Over the course of my career, my research interests have covered a broad range of subject s within the field of molecular biology, always focusing on the context of disease etiology and treatment. I began my scientific career on the study of molecular markers of hematological malignancies, and proceeded to a research project that envisioned the identification of novel molecular markers for breast carcinoma, with predictive and prognostic value. This latter project sharpened my interest for the intricacies of gene expression and my PhD work focused on the study of the mRNA surveillance mechanism, the nonsense mediated mRNA decay (NMD) pathway that detects and degrades transcript s harboring premature termination codons, which can be linked to several human disorders. My expertise in regulation of gene expression, gathered during my PhD, motivated me to direct my post -doctoral training to the field of post -transcriptional and translational control, focusing mainly on macromolecular complexes involved in mRNA metabolism and protein synthesis. Upon finishing my post-doc in 2010, I decided to expand my research on gene expression to the oncobiology field and I joined the Molecular Endocrinology group at the Portuguese Cancer Institute as a research associate. This gave me the opportunity to work in a highly interdisciplinary environment which was essential to improve and consolidate my knowledge in the field of thyroid cancer and other malignancies as well. At the beginning of 2016 I had the opportunity to establish myself as an independent group leader, integrated in the Ecogenetics and Human Health unit of the Instituto de Saúde Ambiental (ISAMB), a research and development (R&D) center at FM-UL. I am now committed to establish my independent research lines focusing on topics that can lead to novel translational results, covering both the identification of new prognostic biomarkers as well as new molecular mechanisms that could be explored to develop innovative therapeutic strategies for thyroid cancer and other endocrine malignancies.