My scientific career began with a degree in Biology (awarded with “Eng. António de Almeida prize” for the best student of the class). During the Biology degree, as an undergraduate student, I began enrolling in research projects in the areas Zoology and Genetics. That allowed me not only to complement the theoretical part of the course but also to learn how to work as a team member in a real-life laboratory context. Later, in Biology’s final year, I joined the Cancer Genetics Group at IPATIMUP for a trainee position that was followed by a starting fellowship grant. During that period, I learned various cellular and molecular biology techniques. Moreover, the work done during that period resulted in two publications in peer review journals (one as co-author and the other as first author). Before starting my PhD fellowship, I enrolled as technician in research and development activities in a genetic diagnostics laboratory at IPATIMUP (IPATIMUP Diagnostics). With that position I gained expertise in high-throughput next-generation genetic screening, protocol elaboration and optimization, and laboratory management. Thereafter, I started my PhD work integrated in a Doctoral Program in Pathology and Molecular Genetics from ICBAS and FMUP, and I was able to successfully address the project hypothesis that I proposed (Approved with Distinction). At the end of my PhD, my work resulted in six published articles (four as first author and the other two as co-author) and I made significant contributions to the understanding of how chronic inflammation drives the risk of gastric cancer, by describing for the first time the role of a group of transcription factors on the survival of gastric cancer cells. My contribution opened the way to new strategies for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer, including the control of chronic inflammation. Further, I established work collaborations with reputable national (IPO-Porto and Universidade Católica) and international (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine Berlin and University College London) institutions. These collaborative networks allowed me to actively participate in the conceptual design and practical elaboration of various research projects. With my scientific background I gained the knowledge, competences and skills necessary to elaborate and successfully address a scientific project in an autonomous manner. In fact, after finishing my PhD I became a Post-Doc fellow at Genetic Dynamics of Cancer Cells at i3S integrating a FCT funded project (PTDC/BIMMEC/2834/201) that intended to disclose the mechanisms used by neoplastic cells to escape cancer immunosurveillance. To address that I developed and established new mouse models of intestinal cancer, previously not available in the lab. In parallel, I started a new research project with FMUP and King’s College London aiming at understanding the genetic determinants underlying therapy resistance in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Additionally, I became the PI of a funded project that addressed the role of T lymphocyte polarization in inflammation-associated colorectal cancer. In January 2019 I was granted with a Junior Researcher position at Intercellular Communication and Cancer group and became a team member of another FCT funded project, with the aim to better stratify and predict patient response to immunotherapies, taking into account mutation load, neoantigen expression and immunogenicity. In 2021 I became the PI of another FCT funded project (EXPL/MED-ONC/1592/2021) with the main goal to demonstrate that immunotherapy can be improved through strategies that thwart glycosylation-driven adaptation of cancer cells to immunosurveillance.