Carina Soares-Cunha, young principal investigator at ICVS, was appointed Scientific Ambassador to the Euro-BioImaging cohort of 2026, highlighting both her scientific leadership and the institute’s growing international visibility.
This appointment positions Soares-Cunha within a select group of researchers who strive to forge links between the local scientific community and one of Europe’s major imaging facilities. Euro-BioImaging is a pan European research infrastructure that provides access to cutting edge imaging technologies in the field of biology and biomedical sciences. As such, it brings together a network of imaging facilities across Europe to provide researchers with advanced equipment and expertise to perform cutting edge scientific research.
As a neuroscientist, Carina Soares-Cunha’s research centers around the neural circuitry responsible for motivation and neuropsychiatric disorders. She makes use of cutting edge in vivo imaging techniques, particularly the use of miniscopes to image calcium signaling during neural activity in freely moving subjects, and is planning to include the technique of two photon calcium imaging in her research.
Carina Soares-Cunha (João Dias for ICVS/EM)
In her capacity as Scientific Ambassador, the ICVS researcher will serve as an intermediary between Euro-BioImaging and the national scientific community including from ICVS and School of Medicine. Her role will be to increase awareness about services available, advise researchers on appropriate imaging technologies, and give access to Euro-BioImaging infrastructure facilities from across Europe.
This position should assist in building local capacities in imaging techniques and bioimage analysis, but it is also expected to foster interaction at the international level. For ICVS and the University of Minho, this appointment reinforces their integration in European research networks and expands opportunities for cutting edge research.
By connecting local researchers with European infrastructures, Carina Soares-Cunha’s new role is set to strengthen the scientific ecosystem and broaden access to state of the art imaging technologies
