I was born and raised in Brazil (S茫o Paulo). After finishing high school, I moved to Montreal with my parents. I did an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and Immunology at McGill and a Master's in Microbiology and Immunology also at McGill, with Prof. Martin Richer, a member of the GCI at the time. Although I was always fascinated by the immune system, I never pictured myself as a scientist. Maybe because in Brazil this possibility was never truly 鈥渁dvertised鈥� to us growing up.
It was during my Master鈥檚 Degree my professional goals changed, and I realized I couldn't run away from my love for science. I was lucky enough that the professor I dreamed of doing my PhD with, Prof. Heather Melichar, accepted me in her lab in 2020.
When I started my Ph.D. with Prof. Melichar, she was still a member of the Centre de Recherche de l'H么pital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in Montr茅al. When she told me that the lab was moving to the GCI, I was thrilled to embark with her in this new adventure, although not so new for me since I have been here for a few years before with Prof. Richer.听Heather has already moved to the GCI, and I will join in November as I'm doing an exchange at Harvard University at Dr. Thorsten Mempel's laboratory at the Massachusetts General Hospital.
What I'm looking forward to the most about being back at the GCI is the sense of community that the center brings. There, I met many amazing friends who are now incredible scientists and also exceptional professors. I'm very fortunate to still receive invaluable mentorship from many of them.
Also, the GCI has many great seminars from professors around the world, and I remember having lunch with some of them back when I was doing my master's. These interactions were significant in continuing to foster my love for research.
For my PhD project, I'm studying an immune cell called T cell. These cells are usually excellent at fighting cancer. Unfortunately, sometimes they can mistakenly attack our healthy organs, which can lead to the development of autoimmune diseases. My project studies a very specific mechanism that our immune system puts in place to keep these cells from causing us harm, ensuring they will only fight what they have to fight!
What excites me most about research is the questions that come with each experiment. It is funny to think that scientists are trained to answer questions, but as some incredible mentors have taught me, each answer also comes with new questions, which is extremely exciting. There is always something new to be discovered! Trying to find the perfect experiment to test each question and hypothesis is what keeps me up at night. I hope that one day, some of the questions I'm trying to answer will help the scientific community design new therapeutic approaches to prevent the development of autoimmune diseases in patients.
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