Hélène Léger, Ph.D., is a Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra since 2020. She holds a Ph.D. in Biology and Health Sciences (Molecular and Cell Biology) from the University Lille 1, France (2012), a Master’s in Cellular Biology and Development from Université Paris-Sud XI, France (2008), and a Bachelor’s in Biology from the same institution (2006). During her undergraduate studies, she participated in an exchange year through the CREPUQ program at the University of Montréal (Québec, Canada) in 2006/2007, where she achieved an overall grade of A. Additionally, she completed the prestigious international course "Molecular Biology of the Cell" organized by the Pasteur and Curie Institutes in 2008. Dr. Léger’s research career began with a postdoctoral fellowship at the Nuclear Dynamics and Cancer Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, USA (2012–2014), where she investigated the coupling between epigenomic and transcription regulation. She then worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA (2014–2019), where she explored mechanisms of retinal cell proliferation and differentiation using CRISPR-Cas9 knockout mouse models. Currently, her research focuses on understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neuroinflammatory responses in retinal degenerative diseases. Throughout her career, Dr. Léger has demonstrated strong mentorship skills by co-supervising 11 bachelor’s students and 5 master’s students (1 ongoing), including 3 Erasmus students. She has published 13 peer-reviewed articles, with 3 as first author and 3 as corresponding author. Her work has garnered an H-index of 9 with 363 citations according to Scopus. She has also presented her findings at numerous international conferences through oral communications as an invited speaker and poster sessions. Dr. Léger has been actively involved in research projects, participating in six initiatives, two of which she led as Principal Investigator. Her contributions to science have been recognized with four awards, and she has organized three scientific meetings. As part of her editorial activities, she has served as a reviewer for several scientific journals and is a guest editor for a special issue. In addition to her research achievements, Dr. Léger has held leadership roles within academic institutions. She served as Chairman of the Foreign National Committee for the Biomedical Postdoc Council at the University of Pennsylvania (2016–2019) and co-founded the "Women Love Science Club" at Fox Chase Cancer Center (2012). She has also been an active member of scientific associations such as Berder Workshop Group – Cancéropole (2008) and BioAddoct – Ph.D. student and postdoc association of Northern France (2008). Dr. Léger is deeply committed to public engagement and outreach activities. She has participated in events such as European Researchers’ Night, Low Vision Awareness Month, and other initiatives aimed at promoting science to broader audiences. As Principal Investigator, Dr. Léger led a collaborative project with LIP (Laboratory of Instrumentation and Experimental Particle Physics) to develop OpticCanvas: Painting the Visual Landscape of Degenerative Vision, a software tool designed to visualize how patients with retinal degenerative diseases perceive their surroundings. This interdisciplinary initiative bridges molecular biology, vision science, and computational modeling to enhance understanding of vision impairment mechanisms