Milene Vieira Gonçalves earned her degree in Biomedical Science in October 2010, receiving a merit scholarship for the academic year 2008/2009. During her studies, she broadened her international experience as an ERASMUS student at Turku University of Applied Sciences in Finland (Feb-May 2009), where she completed a microbiology internship at the National Institute for Health and Welfare. In 2010, Milene joined the Immunology and Oncology Laboratory at the Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, University of Coimbra. Simultaneously, she pursued a Master’s degree in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, which she completed in 2012 with a thesis titled "Characterization of Peripheral Immune Response in Alzheimer’s Disease." Following her Master’s, Milene became a research fellow (Jan-Dec 2012) for the project "LRRK2 Role in Auto-antibody Production by Human B Cells," funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation. From May 2013 to July 2018, she worked as a laboratory technician and quality manager at Laboratório de São José, Lda, where she honed her technical and management skills in a clinical laboratory environment. In October 2018, Milene embarked on her PhD journey with an individual scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). In 2019, she expanded her research through a dual PhD program between the University of Coimbra (PhD in Experimental Biology and Biomedicine) and the University of Insubria, Italy (PhD in Clinical and Experimental Medicine and Medical Humanities). Her thesis, "IMMU-KYN-PARK: Exploring Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) in the Peripheral Immune System in Parkinson’s Disease," was conducted under the supervision of Professor Frederico Guilherme da Costa Pereira, Professor Marco Cosentino, and Professor Maria Cristina Januário dos Santos. As part of her PhD, Milene spent January to November 2020 as an ERASMUS student at the University of Insubria, conducting research at the Center for Medical Pharmacology under the co-supervision of Professor Cosentino. During her doctoral studies, she also contributed to the GreenLabsCIBB initiative, a sustainability project in Coimbra, where she was an active member of the Greenkeepers Team, promoting ecological responsibility within research labs. In addition to her research, since September 2022, Milene has been pursuing a Master's degree in Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Coimbra. In May 2023, she joined the Blood Service and Medical Transfusion Department at Coimbra Hospital and University Center as a laboratory technician.