Affiliation: i3s, University of Porto

Rita F. Santos graduated in Biomedical Sciences from the Polytechnic Institute of Porto in 2012 and then completed a master's degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Aveiro. Rita developed her master's thesis in the Cell Activation and Gene Expression group at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology under the supervision of Alexandre Carmo. Her main interest in investigating the features that regulate the immune response led her to pursue her studies in the field and enroll in the PhD program in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Porto. During her PhD, Rita dissected the functional role of the T cell surface protein CD6 in regulating T cell activation with a special interest in the importance of this molecule during autoimmunity. Currently, Rita is a Junior Researcher in the Immune Regulation group at i3S, where she is interested in understanding the molecular pathways that drive progressive fibrosis in patients with interstitial lung diseases. Rita kept her interest in T cell biology and was granted a fellowship to characterize the T cell response in hypersensitivity pneumonitis patients’ upon fungal exposure.