I have a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) (2015-2019) with an emphasis on Physiology and Human Reproduction. During my undergrad, in 2017, I had the opportunity to go to the University of Coimbra, in Portugal, where I stayed for a semester taking Biomedical Pharmacy classes and getting to know the university’s labs. I also spent 3 years in a research group that focuses on autism spectrum disorder. There, I’ve learned a lot about animal model behavioral tests and immunofluorescence techniques. In my last semester at the lab, I got involved in a project about the GABAergic interneurons and excitatory/inhibitory imbalance in an autism animal model. By this time, I discovered my fascination with the brain inhibitory components and neuronal migration during neurodevelopment. At the end of 2018, I met Dr. Eduardo Zimmer and his excitement about science and Alzheimer’s disease, which was crucial for me to take the next step in my scientific pathway. At the beginning of 2020, I started pursuing my Master’s in Biochemistry in the Zimmer Lab. Currently, I am a first-year Ph.D student in Biochemistry in the lab and I could not be happier! Almost 2 years and a half have passed since I entered Zimmer Lab and so much has happened (including a pandemic). I’m so grateful for being on board and for having been working with extraordinary people!

I was born in Porto Alegre and I’ve lived here almost my entire life. I have two cats: Frajola (or Sylvester; he is a little bit fat… only 17 pounds) and Pretinha (although I barely see her at the house). Beyond being at the lab and reading scientific papers, in my free time I love hanging out with my friends, spending time with my family, going swimming and sunbathing, doing the Gasômetro-Iberê route by bike, and watching soccer games on TV, especially the ones from Internacional –  the best team in the world. I also love doing sports and I have already done a few: ballet when I was a child, figure skating, and finally handball when I was in high school. Currently, my new passion is acrobatic tissue, which is very challenging but amazing as well. I’m a huge fan of science, of course, and because of that my favorite kind of series on Netflix are the scientific ones. I like watching recipe videos on Youtube, especially the vegan ones, and since the end of 2018 I’m living a more vegetarian lifestyle.