BIOSKETCH. I pursued a BSc degree in Microbiology and Genetics at University of Lisbon (2005) and a PhD in neuroscience at King's College London (2010) with the support of a PhD fellowship from FCT. In 2009, I visited Osaka University in Japan for a research collaboration funded by a JSPS Post-Doctoral Fellowship. In 2010, I joined Salk Institute as a postdoc to investigate the link between aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to contribute to the cure of this devastating disorder. I managed to carry out most of my postdoctoral studies with my own funding, which included a Post-Doctoral Fellowship from FCT, a Pioneer Fund Postdoctoral Scholar Award from Salk and a Nomis Fellowship Award from Salk. Throughout this time, I set up at Salk a combination of cell culture and animal models of aging with omic technologies to elucidate fundamental pathological mechanisms in dementia as well as to identify novel therapeutic targets. These studies led to the identification of a unique mechanism of neurodegeneration called oxytosis/ferroptosis as a critical link between aging and AD. My work has also contributed to the identification of the molecular targets and anti-aging effects of the drug candidates J147 and CMS121, both completed Phase 1 clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease (NCT03838185, NCT05318040). J147 and CMS121 are some of the first drug candidates for AD that were developed to specifically target the aging process in the brain. Since 2018, I hold an independent Staff Scientist position at Salk with my own lab space and personnel. In 2019 I was selected to the first Junior Faculty Training Program from the Shiley-Marcos Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (ADRC) at UCSD, a program designed to train the future generation of AD researchers. With funding awards from ADRC, Salk and NIH, my lab is now focused on understanding the molecular implications of oxytosis/ferroptosis to brain function and developing new therapies to target this cell death pathway. We are setting up state-of-the-art biological models that can translate as best as possible human dementia. This is partly being done with induced neurons (iNs) prepared through direct conversion from fibroblasts of AD patients as well as with new animal models of oxytosis/ferroptosis. Integrative omic approaches are then applied to elucidate the contribution of aging to dementia at the molecular level, including the identification and validation of new disease biomarkers. BIBLIOMETRICS. Since 2007, I have published 50 research articles (6 as last author, 15 as first author, 11 as second author, and 18 as co-author), which were cited over 1700 times (h-index: 23, SCOPUS). I have published in prestigious journals such as Ageing Res Rev, Aging Cell, Antioxid Redox Signal, Br J Pharmacol, Cell Chemical Biol, Cell Death Dis, eLife, Free Radic Biol Med, Mol Psychiatry, Redox Biol and Trends Pharmacol Sci. OHER SCIENTIFIC AND ACADEMIC OUTPUTS. I am a regional coordinator (USA) for the international consortium Global health, biodiversity, and therapeutics innovation, hosted by Harvard University. I have contributed with 14 invited oral presentations and 12 poster communications in international meetings. I serve regularly as scientific reviewer for multiple international journals. I have reviewed grant applications for the Alzheimer's Association (AA), Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) and Polish National Science Center (NCN). I am co-author in 1 patent. I have supervised 6 postdoctoral researchers, 1 visiting assistant professor, 1 PhD student, 1 MSc student and 2 undergraduate students, and have served as jury for 2 PhD thesis. I have received 9 awards/distinctions and worked as Principal Investigator in 3 awarded grants (two have ended and currently being funded by an R01 from NIH).