Senior Researcher at CCMAR and Invited Assistant Professor at University of Algarve. Holds a licenciatura (BSc) in Marine Biology from University of Algarve (1996), and a PhD in Animal Physiology from the University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands (2002). Post-doctoral fellow at Dept. of Physiology and Neurobiology, University of Connecticut, USA (2003-2007) and seasonal investigator at Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, USA (2005-2012), with research experience at the University of Cadiz (Spain), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), Austral University of Chile (Chile) and Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada). Research and travel awards from the Portuguese-American Foundation for Development, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Society for Experimental Biology, Aquagenome Consortium. National delegate and conference organizer for COST FA1004 Conservation Physiology of Marine Fishes and participant in COST FA 867 Welfare of Fish in European Aquaculture. The main interest is fish ecophysiology the physiological mechanisms that allow organisms, especially fish, to adjust to the conditions of their environment, in an evolutionary process, but also in the context of rapid climate change, extreme environments or invasive species. Research focuses mainly on the processes of stress response, osmo- and ion-regulation, metabolism, behavior and endocrine regulation. In detail we work on 1) the endocrine response to osmotic challenges and ion/osmolytes balance (namely calcium and phosphate) with a special emphasis on renal but also on intestinal and branchial processes, 2) the HPI-axis and the mechanisms of stress response, a crucial adaptive reaction in a changing natural or social environment, 3) metabolic changes and behavioral processes in relation to habitat or social contexts. Methods used include hormone, electrolyte and substrate determination in tissues and fluids, molecular biology of gene expression, protein identification and quantification, transepithelial transport on ex vivo and in vitro systems (electrophysiology and Using chamber) with or without radiotracers, in vitro tissue incubation and perifusion techniques, cell culture, in vivo fish manipulations (injection and blood vessel or urinary cannulation, etc), respirometry, etc. Current lines include the adaptive physiology and behavior of invasive fish species, namely in the context of habitat reduction and competition with native fish, and of isolated fish groups such as the Antarctic fish, in which investigates the ability to acclimate to variations in water temperature and salinity, and the immune response to challenges, to understand how they have evolved in an extremely cold but stable environment and to predict the possible impacts of climate change in the Antarctic Ocean. Since 2012 has participated in 5 expeditions to the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic Peninsula area.