I am a PhD in Molecular Biology and an auxiliary researcher at the CCMAR and University of Algarve, where I also teach Biology and Metagenomics.
My research focus on the diversity, roles and disruption of fish hormone systems by pollutants (in particular those interfering with the estrogenic system), mainly using in vitro and in vivo assays and OMICs technologies. These have been mainly applied to assess pollutants impacts and endocrine disruption and to aquaculture and food safety. In the last years, I have also been investigating the diversity and spreading of micropollutants and microbes in sewage systems, marine environments and organisms, from a One-Health perspective.
I was the PI of national project E2SCALE (on non-invasive pollutants risk assessment using fish scales) and project GalPub (on the control of sea bass puberty and reproduction) between 2013 and 2016. I currently coordinate projects MicroWaste (Coca-Cola Mares Circulares iberian award 2022) and MicroFish (awarded by the FAM foundation 2023). In these, I collaborate with companies and schools to monitor micropollutants, microplastics and microbes in the Ria Formosa natural park in the Algarve, Portugal. In addition, I am strongly engaged in promoting citizen science and environmental education activities. Finally, I represent the Euromarine TransOcean transdisciplinary working group at CCMAR, and I am the vice-president of the Iberian Association of Comparative Endocrinology (AIEC).