I completed a B.Sc. in Biochemistry (2009) at the University of Porto and an M.Sc. in Cellular and Molecular Biology (2011) at the University of Coimbra. In 2019, I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Porto under the supervision of professors Isabel Alonso and Reto Gassmann, with a thesis entitled “Pathogenic variants in movement disorders: modifiers, interactors and disease models”. My research interests have focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in genetically determined movement disorders. My studies on this topic have allowed me to author and co-author manuscripts in leading journals such as Genetics in Medicine, Brain and ASN Neuro. Using the latest technologies, I identified the underlying genetic basis of disease in a large collection of patients presenting with some form of movement disorders. This was a successful approach (Pereira et al, 2012, GenetMed), however, I quickly realised that there was a lack of both knowledge about the fundamental biology of the proteins these genes encode, and of good reproducible disease models, that ultimately hinder the pursuit of therapies. I dedicated most of my PhD addressing this issue. I generated new, genetically defined, models for movement disorders, both in C. elegans and mammalian cells (Santos et al, 2019, SciRep), and used them to identify new genetic modifiers of disease presentation (Pereira et al, 2016, ASNNeuro), new molecular interactors, and contributed to the first neuropathological study of a PARK7 patient’ brain which implicated, for the first time, the absence of DJ-1 with a-synuclein pathology (Taipa et al, 2016, Brain). Throughout my career, I have been committed to sharing my work with my peers, at national and international meetings, and with the general community, having mentored several students along the way.