Graduated in Biology (University of Évora, Portugal, 2000) with PhD in Biology/Biotechnology (Universidade de Lisboa, FCUL, Portugal, 2006). The special strength of my scientific career comes from my early mobility in science, starting with a scientific project developed under the ERASMUS program in the School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering of Lleida (1999/2000, Spain). Later on, my internationalization in science was strongly linked to application, involving private companies from different sectors. In that frame I made, in 1999/2000, a short stay in the Geisenheim Research Institute (Geisenheim, Germany), financed by the Portuguese company PLANSEL SA, to gain expertise in the development of somatic embryogenesis protocols for in vitro grapevine plant propagation. Later, as principle scientist and fellow in an European project (AGRO-AMF-AOX, FP7-PEOPLE-2009-IAPP, ref.: 251464), I was seconded to the SME INOQ GmbH (Solkau, Germany), to exchange experience and knowledge on molecular biology techniques. There I have worked on the production of beneficial fungi (mycorrhiza, AMFs) for sustainable agriculture and on the establishment of a new molecular biology laboratory. With a strong background in plant biotechnology and molecular biology achieved during my PhD research (2000-2006), focused in the development of grapevine plants resistant to pathogenic fungus following a transgenic approach, I was engaged to lead the Lab. of a Marie Curie Chair at the University of Évora - Instituto de Ciências Agrárias e Ambientais Mediterrânica (ICAAM). My strong engagement as principle PostDoc scientist at the Marie Curie Chair Lab. was running first, with a PostDoc fellowship (FCT ref.: SFRH/ BPD/ 27016/2006 and) and later with a contract award in the frame of the FCT program, Contrato Ciência 2008. Since the beginning I was engaged as team member in different research projects that have been running at national and international levels ( I was also involved in the initiation and development of innovative projects and technologies related to functional markers development. On that frame I have got approved, as PI, a FCT project (EXCL/AGR-PRO/ 0038-2012) and a FCT Bilateral Cooperation (PT-India), and I was the Portuguese coordinator of European projects (FP7-SME-2012: FEED-CODE, and H2020: LIVESEED). Currently I am working at MED, integrated in the group of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology, responsible for the Molecular Biology Laboratory. Besides working in molecular markers development with view of different application (food/feed traceability and plant breeding to introduce resistance to pathogens), the main focus of my research is now moved to a different research topic, integrated in different research projects, and I am mainly focused on studying the molecular mechanisms associated with plant plasticity in response to environmental stresses, primarily abiotic stresses such as drought and salinity. A particular emphasis is placed on the molecular mechanisms that regulate the recalcitrance of de novo morphogenesis in woody plant species, specifically concerning adventitious root development and somatic embryogenesis. To obtain insights into these research topics, I am currently integrating transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolic approaches.