Ana Carolina Silva has a Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Algarve (2017) and a Master's Degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Coimbra (2019). During her master's degree she carried out her thesis research project in the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (CNC) of the University of Coimbra, entitled "Alelle-specific silencing of Machado-Joseph disease", whose oral defense led to a final classification of 20 (out of 20). Of note, she was awarded merit scholarships by the University of Algarve and University of Coimbra for her academic accomplishments during her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Since then, she has been a researcher at CNC-UC at the Gene and Stem Cell Therapies for the Brain Group, where she has participated in different research projects, including projects in collaboration with international pharmaceutical companies (WAVE Life Sciences, UniQure and PTC Therapeutics), with particular focus on the use of antisense oligonucleotides and viral vectors for the treatment of polyglutamine disorders. Currently, she is a PhD student in the doctoral program for Experimental Biology and Biomedicine of the University of Coimbra with a research project that aims at developing an allele-specific microRNA-based therapy encoded by AAV vectors for the treatment of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 3. This allowed development of extensive expertise in gene therapy design, viral vector production, and advanced molecular biology techniques, as well as in the application of therapeutic strategies in both in vitro and in vivo disease models. Until now, Ana Carolina has contributed to work that led to 8 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and 20 scientific communications: 9 oral communications and 13 poster communications in national and international scientific meetings. To date, she has contributed to 5 publications in peer-reviewed journals and 25 scientific communications (10 oral and 15 posters).