Dr. Mara Gonçalves received her BSc in Biomedical Sciences from the Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI) in 2009. She then pursued her Master's degree at UBI, conducting research in collaboration with the Materials Molecular Research Group at the Centro de Química da Madeira (MMRG-CQM) under the supervision of Ph.D. Helena Tomás, a senior researcher at the Universidade da Madeira (UMa). Her research focused on evaluating the effect of dendrimers on mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, and she received her MSc in Biomedical Sciences in 2011. Her work led to a publication in the international journal Current Medicinal Chemistry, as well as a poster presentation. In 2012, Dr. Gonçalves was awarded an FCT research grant to work on the research project "Self-Assembled Nanoparticles Based on PEG-PLA-Dendrimer Building Blocks for Dual Gene/Drug Delivery" (ref. PTDC/CTM-NAN/116788/2010) under the supervision of Ph.D. Yulin Li, a senior researcher at MMRG-CQM. The following year, she was granted an FCT scholarship to begin her Ph.D. project, which focused on developing nanotechnology approaches for the delivery of antitumor drugs, specifically the case of doxorubicin. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry, specializing in Materials Chemistry, at CQM (UMa) under the supervision of Prof. Helena Tomás, and was awarded a research grant sponsored by European funds under the scope of the project Madeira 14-20 (M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000005), "Synthesis, characterization and biological evaluation of anticancer metallodrugs" (CQM+) under the supervision of Prof. João Rodrigues, a senior researcher at CQM/UMa. Currently, Dr. Gonçalves is a Junior Researcher at CQM, as well as a Guest Assistant Professor for the Biochemistry Graduation and Applied Biochemistry Master programs. Her research has given her a strong background in nanotechnology, polymer science, biomaterials, and in vitro cell manipulation, and she has published 11 scientific papers (10 in the 1st Quartile, and 7 as 1st author) in high-impact journals, as well as presented at 21 oral communications (1 invited, 8 international, and 14 in CQM meetings), and 12 international poster presentations. She is also actively involved in science dissemination activities, such as "Química é Divertida®" and "Bridging the Gap® (BtG®)", which aim to promote science and scientific culture to younger audiences, and "Ciência no Mercado" and "Cidade do Empreendedor", which provide different scientific experiences to visitors. Dr. Gonçalves has collaborated with 22 co-authors on scientific papers and her curriculum vitae highlights her expertise in nanomaterials, cancer, drug delivery, polymers, dendrimers, cytotoxicity, cell culture, nanoparticles, and self-assembling.