After my graduation in Biochemistry in 2002 by the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, I performed my PhD at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, and in other internationally recognized centres (Department of Pharmacology of the University of Cambridge; Department of Physiology of the University College of London, Univ. Complutense Madrid; and Instituto Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, Spain) dedicated to the physio-pathological role of synaptic purinergic receptors, either directly or through the interaction with other receptor signalling systems. In 2007, I moved to Prof. Juan Lerma’s lab at the Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante (Spain) for a two-year postdoctoral training, where I could establish a new concept of hybrid ionotropic receptors composed by subunits from different and distant families of receptors, which represents a conceptual breakthrough in receptor signalling systems. In 2009, I was selected as a young investigator in the realm of the Juan de la Cierva programme of the Spanish Government. During this period, I dedicated my work to neuronal and brain development, raising kainate receptors as the key tether linking synaptic contact formation and neuronal maturation. In 2012, I joined CNC to implement a new line of investigation exploring brain disorders: 1) from the perspective of the existence of a reactivation of developmental-related mechanisms in an attempt to recover from a lesion, but due to the inadequate context become deleterious; or 2)evaluating the long-term impact of defects during brain development in the adulthood.