My research activity has been focused on dissecting the mechanisms through which the tumor microenvironment regulates tumor invasion, metastasis and immune escape and on developing tools to modulate and counteract these processes. In 1996, I graduated in Biology by the Faculty of Sciences-UPorto and in 2004, completed with distinction, my PhD in Health and Medical Sciences at Ghent University Hospital (Belgium). During my PhD, supervised by Prof Marc Mareel, I studied the role of bacteria on promoting colorectal cancer invasion, dissecting the underlying mechanisms. We demonstrated that Listeria monocytogenes stimulates cancer invasion and motility through a soluble casein-derived peptide, which induced delta-opioid receptor, Cdc42 and PI3K activation(EMBO J, 2003). During this period (1998-04), I published 9 articles (3 as 1st author), 1 book chapter (1st author), established relevant collaborations (J Vandekerchove, Belgium; O Muller and R Ahmadian-Max Planck Institute Dortmund), received 4 EMBO/FEBS Fellowships. My work was honoured with 3 international awards and comments on The Scientist (Nov2003) and Nature Rev Cancer (Dec2003). As PostDoc at IPATIMUP, supervised by Prof SSimões, R Seruca and C Figueiredo, in collaboration with T Meyer (Max Planck Institute, Berlin), I demonstrated that Helicobacter pylori stimulates gastric cancer invasion, through c-Met, MMP-2/9 activation, and uncovered the functional relevance of E-cadherin missense mutations on gastric cancer. During this period (2004-07), I implemented cell biology research at the Institute, published 11 papers (3 as 1st author), established new collaborations, received twice the 1st LabMed Award and 3 international Fellowships. In 2007, I initiated at INEB a new line of research dedicated at understanding the role of macrophages, abundant at the tumor microenvironment, on gastric and colorectal cancer invasion, dissecting the underlying mechanisms. We demonstrated that anti-inflammatory macrophages stimulate cancer invasion through activation of the EGFR pathway, opening perspectives for novel therapeutic interventions. During this period (2007-11), I secured external funding as PI (>0.5M Eur) and 3 PhD grants, received the prestigious 2009 L'Óreal/UNESCO/FCT Prize for Women in Science, and published 7 papers. In 2012, I received an FCT Investigator Position as Auxiliary Researcher and in 2018 became Principal Researcher at i3S- Institute for Research and Innovation in Health. In 2017, I founded the Tumor and Microenvironment Interactions Group at i3S. At present, our group comprises 4 Researchers, 3 clinicians, 10 PhD and 5 MSc students. Our research focuses at understanding the role of the tumour microenvironment, as immune cells, adipocytes and ECM components, on the modulation of cancer invasion and metastasis, and on response to radiotherapy. Conversely, we are also understanding how cancer cells modulate the microenvironment, subverting death signals and escaping immune surveillance. Ultimately, we foresee translational applications by identifying novel targets and designing more efficient therapies and participate at a clinical trial with IPO-Porto. Since 2000, I published 119 papers in international peer reviewed journals (hindex 39). In the last 10 years, I published 75 papers, 14 as last author, supervised/co-supervised 25 PhD (13 ended) and 22 MSc thesis (19 ended), received 8 Awards and 1 UICC-ShortTerm Fellowship (3months) as invited researcher at the renowned immunologist A Mantovani Lab (ICH, Milan), was invited speaker in several international conferences, established important collaborations (A Mantovani-Milan; O de Wever-UGhent; E Deutsch-Gustave Roussy-Paris; S Rocha-ULiverpool) and leaded several projects (AstraZeneca, FCT, Bayer), securing competitive funding (>3.5 Million Euros). We are partners of the International PrIOMic Network on "Precision oncology, Immuno-oncology and modelling in cancer".