I am a Microbe-Hunting Engineer & Systems Biologist
Building a genome-scale metabolic model and growing a bacterium in a flask are usually two different people's jobs. I do both. Right now that means Drosophila melanogaster and Wolbachia, investigating how microbes reshape host metabolism. Before that, I described novel bacterial taxa from a lignocellulose-degrading consortium and traced their chemistry to plastic-degrading potential.
I'm a PhD Candidate in Integrative Biology and Biomedicine under the supervision of Dr. Luís Teixeira at Católica Biomedical Research Centre (CBR), Dr. Karina Xavier at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM), and Dr. Maria Zimmermann-Kogadeeva at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). I trained in Colombia and have since worked in Portugal and Germany, across different research environments and in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.
I work at the intersection of wet-lab microbiology and computational modeling using genomics and metabolic modeling together to explain mechanistically how microbes shape host biology, rather than just cataloguing who is there.
Recovering genomes from complex microbial communities and connecting sequence to function.
Turning genome content and expression data into testable predictions of metabolism and metabolic exchange.
Using dual RNA-seq and metabolic modelling to understand metabolic dependencies between interacting organisms
Linking microbial identity and genome content to ecological and biochemical function.
We reconstructed the complete, high-quality genomes of the three dominant members of a Minimal Microbial Consortium (MELMC) via PacBio-HiFi sequencing, two of which were characterized as novel bacterial taxa, with potential to break down plastics, based on shared chemical features with lignin-derived compounds.
We propose a conceptual framework linking microbiome perturbation, genome-based trait inference, culture-media design, metabolic modeling and AI-driven prediction to move uncultured prokaryotic taxa toward targeted, hypothesis-driven cultivation.
For the complete list, see Google Scholar.
I combine wet-lab multi-omics with computational modeling moving across the full pipeline: from raw sequencing data to mechanistic, testable metabolic models.
Reconstructing, gap-filling, and constraining genome-scale metabolic models to generate testable hypotheses about microbial metabolism and metabolic exchange.
Recovering, assembling, annotating, and comparing microbial genomes from short- and long-read sequencing data, including complete genomes and metagenome-derived genomes.
Using molecular fingerprints, similarity measures, and network analysis to connect microbial genome content with potential substrate and chemical transformations.
Dual RNA-seq, differential expression and functional enrichment, run as reproducible workflows on HPC.
The part of science I find most rewarding is helping others move from learning techniques to asking their own questions. I enjoy showing how computational approaches can open new ways of thinking about biological problems and helping researchers become more independent in how they approach them.
Invited as a PhD candidate to peer-review protocols spanning genomics, transcriptomics, and genome-scale metabolic modeling.
As a master's student, I was invited to develop and deliver the computational component of a senior undergraduate course. The students were primarily trained at the bench, so I designed the sessions to introduce computational biology from the ground up, taking them through their first sequence analysis, protein structure visualization, and molecular modeling.
While completing my own master's, I co-directed an undergraduate research project on the top-down and bottom-up construction of microbial consortia for lignocellulose degradation. The student went on to pursue a master's in Environmental Management.
The magazine covered my first-author study in ISME Communications: a new bacterial genus with lignocellulolytic potential, and a consortium member able to convert PET-derived aromatics into biodegradable polymers.
Where a scientist comes from shapes how they engage with science and the scientist they become. Serrapilheira featured my argument for this as an alumnus of its 2021 ICTP-SAIFR Training Program in Quantitative Biology and Ecology.
If our work overlaps with metabolic modelling, host–microbe metabolism, microbial genomics, or turning genome content into testable biological hypotheses, or if you just want to connect, I would be glad to hear from you. I am currently exploring postdoctoral opportunities and collaborations, and am happy to discuss possible directions.
Rua da Quinta Grande 6
2780-156 Oeiras
Portugal
