I, Rita Martins, am a PhD Student at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS) (University of Minho). I obtained my Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Aveiro in 2021 and completed my Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Minho in 2023. My master’s dissertation, entitled “The therapeutic potential of TUDCA against stress-related brain pathologies,” was developed at ICVS under the supervision of Dr. Joana Silva at ICVS. During this project, I investigated the molecular (e.g. WB, RT-PCRs and proteomic analysis), cellular (e.g. 2D/3D reconstruction of neurons and glial cells), and behavioural (e.g. cognition, anxiety- and depressive-like behaviours) effects of TUDCA in a mouse model of chronic stress. I received a Travel Grant from the International Society of Neurochemistry (ISN) to present my MSc thesis work as a poster at the "ISN-ESN 2023 Meeting". Furthermore, I have presented this project in several national and international conferences (e.g. XIX Meeting of SPN 2025 and GLIA 2025). After my MSc, I continued working as a Research Fellow in Dr. Silva’s team on a collaborative project with the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL), focused on the detection of Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers in blood samples. In parallel, I completed a post-graduation in Bioinformatics at the School of Engineering, University of Minho, to enhance my computational and analytical skills relevant to my ongoing research. Currently, I have an FCT doctoral fellowship. I am developing my PhD project, under the supervision of Dr. Joana Silva and Dr. Carina Soares-Cunha, which aims to use cutting-edge molecular and computational approaches (e.g. neuronal activity analysis through calcium imaging and fiber photometry) to investigate the role of the RNA-binding protein TIA1 in local synaptic translation, neuronal function, and synaptic structure.