Ana Beatriz Machado graduated in Genetics and Biotechnology from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) in 2022. During her undergraduate studies, she completed a curricular internship at the Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV), where she analyzed the genetic variability of roe deer populations in northern Portugal. That same year, she began her Master’s in Clinical Laboratory Biology. In 2023, Ana undertook an extracurricular internship in the Medical Microbiology Laboratory at UTAD and later joined the team of Agostinho Carvalho and Cristina Cunha at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), where she developed her master’s dissertation. She completed her Master’s degree in February 2025. Following this, Ana continued at ICVS as a Junior Research Fellow. Her research focuses on the role of c-MET in the recognition of Aspergillus fumigatus, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms underlying antifungal immunity and the impact of genetic variation on susceptibility to invasive pulmonary aspergillosis.