Biography
I am a Scientist at the Stem and Immune Cells Bioengineering Lab, where I have been working since April 2024, on the development of novel stem cell-based therapies.
I am currently working on a European project (CARxALL) to manufacture CAR-γδT cells derived from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells for treatment of leukemia. I hold an MSc degree in Biological Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa (2011-2016) and a PhD in Bioengineering (MIT-Portugal Program), pursued at Instituto Superior Técnico and UMC Utrecht, NL (2017-2021).
I developed my MSc thesis at Champalimaud Foundation, studying the interactions established between cancer cell populations in vivo using a zebrafish model. This thesis ultimately contributed to a study revealing a mechanism of innate immune evasion in colorectal cancer.
During my PhD, I worked on the scalable production of extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from mesenchymal stromal cells, and engineered those EVs for cancer-targeted drug delivery. I developed innovative bioreactor-based culture systems allowing the scalable manufacturing of EVs at higher yields and established novel drug delivery systems for cancer therapy by combining EVs with cancer targeting peptides. During my PhD I contributed to 4 scientific papers, 1 book chapter, several oral and poster communications at national/international conferences and mentored 2 MSc students.
I developed postdoctoral research work at Champalimaud Foundation (2022-2024), studying tissue-specific immune barriers to metastasis through a multidisciplinary approach in vivo, using mice models of breast cancer metastasis. During this period, I was also a representative of the Early Career Leadership Council of the Metastasis Research Society.