Adriana Mendes graduated in Applied Biology and a Masters in Molecular Genetics from the University of Minho in 2018. Her master’s studies focused on the study of KRAS-driven autophagy in colorectal cancer and were supervised by Doctor Ana Preto from CBMA – Minho University, and Doctor Ana Xavier Carvalho from i3S – Porto University. During the master thesis and afterward, she obtained a research fellowship to study the regulation, organization, and dynamics of actomyosin contractile networks in biological processes, such as autophagy. Additionally, during that time she had the opportunity to share her work in international scientific congresses. Then, in 2020, she moved to ICVS – Minho School of Medicine to conduct a Ph.D. in Applied Health Sciences focused on the dissection of new theranostic biomarkers and novel monitoring tools for early surveillance of prostate cancer patients.  Her Ph.D. thesis has been developed under the supervision of Doctor Olga Martinho and/in collaboration with Doctor Rui Amandi Sousa, CEO of Stemmatters company.