Brief Academic Profile

2005 - Graduation in Biology at the University of Coimbra, Portugal 

2006 - Junior researcher in the Neuromodulation Group at the Center for Neuroscience - University of Coimbra, Portugal

2011- PhD in Physiology (Domain: Neuroscience) at the University of Coimbra, Portugal. Collaboration with the Institut de Neurosciences des Systemes, Marseille, France

2012-2017 - Postdoctoral Researcher at the GIGA Neuroscience - University of Liege, Belgium

2018-2021 - Senior Scientist at the GIGA Neuroscience - University of Liege, Belgium

2022 - Assitant Professor at UMC Utrecht - Brain Division - Translational Neuroscience Department

Research Profile and Research Interests

During brain development neurons and glial cells are generated in particular microenvironments before performing extensive migration towards their final destination. Each cell-type moves in a particular way and I recently found that the migration pattern of interneurons, the inhibitory cells of the brain, is important to regulate the development of the cerebral cortex. While moving, interneurons release chemical cues to stimulate the proliferation of cortical progenitors. Changing the migration mode of interneurons results in alterations in the generation of up-layer cortical neurons (Silva et al., Cell, 2018).

Oligodendrocyte precursor cells (OPCs) are a type of glial cells that perform extensive migration in the developing brain. OPCs use blood vessels to spread in the brain. I recently found that while moving, OPCs perform physical interactions with interneurons migrating towards the cerebral cortex. I could also show that this interaction is essential for interneuron arrival into the cortex (Lepiemme et al., Science, 2022) .

I now aim at deciphering how the pattern of migration, regulating the arrival time of interneurons and OPCs into the cortex, shapes the organization of the cortex into functional domains, later in life.

I am also interested in understanding how abnormal interneuron migration and integration in cortical circuits contribute to developmental brain diseases such as autism spectrum disorders.