Since 2013, I hold a leadership position as Principal Investigator of the Structural Biotechnology Group (SBG), at the Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CIBB, Coimbra, Portugal), and Coordinator of the CIBB Avian Technological Unit. In 2021-2022, I served as Rector of Escola Universitária Vasco da Gama (EUVG, Coimbra, Portugal) and as Member of the Board of Directors of Vasco da Gama Research Center of the same institution (CIVG/EUVG), were I also held a position as Coordinator Investigator. In addition, I was the Coordinator of EUVG Academia, an educational platform for advanced studies and training, complementing EUVG higher-education offers. I received my PhD in Structural Biology and Nanobiology in 2008 from the University Joseph Fourier (Grenoble, France) jointly with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). I have been performing research in structural and functional characterization of proteins and antibodies using biochemical and biophysical approaches since 2004. In 2008-2013, I joined the research group of Dr. João Morais-Cabral (IBMC,Portugal) as a postdoctoral fellow working on the structural and functional characterization of ion channels and transporters. In 2013, I successfully secured a 5-year FCT Starting Investigator position with CIBB has host institution. This gave me a unique and timely opportunity for a career shift towards applied biotechnology, strongly motivated by my ambition to explore the potential of avian bioreactors (e.g. chicken, quail) for biological drug discovery (e.g. therapeutic proteins and antibodies). My group presently works on projects developing promising (but largely underexplored) antimicrobial solutions based antibodies against pathogenic microorganisms. We envisage to expand into a multidisciplinary research group by engaging collaborators to work in integrative projects and areas (e.g biological drugs, immunotherapies, bioproduction and bioprocessing, avian genetics, avian housing/husbandry), towards development of core technologies that support the use of avian hosts as bioreactors for drug discovery. I have been involved in 11 research projects. I am/was Principal Investigator in 2 FCT projects, and Co-PI in 2; I have supervised 9 MSc students, 5 undergraduates, 8 research fellows and I have 1 PhD, 3 research fellows’ supervisions ongoing. Until October 2022, I co-authored 14 peer-reviewed publications including: 1 Science, 1 Nature (first author), 1 PlosBiology (2nd author), 1 Structure (first author). Web of Science ResearcherID (J-5232-2013) citation metrics indicate: 10 publications, 593 total citations (59.3 per article; 42.4 per year) and h-index of 7. I have also co-authored 25 poster communications (3 Best Poster awards), 16 as senior author and my research group as participated in 13 national and international meetings with 6 oral communications (1 selected; 5 invited). I was the Coordinating Editor of a Springer book on IgY Technology published in 2021. I implemented and currently coordinate a unique Avian Technological Unit (CIBB) in Portugal, with utility model IP, dedicated to use of birds as bioreactors for biodrug discovery. I hold a Promoter/Consultant position in a biotech company developing commercial antibodies (www.henbiotech.com). In 2013 I integrated a team selected to the COHITEC training Program; in 2018 I was a selected Challenger in EIT Health Wild Card: AT THE EDGE and in 2020 I received the i3S Health Innovation Prize - Esfera Cúbica Award. I have advanced training in Antibody Engineering & Phage Display, Visualizing Mol&Cell with 3D Animation, Biocrystallography and Lab. Animals Experimentation. I have been involved in several SciCom & Outreach activities, namely 6 radio/tv interviews, 1 major press release, 3 science festivals, 1 scientific movie. In addition, since 2021, I enrolled in a Postgraduate Course in Business Administration (MBA Executives) of the Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.