I am a biochemist and a medical doctor by training specializing in pancreatic cancer biology with a strong focus on exosome biology and in vivo disease models. With 47 peer-reviewed publications and 10,368 citations (h-index 30), my research has made significant contributions to the understanding and therapeutic application of exosomes in pancreatic cancer. I completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, under EMBO and Human Frontiers long-term postdoctoral Fellowships.

Currently, I lead an independent research line at i3S, where we investigate the molecular mechanisms of pancreatic cancer, particularly the role of exosomes in cancer progression and therapy. I have been honored with distinctions such as the National Cancer Crowd Funding Award (Maratonas da Saúde) and the UNESCO-L’Oreal Prize for Women in Science.

Throughout my career, I have supervised 6 PhD and 11 Master’s students, fostering the next generation of scientists. Our groundbreaking research has uncovered critical insights into the biological activity of exosomes (Cancer Cell, 2014) and pioneered the discovery of dsDNA in exosomes (JBC, 2014). Notably, we demonstrated the utility of exosomes as early detection biomarkers (Nature, 2015) and as therapeutic vehicles targeting pancreatic cancer (Nature, 2017). Our work has led to three international patents and an ongoing clinical trial exploring RNAi-delivery by exosomes for pancreatic cancer treatment (NCT03608631).

Most recently, our team identified an intra-tumoral communication network mediated by extracellular vesicles (EVNet), which supports tumor growth driven by cancer stem cell exosomes (Gut, 2022). In 2024, we published the first comprehensive in vivo mapping of pancreatic cancer exosome biodistribution, demonstrating their roles at various stages of cancer development (Nature Communications, 2024).