Mafalda Barros has a Bachelor´s Degree in Biochemistry since 2019, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Health Sciences in April 2022, both at the University of Minho, in Braga. During her MSc, she focused on the isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles from acute myeloid leukemia and bone marrow stromal cells, aiming to uncover novel insights into the mechanisms of cancer progression and potential therapeutic targets. During this time, she contributed to a scientific poster. After her MSc, Mafalda worked at a Molecular Biology Laboratory at UNILABS, bieng involved on the diagnosis of COVID-19 . Afterwards, she performed an intership integrated by the “Instituto de Emprego e Formação Profissional” (IEFP) at the Nuno Mendes Clinic, where she was able to contribute to two significant publications in the field of dermatological treatment research in the Healthcare Journal at MDPI. In 2024, Mafalda joined Dr. Fernando Rodrigues’s research group as a research fellow at ICVS, where she is currently a PhD student interested in the role of sialidase-1 in modulating the severity of feline sporotrichosis caused by Sporothrix brasiliensis.