I am currently a researcher at the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA), University of Minho, in Portugal. My goal, aligned with the CBMA strategic program and Horizon 2020, is to conduct cutting-edge research through a problem-oriented approach enabling breakthrough innovations, new tools and strategies impacting health promotion and environmental sustainability. On one hand, I am interested in using high throughput methodologies for bioprospecting microbial collections towards the identification of novel solutions for bio-based products and processes., such as collections of natural isolates for fermentations, both in the scope of wine production and residue valorization. I have also established a multi-disciplinary research line using yeast as a tool in risk assessment and monitoring of chemicals with potential environmental impact. Indeed, the growing human population has led to increased use of chemical substances, resulting in an increasing threat from contaminants. I therefore aim to contribute to the body of knowledge regarding molecular targets of emerging contaminants, as well as develop important tools for cost-effective analysis of potential risk/composition of environmental samples, to direct the type of downstream chemical analysis for quantification.________________________________________ My career has been broad-based, encompassing diverse fields of biology and a wide range of approaches and systems. I also have ample international experience, starting with undergraduate research at Stockholm University, where I worked on regulation of gene expression in human cells. After graduating in Biochemistry from University of Porto (UP), I studied the Yap family of yeast transcription factors at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, using multiple yeast genetic approaches. I was then awarded a PhD fellowship, carried out at the HHMI laboratory of Nobel laureate Dr. Guenter Blobel, Rockefeller University, where I focused on regulation of protein transport between the nucleus and the cytosol. Afterwards, I was a post-doc at other prestigious institutions, the University of California San Diego (UCSD), where I won a Lance Armstrong Foundation Young Investigator Award to study regulation of cell death induced by the common chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin, and The Scripps Research Institute, studying a novel role for Cks proteins in chromatin remodelling and their relation to cancer. During this time, I was selected for competitive advanced courses (Crystallography at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories, Biotechnology project management at UCSD) and a Technology transfer internship (UCSD). After my formative years, where I became an expert in fundamental cellular processes (e.g. nucleocytoplasmic trafficking, gene transcription, chromatin remodelling, apoptosis), and acquired a cross-disciplinary background in molecular and cellular biology of yeast and mammalian cells, I joined CBMA to study cell death mechanisms. I used both model systems to study mechanisms of celular response to different stressors, with an early focus on cancer research. In addition to leading scientific projects/tasks, participating in multiple funded projects, I collaborated in other studies, from optimization of protein production and fermentations to regulation of human genes heterologously expressed in yeast. My 36 publications thus cover a broad scope of areas, 50% with international authors. I supervised , multiple students, including Undergraduate (11 completed), Masters (21 completed, 4 ongoing) , PhD (2 completed, 2 ongoing) and Research Fellows (9 completed). I also taught many undergraduate and post-graduate courses, was an invited speaker at different events, and was an author in over 130 communications. I was a member of many undergraduate, Masters and PhD juries, including as main examiner, reviewed publications and edited issues for international journals, and organized several conferences.