I have a passion for science and research, namely in parasitology and the study of tropical neglected diseases. I wish to further contribute to bettering human lives by tackling important issues like poverty, hunger and financial burdens through innovative science. Having completed a BSc in Forensic Sciences and an MSc in Biomedical Sciences, I started as a researcher at Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical, Universidade Nova de Lisboa (IHMT-NOVA), at the Parasitology Unit. In collaboration with the University of São Paulo, Brazil; the University of Lisbon, Portugal and the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Ivory Coast, we seeked the evaluate Leishmania susceptibility to novel compounds, as well as compounds used in traditional African medicine. The findings regarding the novel compounds have recently been presented at the British Society for Parasitology, Liverpool Spring Meeting 2024. At the same unit, I then started as an MSc research fellow on the CLIMOS project. In collaboration with several European partners, this project seeks to create an early warning system for phlebotomine sandfly transmitted pathogens, such as Leishmania and Toscana Virus. During my time at this project, I did field work, participating in sandfly collections in mainland Portugal, as well as collaborating in the work developed in the lab. Currently I am developing my PhD project at the Sara Silva Pereira Lab, in Católica Biomedical Research Centre. My project centers around the development of a bovine blood brain barrier model to study host-parasite interactions. My area of work is in Parasitology, namely with Trypanosoma spp. and Leishmania spp.. I have experience working with Trypanosoma, Leishmania, Epithelial and Endothelial cell cultures, several serological and molecular biology techniques, microfluidics, microvessels, gene editing and field work.