Biography

Rita did her Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Aveiro (Portugal) where she had her first contact with Molecular and Cell Biology and Immunity. After that, she enrolled the University of Coimbra (Portugal) for her Master’s degree and focused on identifying functional features of hematopoietic reprogramming factors GATA2, GFI1B and FOS for the successful generation of hematopoietic stem cells in vitro. At the moment, Rita is pursuing her PhD studies at both the University of Coimbra and Lund University (Sweden) as part of a double degree programme. She is particularly interested in studying the role of mitotic bookmarking, an epigenetic mechanism displayed by some transcription factors for the preservation of cell identity, by GATA2, GFI1B and FOS for the specification or maintenance of hematopoietic stem cells.

In her free time, Rita likes to watch series, movies and anime. She also likes to sing and play the guitar, go for a walk or just do absolutely nothing, which is a great activity when working in science.

Science Outreach

• Immunology Day
• European Researcher’s Night (2017)
• UniStem Day
• PubHD London (2019)

Academic Background

• Master’s degree in Biochemistry, University of Coimbra (Portugal);
• Bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences, University of Aveiro (Portugal).