These are the students from 2016 class
Ana Filipa Cardoso
“My interest in Science has accompanied me for as long as I can recall and drove me to enroll the BSc in biochemistry at University of Minho. During the course of my undergraduate studies I became particularly interested on the complexity of the biological pathways that enable homeostasis in humans, specifically the metabolic, physiological and immunological pathways. In line with my interests, I chose to perform my Master’s in Health Sciences at ICVS in immunology. After this stimulating experience, I became absolutely certain that pursuing a career in science would be the best decision to make. Accordingly, I enrolled the LisbonBioMed PhD program since my main research interest lies on immunology, and iMM is be the perfect place for me to pursue this topic during my PhD.”
Andreia Pereira
“I come from Ponte de Lima and it was on high school that my passion for Biology begun. So, I decided to go to Porto to graduate in Biology and during that time I had the opportunity to do an internship in cancer epigenetics at IPO Porto. There I realized how important basic research is for medicine and so I decided to come to Lisbon and pursue an MSc in Molecular Biology and Genetics. During my Master thesis, I had the opportunity to work with embryonic stem cells and being exposed to the intriguing world of Developmental Biology and Regenerative Medicine, here at iMM. During that time, I realized the importance of multidisciplinarity, crucial for biomedical sciences and so, when the time came to decide my next step, I realized that iMM was where I wanted to do my PhD. The vibrant scientific atmosphere, the incessant search for answers (and questions!), the top-notch research areas and the cutting-edge resources made me choose iMM. Therefore, I applied to the LisbonBioMed PhD program and, fortunately, I was one of the accepted students. So now, I am deciphering the distinctive features of mitochondria that localize on neuronal synapses surrounded by creative and enthusiastic people and working in one of the best research institutes.”
Helena Brigas
“I am a graduated in Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of Porto, Portugal. Previous I devoted my research to basic molecular biology and tumor immunology. Driven by my fascination with how immune cells can interact in order to promote or counteract different diseases and I decided to pursue my scientific career with a PhD. The outstanding scientific quality of iMM, promoting synergies from relevant and complementary areas of science and linking basic science to clinical research drove me to join the LisbonBioMed program. The diverse background of all colleagues has kept this experience both challenging and enthusiastic Personally, this experience is a unique opportunity to improve personal knowledge and skills and to expand horizons in research in the area of medical sciences.”
Julia Skalska
“My name is Julia Skalska, from Poland and I graduated in Biotechnology at Warsaw University of Technology. Despite the fact, that in principle both my BSc and MSc were obtained at the same Technical University, my scientific experience was much more diversified. During my Bachelor I was working in the International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, with one of the leading groups studying mitochondrial biogenesis. Thanks to invaluable experience gained under the supervision of world-class researchers I had an opportunity to pursue my scientific adventure in a research program for Master students at The University of Chicago. In multiple projects I was studying biochemistry and biophysics of ion channels. During the challenging year I realized that science is not only (not at all) Nobel Prizes and spectacular discoveries, but on a daily basis is a painstaking work full of frustrations. However, the beauty and significance, of even small achievements gives you a priceless satisfaction, which compensate all the hardships. Looking for a PhD I was focused on applicable aspects of research, which directly contribute to the issue of human health. That is why, very close collaboration of iMM with Hospital Santa Maria and international environment of LisbonBioMed seemed for me a perfect Program to continue my studies.”
Mariana Oliveira
“I became fascinated with biology having developed a great interest in science during high school. For this reason, I graduated in Cell and Molecular Biology at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. After that, and in order to explore more translational research with clinical implications for patients, I got my Master’s degree in Oncobiology at Universidade de Lisboa. My master thesis project aimed at understanding the prognostic significance of PI3K/Akt/mTOR and JAK/STAT5 signaling pathways in pediatric B-cell leukemia. As I wanted to continue to specialize in Cancer research and to proceed further in my studies, I found that the LisbonBioMed PhD program was perfect for my research interests and future goals. First of all, iMM is a leading national biomedical institute which provides an excellent scientific environment with great people. Secondly, this program gives the possibility of learning from excellent internal and international teachers, and thinking on a wide range of scientific topics. I am so glad I had the luck of being selected to be part of this amazing group of people.”
Sofia Mensurado Santos
“I am curious about human biology ever since I remember and answers tend to lead me only to more and more questions. This made me soon realize that doing research was what would fulfill me. To pursue my interest in biomedicine I studied Health Sciences at Universidade de Lisboa. During this time, my will to do biomedical research grew every day as did my interest in immunology. I then pursued a MSc in Biochemistry, and developed my thesis at iMM in tumour immunology. This experience at iMM made me feel very privileged not only due to the outstanding scientific community but also due to the truly collaborative environment. Hence, the LisbonBioMed program was a natural choice for me, as it combines a great scientific environment with a multidisciplinary program, which I believe is the best recipe to do top quality research in biomedicine.”