Born in 1974, she has a degree in Biology and obtained the degree of Master of Immunology at the University of Porto in 1992 and 1994. She got her PhD in 1998 from University College London ( UK ) and until 2002 developed research at New York University Medical School. From 2002 she led a research group at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science , and since 2005 at the Institute of Molecular Medicine (IMM ), Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon (which has run from 2014). In 2005-2010 was a researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (USA). She has won several national and international awards such as the European Young Investigator Award from the European Science Foundation ( 2004) or Pessoa Prize (2013 ) . She was awarded by the President in 2005 with the Order of Infante D. Henrique . It has published over 100 scientific articles and holds 4 patents. It belongs to the Editorial Board of three international journals . Appointed by the Board of Trustees in November 2015.