I am a parasitologist with expertise in African trypanosome infection biology and large-scale datasets. African trypanosomes are microscopic tropical parasites that infect a huge range of mammalian hosts, but that are particularly pathogenic to livestock and dogs. I am the developer of VAPPER, the first automated tool to describe and quantify Trypanosoma congolense and T. vivax antigenic diversity from big data, and the first 3D microphysiological systems of bovine vasculature. I head the Parasite Vascular Interactions Laboratory at the Católica Biomedical Research Centre, where I coordinate a multidisciplinary team to study parasite-vascular interactions by integrating molecular parasitology, bioengineering, and multi-omics approaches. Our goal is to translate fundamental discoveries into robust experimental models and preclinical validation platforms. Before, I was an EMBO fellow at EMBL Barcelona, a Marie Curie post-doctoral fellow at Instituto de Medicina Molecular, a PhD student at the University of Liverpool, and a research intern at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I co-author 20 research papers, including in Nature Communications, Genome Research, eLife, Nature, with 364 citations and h-index of 9 (Scopus). My research in parasitology, molecular biology, and infection led to the development of the internationally-utilized VAPPER software and rich 'omics datasets and innovative models. I have led 9 funded projects, including a “la Caixa” Junior Leader Fellowship, and contributed to 3 others supported by Wellcome Trust, European Commission, and “la Caixa” Foundation. I have supervised 15 students (1 postdoc, 1 PhD, 6 MSc, 7 BSc), and participated in 26 international conferences, including 11 invited talks. I serve as expert panel member for FWO Belgium (2025-2030), reviewer for UKRI and ANR France, and associate editor for The Cell Surface. I have been recognised with major awards, including President’s Medal (British Society for Parasitology, 2025), L’Oréal Medal of Honor for Women in Science (2024), Maria de Sousa Award (Bial Foundation, 2021). finally, I also serve as deputy-citizen on an Education and Science Committee, contributing public policy proposals to the Portuguese Parliament.