Rafael G Costa

In 2019, I obtained my BSc in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Algarve. My final project was developed at Professor Clévio Nóbrega's lab, where I tried to mitigate some hallmark features of aging in cellular models of Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria syndrome by overexpressing an endonuclease RNA-binding protein. Afterward, my passion for science draw me to enroll in the MSc in Biomedical Sciences - Disease Mechanisms, at the same institution, which I concluded in 2021. I did my MSc thesis at professor Clévio Nóbrega's lab, at the Algarve Biomedical Center Research Institute (ABC-RI), which concerned the role of extracellular vesicles in the progression of spinocerebellar ataxia type 2 (SCA2). With this work, I had the opportunity to learn and gain expertise in a wide range of techniques concerning the isolation and characterization of extracellular vesicles, which led me to, almost independently, establish a new line of research in Professor Clévio Nóbrega's lab. Since I first initiated my research activities, I acquired independence in various techniques including cell culture, Western blotting, PCR, immunofluorescence, histological analysis, widefield and confocal microscopy, lentiviral vectors production, and cell transfection/transduction. During this time, I also participated in several national and international conferences, and also a seminar for the Biomedical Sciences course, where I shared my work with the scientific community and the undergraduate students. After my master's degree, I did a research internship at the same lab, working on a project that aims at developing a cellular model for Cockayne syndrome and testing a library of drugs that might improve pathological hallmarks of the disease. After this internship, I continued working as a researcher in the same lab, providing support to several ongoing projects and managing animal colonies, which I still do currently. I have published a total of 3 papers as a co-author in international journals (Q1 and Q2), which have garnered 18 citations, and a current h-index of 2. I was also the main supervisor of 1 BSc student and mentored 2 MSc students in their course-related units. At this point in my career, I am focused on pursuing a PhD in Biomedical Sciences to earn more scientific maturity and hence grow even more as a scientist. By bringing together my background in neuroscience, disease spreading, gene therapy, and SCA2, I wish to engage even more in biomedical research to better understand SCA2 and treat this disease.