I studied Biology at Leiden University where I specialized in Molecular Genetics and Biotechnology. For my first master internship I joined the lab of Ewa Snaar-Jagalska at Leiden University, where I studied the angiogenic role of innate immune cells during the progression of melanoma. For my second internship I joined the Goessling lab at Harvard Medical School in Boston. In this lab I studied the non-canonical functions of macrophages during intestinal development. In November 2019, I joined the Akkari group to further explore the complexity and importance of macrophages. My project focusses on elucidating the mechanism behind the rewiring of tumor-associated macrophages by brain tumors in response to therapy.
After finishing my master's in Biomedical sciences, infection, and immunity track, at the University of Amsterdam, I started my Ph.D. in the group of Leila Akkari (Nov 2018). I mainly focus on finding exploitable myeloid-centric immunomodulators for the treatment of HCC tailored to cancer cell genetics.
I completed my PhD in the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute with Masashi Narita where I investigated chromatin in the context of cellular senescence. Previously, I studied an undergraduate degree in genomic sciences at Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM). I am interested in looking at the innate immune system in the TME and the epigenetic mechanisms involved in its regulation.
After working 4 years as a chemical engineer in Brazil, I decided to move to the life sciences' field. In 2019 I completed my MSc in Life Sciences at Leiden University. There, I did my first internship in Dr van Kasteren's group, where I studied the mannose receptor role in antigen cross-presentation by dendritic cells. After that, I joined the Akkari group for my second Master internship, where I stayed as a PhD student since December 2019. My thesis research is aimed at understanding how distinct cancer-intrinsic genetic mutations can differently shape the tumour microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma, with main focus on tumour-associated macrophages and tertiary lymphoid structures.
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the Akkari Lab. I completed my PhD research at Harvard Medical School, where I focused on developing innovative immunotherapies for the treatment of brain tumors, in an international collaboration with the NKI. My work focuses on developing a therapeutic platform for glioblastoma using mRNA loaded lipid nanoparticles, hydrogels, and supramolecular catalysts as part of a multi institutional research effort funded by an ERC Synergy Grant.