Ricardo Neves has a D.Phil. in Clinical Laboratory Sciences at the University of Oxford (UK); a M.Phil. in Toxicology and a M.Sci. in Biology at the University of Aveiro (Portugal). The central directions of RN's laboratory are to explore the link between metabolism > transcription > alternative splicing > stem cell fate decision/ disease. This central line is explored with an approach grounded on basic biochemistry mechanisms and the emphasis on translational applications in the cell therapy and tissue engineering area. During the D.Phil., RN found that mitochondria (particularly ATP production) are important extrinsic modulators of transcription (highlighted Faculty1000). Following this observation a model of the impact of this link between mitochondria and transcription capacity in stem cell fate decision was done. These two studies were based on experimental results obtained by RN during the DPhil and Post-doc work at the University of Oxford. This work bridges the scientific areas of Genome Regulation and Gene Expression with Metabolism and Systems Biology. This line of research was kept after moving to Portugal through close collaborations with DPhil-supervisor Francisco Iborra, having co-1st-authored a paper in the journal Genome Research where it was found that modulation of cell metabolism can impact in alternative splicing. Again confirming that cell metabolism and mitochondria are important players in the control of cell fate and disease. In terms of cell fate, it was also shown that the cellular mitochondrial content determines the apoptotic fate and modulates the time to death, cells with higher mitochondrial content are more prone to die (Nat. Commun. 2018). Recently RN´s Lab has shown that the biochemical and physical modulation of chromatin structure can constitute a powerful tool to change transcription and gene expression. In one study it was shown that by using a simple biochemistry cue, the extracellular osmotic pressure, it was possible to change chromatin structure and transcription. Hyposmotic modulation promotes chromatin loosening and induces changes in RNA polymerase II (Pol II) activity. This constitutes an alternative route to manipulate cell fate decisions. This technology was tested in model protocols of induced pluripotency and transdifferentiation in cells growing in suspension and adherent to substrates, CD34+ umbilical-cord-blood (UCB), fibroblasts and B-cells. The efficiency and kinetics of these cell fate modulation processes were improved by transient hyposmotic modulation of the cell environment (Sci. Rep. 2018). In another study cells grown on low-rigidity substrates showed decreased focal adhesions maturation, stress fibres content and nuclear stretching. This physical modulation increased open chromatin nuclear regions and enhanced expression of endogenous pluripotency-related genes facilitating the induction of pluripotency (Sci. Rep. 2019). After returning to Portugal in 2010, RN became an expert in the synthesis and delivery of nanoparticles (NPs) with different cargos in primary and stem cells. He has patented a light-activated NP able to release retinoic acid inside the Leukemic niche and induce the differentiation of leukemia stem cells (Nat. Commun. 2017). He has been very fruitful in exploring new synthetic and natural (exosome) NPs to modulate cell fate in the context of angiogenesis and survival of transplanted cells. RN has supervised 3 PhDs and is currently supervising 2 PhD students. RN co-founded the company Exogenous Therapeutics that is developing exosome-based therapeutic products for regenerative medicine. RN is the Scientific Advisor of this company, that has attracted private funding ~800K€ and was the winner of the Everis Foundation Award 2016 and H2020 SME instrument Phase1. RN´s Lab aims to bridge basic science and technology transfer. RN is also a musician and has been involved in science outreach with Ciência Viva. He is composing a "Cellular-Opera" show.