Previous classes

Juliana Perazzo
“I graduated in Biochemistry at University of Porto. I decided to apply to the LisbonBiomed PhD program because it is a great opportunity to do my research in a translational/clinical area. iMM is an excellent research institute, with very good facilities and brilliant brains working in different areas. Collaborations with the hospital next door and clinicians are a common practice here that speeds up the research from bench to bed. Experiencing such an environment with people with different backgrounds I hope to gain a broader view of my topic of research and contribute somehow to improve human health.”

Mariana Ferreira
“I recently graduated in Pharmacy, at the University of Coimbra. So far this experience has proven to be both interesting and challenging, just the way I hoped it would be! We have been filled in and discussing about what a wide variety of areas of biomedical research. I found in iMM a unique opportunity to expand my horizons and knowledge and to pursue my dream of doing research. My greatest wish is to be an investigator and to see my work as a contribution to improve the knowledge we already have about the human life. I truly believe that with this PhD program I will be many steps closer to my goal!”

Padma Akkapeddi
“Hailing from India, I Padma Akkapeddi, came all the way to Lisbon to pursue my PhD in Molecular Medicine. I am ardent reader with a rare hobby of collecting David Attenborough’s documentaries. I was amongst the few fortunate candidates who got into LisbonBiomed PhD program. With mind full of doubts I came here and was taken by surprise seeing the structured program. It is not a conventional Graduate program involving a two-month course work. The course work has been structured not to make the student repeat what he/she has learnt in his masters instead it is to introduce to the wide range of activity going on at iMM. It helped us in getting a glimpse of work and make right decision of choosing the right area of work and the PI. Apart from this these two months have been very stimulating, full of knowledge and fun. With this experience, of 4 years, I personally look forward to have a successful career in industry. Lisbon being a beautiful city with welcoming people around, this sure is a great place for one to pursue their career in Science.”

João Vieira
“I graduated as a Master’s in Biochemistry at the University of Lisbon in 2012. For my Master’s thesis I studied the interaction between bile acids and lipid vesicles as a model for cholestasis, a liver pathology. This was interesting but I wanted to change areas because I missed the cell-cell interactions I so dearly studied in college. Last year I went to Maria Mota’s lab at iMM to study how the malaria-causing parasite, Plasmodium, hijacks the host ubiquitin system. This year I entered an even bigger challenge: the LisbonBioMed doctoral program. So far, 2 months in, it has been very stimulating: we get do interact with most of the PIs of the institute, talk about their research and get answers to our silly questions; we all are learning a lot on cutting edge technology and all the resources of the institute. For me, this is a great way to get a PhD, do science at the best level, while having fun at the side. I hope that here I can discover something useful and meaningful.”

Alexandra Vitor
“Choosing where to do the PhD is probably one of the most important decisions we need to take. For me, this was not a difficult task since I was already familiar with the research strengths of iMM. This institute is an important reference for science in Portugal that fosters an intellectually stimulating and well-resourced environment, which is attractive to future investigators, like me, who want to pursuit biomedical research as a future career goal. Also, the proximity to Hospital de Santa Maria really inspires us to take science beyond the bench, expanding our knowledge into translational research. Besides the friendly environment, here at iMM we are always being exposed to numerous courses and lectures run by world leaders in their fields, like iMM Monday lectures. It is also very motivating and inspiring to be among an international group of people who share a common goal- commitment to do good science. Finally, I think that the spirit of doing science that I find here at iMM will shape the rest of my working life. And so far it has been an enthusiastic and inspiring journey!”

Ana Portêlo
“I am a Biomedical Engineer from Instituto Superior Técnico. Since I graduated two years ago, it has been my interest to better understand complex systems and the mechanisms that rule them. My professional experience extends from industry to academia and both worlds led me to conclude that a PhD should be a part of my scientific growth. Life sciences are my playground and the rich knowledge environment of the LisbonBioMed PhD program is the route I chose towards creativity. So far the experience at iMM has been challenging and enrichening, providing me with the concepts and methods of basic science I shall use as tools, not only throught the PhD but also for life.”

Joana Carvalho
“I am a Developmental Biologist and recently graduated from the Faculty of Sciences of the Univeristy of Lisbon, after spending one year in Paris working on my Master’s thesis internship on mouse limb development at Institut Pasteur. By the end of my License degree I realized I wanted to pursue a research career focused on Developmental Biology, as I am passionate about understanding the processes and mechanisms underlying the formation of a complex mature organism arising from a single cell. Later during my Master’s degree I became more interested in studying the parallel between Development and Disease. As a considerable amount of Human diseases (e.g. Cancer) result from a deregulation of a set of developmental processes and events that are highly controlled during embryogenesis, understanding these mechanisms is essential to understand disease onset and progression, as well as providing insights into possible disease therapies. It was this new interest in translational research that encouraged me to apply to the LisbonBioMed PhD Program that bridges the gap between basic scientific research and more applied clinical research, by offering the possibility to combine knowledge from a wide variety of different research fields and get in direct contact with a broad team of scientists and clinicians, thus providing a more integrative and complete overview on the research topics currently being investigated in these areas.”

Marta Amorim
“I am a medical doctor (FML 1998-2004), with the residency in Clinical Genetics (2006-2012), that loves to dance and being a mother of two beautiful girls and that always felt short as a MD without lab expertise. Everyday, in my clinical practice, I have patients with rare (and even more common) diseases and more questions than answers to give them. It was always my desire to go after this answers and pursuit a researcher/MD career. I am very content with my decision to apply and the privilege of being chosen for the LisbonBioMed program. At iMM I found a community of young and young in spirit scientists, with a contagious enthusiasm for science. I hope and believe that this 4 years program will allow me to get the tools to have more to offer to my patients and, at the end, to be a better MD.”

Mafalda Pimentel
“Being a biologist, I’ve always fostered interdisciplinary as I think it provides the skills to understand complex biological systems and to ultimately translate basic science into applicable tools. My main motivations to apply to this competitive PhD program were its interdisciplinary program, the tight link to the medical school and the prestige of iMM’s scientific community. The structure of this program gives the students the possibility to make a wise and pondered choice of PhD project, to get stimulation from amazing talks and to be part of a talented class of promising students. In my opinion these are the right ingredients to embrace a PhD, a rewarding and passionate challenge, in the beautiful and inspiring city of Lisbon, hopefully with great results.”

Raquel Freitas
“I graduated as an MSc student in Cancer Immunology and Biotechnology at the University of Nottingham, UK. After the MSc my next goal was to take a PhD in order to follow my goal of a career in research. The LisbonBioMed PhD program was exactly what I was looking for, a program intended to put together the clinic and the lab. The first 8 weeks were really interesting for several reasons. First they worked as models giving us an insight to the research developed by the different labs and allowing us to talk directly to the researchers. Then they were very intense weeks involving a great deal of team work. I really appreciated the team building strategy, the way the research fields were presented, helping choosing our future lab, and also very important the possibility of directly talk to inspiring figures not only national but also international. I am really happy that I could find a lab and a project that truly reflects what I was looking for.”

Tiago Amado
“I earned my master’s degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics from Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa. My research before coming to iMM focused mainly on cellular biology, namely the study of the centriole. I decided to join the LisbonBioMed PhD program because the research at iMM is of excellent quality and is mainly focused on topics related to human health and disease. This step will lead me towards my personal goals of becoming a good scientist and hopefully making meaningful contributions in this field. In the first two months we had the opportunity to closely interact with some of the group leaders and learn first-hand about the questions they are pursuing, their approaches and the techniques they use. We also had group assignments to get to know each other and develop our skills. iMM is an excellent institute and I feel fortunate to be part of this PhD program and to be able to develop my work and ideas in such a stimulating environment!”