What is your role at LSHTM?
I am an Assistant Professor and the Manager of the new LSHTM Malaria Transmission Facility. 

Tell us a bit about a project that you are currently working on? 
Since I joined the LSHTM in October 2021, I developed a new methodology to achieve reproducible, replicable, high prevalence Plasmodium falciparum (human malaria) infection in mosquitoes, adapted to the LSHTM logistics and resources. With this technology now in place, I am able to contribute to internal parasitologists’ projects and I already started collaborating with reputable scientists external to the LSHTM.  

When and how did you start working on malaria? 
In 2010, for my PhD. I was a Cancer Biologist before. That gave me a ton of leverage for when I started working on malaria molecular vector biology. It may seem distant, but to have a holistic approach to science and biological systems, allows you to see the science you perform with a translational perspective. That is key, especially if you work in a disease.  

Where are you from?
I was born in Lisbon, Portugal. I lived in 5 different countries, so I am international, after all. 

What did you want to be when you were growing up?
A Biologist. 

What’s your favourite place?
So many…in England, I would choose the Lake District. 

‘When I’m not working, I am…’
...singing. 

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given? 
I was told: there will be small talk, there will be gossip, there will be negativity, there will be bad intention. But you are a scientist: focus on science!