Maria Zolotareva is a researcher at INESC MN, and an applicant for FCT Ph.D scholarship. She graduated in Biology in 6th of July 2020 and received her MCs degree in Applied Microbiology in 28th February 2023, in the Faculty of Science in the University of Lisbon. Her main scientific interests are microbial diversity and genomics. She is co-author of five scientific communications in the scope of molecular basis of biofilm formation and role of biofilm formation in fungal pathogenesis. She has recently submitted, as first author and upon invitation, a review manuscript covering technological advances in molecular diagnosis of fungal infection, for Trends in Biotechnology, Cell Press. In 2023, she integrated one EU funded project, Bactometer, focused on developing an autonomous, culture independent and DNA-based diagnostic device for detection of antimicrobial-resistance genes in bacteria. She served as a researcher at ISAMB, and as a contact point between ISAMB, INESC MN and AAC in matters of microbiology. Due to the quality of the work, Maria was hired as part of the INESC MN as a junior researcher, where she received complementary training in microfluidics and micromachining prototyping. Maria is currently working with microfluidics, detection by hybridization and magnetoresistive biosensors, and mentoring two master students, guiding their work in the field of antifungal drug-resistance, genomics and bioinformatics.