I have a 5-year degree in Plant Biology from the University of Lisbon and a Ph.D. in Virology from the University of Oxford, where I worked with vaccinia virus, a poxvirus, under the supervision of Prof. Geoffrey Smith. Before and after my Ph.D. I worked in the Laboratory of Virology at the Instituto Nacional de Saúde in Lisbon, as a diagnostic virologist, also in charge of quality control and seroepidemiological studies. I joined Prof. Pedro Simas viral pathogenesis lab as a post-doc, first at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, and later at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular in Lisbon, where I have a research contract. Since 2022, I am also affiliated with the Católica Biomedical Research centre from Universidade Católica Portuguesa. I am interested in virus - host interactions. My research has focused in understanding the function of gammaherpesvirus (e.g., Kaposi´s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus) proteins that are key to viral latency. Latency is linked to disease in this family of viruses. I have a wide range of skills in virus methods, virus genome manipulation, in vitro and in vivo infection and have worked in biosafety level 2 and 3 (with SARS-CoV-2 during the pandemic) conditions. I am also skilled in the characterization of protein-protein interactions using techniques such as pull-down assays and surface plasmon resonance.