Ana Rita Agra de Almeida Quadros, PhD

My passion to understand how the human body works, drove me to undertake a bachelor in biochemistry at the University of Coimbra (Portugal). My enthusiasm for generating novel knowledge confirmed my passion for research, and I knew then that I wanted to study the mechanisms of neuronal dysfunction. So, I enrolled in Neurasmus, a European Master in Neuroscience, during which I attended neuroscience courses in Berlin and Amsterdam and performed two 6-month internships in Bordeaux and Amsterdam. In my first internship, in Dr Nadjar group (Université de Bordeaux, France), I tested whether a maternal diet enriched in omega-3 could diminish the consequences of maternal infection to offspring. In my second internship and PhD training in the group of Dr Toonen (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), I investigated mechanisms of neuronal communication and brain development. My PhD strengthened my passion for science, and my belief that knowledge is a powerful tool to change the world for the better. I now wish to apply my skills to impact disease outcomes. Dr Lagier-Tourenne has consistently made impactful contributions to the field of TDP-43 proteinopathies, and I have the opportunity to work on the contribution of Stathmin-2 to Frontotemporal Dementia, and Alzheimer’s Disease. I am very enthusiastic about this project, as I believe it will help better characterize a novel pathway in these disorders, and so has the potential to change the prognostics of these diseases.