I am a scientist interested in unraveling the complexity of biological systems and leveraging this understanding to drive innovation in healthcare.
𧬠I have studied Biology with an emphasis on Genetics at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro from 2009 - 2013 π§π·
π§«π I then pursued a Master's in Oncology at the Brazilian National Cancer Institute from 2013 - 2015 π§π·
π»π And a PhD in Molecular Biology with an emphasis in Systems Biology at the University of Montreal from 2017 - 2023 π¨π¦
My research experience started in my first year at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
I was curious about the regulation of gene expression, and to explore this topic, I first joined the lab of Dr. Manoel Luis Costa to work with zebrafish studying myogenesis π π¬πͺ
I then joined Dr. Carlos Soares' lab to study the symbiotic bacteria Teredinibacter turnerae. They produce bioactive compounds, and for my project, I genetically engineered them to increase the production of bioactive compounds and tested their antimicrobial activity π§«π¦
In 2012, I was introduced to immuno-oncology at Dr. Martin Bonamino's lab, a field that wasn't very popular at the time. My project aimed to genetically engineer CAR-T cells to optimize their antitumor response in hematological cancers. π©π»βπ¬π§¬π§«π¦ π
The challenges in using CAR-T cells to treat solid tumors motivated me to understand the tumor microenvironment to better design immunotherapy strategies. I then performed my doctorate project at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Center (CRCHUM) using single-cell RNA sequencing to reveal the heterogeneity of the tumor immune microenvironment π»π
After studying the tumor microenvironment using the high-resolution technology of single-cell RNAseq, I developed a passion for data science and the myriad of possibilities multidimensional data can offer to healthcare.
Since then, I have worked on multiple projects analyzing and interpreting patient transcriptomic data in the context of immunotherapy.
During my postdoc in Dr. John Stagg and Dr. Simon Turcotte's labs, I specialized in analyzing multi-omics patient data. Collaborating with hospitals and research centers in Canada and Europe, our projects aimed to identify predictive biomarkers for new immunotherapy strategies and study the immune microenvironment in various cancer types.
To continue contributing to the advancement of precision medicine, I am currently learning new methods to integrate and explore large datasets (I am interested in AI/machine learning). ππ©π»βπ»π€