Lígia Silva is currently an assistant professor in Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at the departament of chemistry of Coimbra. She holds a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (October 2006) and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology (October 2012) from the University of Coimbra (UC). Her doctoral research, conducted at the Center of Neurosciences and Cell Biology of Coimbra, was focused on developing liposomes for the targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules to solid tumors. Following her PhD, Lígia Silva conducted post-doctoral activities at CQC-Coimbra Chemistry Centre (2012-2014, Coimbra, Portugal) and at Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers and Institute Gustave Roussy (2015-2018, Paris, France). Her post-doc work was centered on preclinical investigations of the photosensitizer redaporfin and exploring the link between cell death mechanisms and anti-tumor immunity, particularly in the context of Photodynamic Therapy (PDT). In 2019, Lígia Silva secured a Researcher contract under the transitory law, DL/57, at CQC. In 2022, Lígia Silva received an individual award (5th edition - CEEC) to cover her salary as an assistant researcher (03/2023 - 02/2025). Currently, she leads the Photobiology Lab, focusing on Photodynamic therapy, drug delivery, cancer, anti-tumor immunity, and mechanisms of cell death. Lígia Silva was the principal investigator (PI) from UC in POLYTHEA, a Marie Curie -Innovative Training Network – European Joint Doctorate (251.730,54€, 2018-2022) and PI of an exploratory FCT grant to study the role of lipid oxidation in the anti-tumor immunity mediated by PDT (49.940,00€, 2022-2023). She is currently the PI of the following projects “Photodynamic Priming and Therapy of Pancreatic Cancer” (€225,936.00, 2025–2028), "LipoPDT – Light-Induced Photodynamic Oxidation for Precision-Directed Fat Modulation" (€59970,68, 2026-2028) and a FCT-mobility incoming (€5295, 03/2026-06/2026) financed by FCT. Lígia Silva has experience in supervising/ co-supervising PhD (4 completed and 5 ongoing); master´s students (7 completed and 1 ongoing) and bachelor´s students (10 completed). She frequently serves as a jury member for PhD, MSc, and BSc theses and acts as a referee for prestigious journals such as Nature Communications, ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, ACS Nano, Chemical Reviews, and Oncoimmunology. Additionally, she evaluates proposals for funding agencies in Belgium and Poland and was recently external monitor of a Pathfinder project. Lígia Silva and her students regularly participate in international conferences, with 23 appearances since 2020, earning recognition including 3 best poster awards and 3 best oral communication in the last 5 years. Overall, Lígia Silva is an author or co-author of 42 international peer-reviewed publications, including in high-impact journals like JACS, Angewandte, Acc Chem Res, EMBO, Cell Death Differentiation, BBA-Reviews on cancer, Cell Death Disease, Biomaterials, and Oncoimmunology, as well as 5 book chapters (google schoolar, h-index = 23).