I graduated in Zootechnical Engineering in 2000. In 2002 I got funding through a competitive call (FCT PhD scholarship - SFRH/BD/6901/2001) to conduct a PhD aboard, at IATS-CSIS, Spain. In 2004 I completed a DEA degree in Molecular and Evolutionary Genetics from the University of Valencia, and in 2008 a PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Valencia with a focus on sea bass reproductive physiology. In 2008 I received a stipend from the Max Plank Institute of Immunobiology to develop my research at Matthias Hammerschmidt’s Lab, Cologne University, Germany. During this first postdoc, I did a genetic analysis of the hypothalamic melanocortin system in zebrafish. Subsequently, from 2009-2013, I was employed as a postdoc at IATS-CSIC in the framework of the EU FP7 project LIFECYCLE. I studied the mechanism of anti-Müllerian hormone action in gonad development and occurrence of early puberty in sea bass. Aside from research outputs, during this 4-year postdoc, I was fully engaged with project managing, reporting and compliance in a European Science and technology funding landscape. Then I embraced a postdoc position at the Dep. of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, where my research focus was the role of leptin and leptin receptor in the sexual maturation of Atlantic salmon (2013-2014). In 2017, I got a postdoc contract at the IATS-CSIC to study the melanocortin system and its role in regulating fear/ anxiety and aggression in zebrafish and in 2019 I became a member of the Aquatic Animal Health Group in CIIMAR. In the past five years, my work has focused on developing innovative solutions to improve the immunocompetence of fish larvae. I have established national and international collaborations with top experts in immunology and functional genomics to bridge the largely separated fields of reproduction and trained immunity. These collaborations were consolidated by LEGATEE, a competitive national project lead by me (PTDC/CVTCVT/3205/2020, €244k; Feb 2021- Jan 2025), launching the foundations for carrying out my research line independently. This project has generated outputs leading to new hypothesis to test, that materialized a new grant application to a national competitive call that has been recently approved (COMPETE2030-FEDER-00790700; Projeto Nº 16725). This new project proposal was envisioned in stretch collaboration with international scientific institutions in the USA and Spain. Globally, I have been a member in a total of 16 national and international research projects from wich I highlight my participation as core team member of the IMMUNOSENS national project (2022.07659.PTDC,€250k) and in the Horizon Europe 2022 project, IGNITION (GA: 101084651, €549k) as a Task leader. In both projects my research activities are aimed at the development of antibody-based biosensors to monitor fish welfare. In the last 5 years I have co-supervised the PhD of Sandra Navarro (defense 20-1-2023, Universidad de Barcelona), supervised 2 graduate and an Erasmus+ students, and gave tutorial support to 2 post-docs, 2 PhD students and 1 technician. As a result of my scientific activities, I have published 27 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 2 book chapters, of which I assumed lead (10) or senior (2) authorship, accumulating a h-index of 15, Scopus. I have participated in several national and international conferences, with a total of 17 selected oral presentations, and 14 posters. The quality and independence of my scientific and curricular path has been evaluated by the Spanish State Research Agency in compliance with the European Framework for Research Careers and in 2023 has been staged as Established Researcher (R3).