Susana Simões is currently a junior researcher at CIBB, the largest associate laboratory in the biomedical area in the center region of Portugal, located at the University of Coimbra. She contributes for the research area of “Advanced Therapies”. Her research focus is on Regenerative Medicine encompassing topics such as Drug Delivery, Gene Editing and mRNA therapies. In the last five years she contributed for the development of drug delivery formulations with increased potency, safety and selectivity. (i) As first author (accumulating also the corresponding author position), she developed a gene editing nanoparticle formulation for brain applications that comprised a sgRNA:Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex immobilized to the NP surface by complementary oligonucleotides to the sgRNA that allows spatial control. The safety and gene editing of the formulation was demonstrated in the brain of a reporter mice, specifically at the subventricular zone after intracerebral administration (Angewandte Chemie, IF 16.6, DOI: 10.1002/anie.202401004). The formulation was recently submitted for intellectual protection as a provisional patent application. (ii) As a co-author, she contributed to the development of a light-triggerable nanocomposite for stimulation of neural cells (Nanoscale, 2023, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D2NR05256C). In addition, she also contributed to the development of the first formulations able to deliver multiple biomolecules (proteins, miRNAs) with spatio-temporal control, which resulted in two high-impact publications (ACS Nano 2018 (IF14) and Nature Communications 2022, IF17.7, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31791-6). Moreover, she contributed to the development of a mRNA-containing polymeric nanoparticle with high tropism for fibroblast. The tropism of the nanoparticle to fibroblasts was due to the composition of the polymer forming the nanostructure. The work described the mechanisms behind the specificity towards fibroblasts, as well as structure-activity relationships to highlight critical requisites of these formulations for efficient mRNA delivery (Advanced Science 2023, IF 17.5, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.7b07538). Since January 2023, she is collaborating with Maria Conception Serrano in the development of mRNA formulations for spinal cord regeneration. Overall, Susana Simões scientific expertise in Regenerative Medicine, in particular drug delivery, is a valuable match for the current project. In addition, she has experience in project management. (iii) In the last 5 years, Susana Simões was also very engaged in teaching activities, particularly at the Master level (a curricular unit called “Regenerative Medicine” offered to Medicine and Biomedical Engineering degrees). She is/was involved in the co-supervision of 5 PhD students and supervision/ co-supervision of 3 MSc students.