EARLY STAGE
RESEARCHERS
Background
I started my scientific career with a degree in clinical analysis and public health (High institute of health, Portugal) during which I have developed an interest in immunology and in the comprehension of disease pathological mechanisms. This led me to pursue first a master’s degree in molecular genetics (University of Minho, Portugal) where I studied the genotype distribution, prevalence, and variations along time of oral Candida albicans colonization in healthy individuals.
Afterwards, to focus more on Immunology, I completed a second master’s in health sciences where I assessed the cognitive phenotype and alterations in the immune profile of male mice lacking the expression of Interleukin-10. (University of Minho, Portugal). I also had the opportunity to participate in a project regarding autophagy and cell death in acute myeloid leukaemia where I performed metabolism, drug resistance and survival assays on HL-60, KG-1 and NB-4 cell cultures.
Research
After my first encounter with acute myeloid leukemia, I became curious and wanted to learn more about hematological malignancies and what happens within the bone marrow (BM) microenvironment for such disorders to arise. My main interest is to understand how changes BM niche can influence hematopoiesis and play a role in the development and establishment of hematologic malignancies, particularly myelodysplastic syndromes. As a researcher, I would like to contribute to the discovery of new therapeutic approaches to handle these challenging diseases.