I have a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biotechnology. In my master thesis, I studied the development of a perfusion bioreactor for the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. After my master’s, I took a post-graduate study in Management because in my studies, Entrepreneurship was always a subject that interested me. In the future, I hope to be able to align my research with Entrepreneurship. In 2019, I got the opportunity to work with on the project “Hulk” (BI/UI88/8121/2019) for six months. During this period, I grew an interest in the project study subject, the Sacoglossa sea slugs. During a casual conversation with my advisor, Dr Paulo Cartaxana, the topic of the biomedical application of mucus of terrestrial slugs was mentioned and we were interested in finding if the mucus of our sea slugs could have the same type of applications. We decided to write a project on this topic, and I was granted a PhD scholarship to develop this theme. Currently, I am enrolled in the Biochemistry PhD programme at the University of Aveiro. My PhD project is called: “Mucus of Sacoglossa sea slugs: Contribution of kleptoplast photosynthesis, biochemical characterization and adhesive properties”, and the main goals are the characterization of Sacoglossa mucus and potential biomedical applications.

Keywords: biotechnology; biochemistry; biomaterials; kleptoplasty; symbiosis; biomedicine