighted the impact of manganese stress on wheat bioprotection and molecular responses altered by root colonization with various AMF communities. I collaborate with researchers from various labs including Plant Virology, Plant Mycology, Plant Breeding, Biotechnology Lab, Entomology Lab at MED/UE, LEAF/Instituto Superior de Agronomia (ISA), University of Lisbon, and Institut de Recerca I Tecnologia Agroalimentàries IRTA, Spain. I have contributed to several projects, including "A new phenotyping tool calorespirometry and novel molecular markers to assess the effectiveness of mycorrhizal fungi in improving heat and drought tolerance in vineyards" (PTDC/AGRPRO/0676/2014), "Olive fly management through symbiosis-based strategies: looking for Trojan horse candidates" (PTDC/ASP-PLA/030650/2017), and "Molecular basis of resistance/susceptibility of Vitis vinifera L. to wood infection by fungal trunk pathogens in Alentejo region" (funded by MED - 2020). These collaborations have resulted in several publications, where I am first or corresponding author. Since February 2019, I have been a contracted researcher at MED, UE. Recently, I was granted a contract as an Assistant Researcher through the 2023 Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus - FCT. I am (co)author of 30 published articles/book chapters mostly in Q1, counting more than 700 citations. I have an h-index of 14 (Scopus), and I am a regular reviewer of scientific manuscripts. I guest edited several special issues including "Molecular Advances in Plant Plasticity upon Abiotic Stresses" on International Journal of Molecular Sciences (IF 5.6, Q1) and “New Advances in Molecular Diagnostics of Crop Pathogens” on Biology (IF 4.2, Q1). I am a Reviewer Editor for the Section Plant Symbiotic Interactions in Frontiers in Plant Science. Since 2019 I lecture on the UCs Melhoramento e Biotecnologia Vegetal (Master in Agronomics) and Plant Biotechnology (Degree in Biotechnology), at the UÉvora. Since 2023 I also lecture on the UCs Medical Genetics and Experimental Models in Biomedicine (Degree in Biomedical Sciences) at the UÉvora.