Ana Ribeiro is a biologist, an immunologist, and an expert in researcher attraction and professional development. She has obtained her Bachelor’s (2009) and Master’s degrees (2011) in Evolutionary and Developmental Biology from the University of Lisbon in Portugal. Ana has taken the first steps in her career analyzing mammalian embryonic development and later researching the epigenetic regulation of the parasite that causes sleeping sickness. In 2017, after obtaining her PhD in Immunology investigating our defenses against malaria in the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (Oeiras, Portugal), Ana has moved to the United States to deepen her research at the University of Maryland as a postdoctoral researcher.

Along her path as a researcher, and largely due to personal experience, she grew an interest in the individual and collective dynamics of scientists within the research system. She decided to transition from research to education and professional development, aiming at building strategies to help young scientists thrive in their careers. Ana joined the Office of Intramural Training and Education (OITE) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland as a program coordinator, a trainer, and a career advisor in 2019. In this role, she has established educational and training programs for high school students, graduate students, and postdocs, and served both as a lecturer as well as a recruiter, playing a crucial role in selecting the participant cohorts through the implementation of thorough recruitment frameworks, which she has also contributed to developing.

Ana’s professional trajectory blends a vast experience in research with scientific attraction and development, which she uses to learn about what is important for scientists to grow professionally and to guide them through the many possible routes that lead to their professional goals. Ana is devoted to seeking strategies to transform academic culture into one that provides researchers with what they need to transform the reality and succeed, that represents the diversity in the community and that creates a sense of belonging for everyone.

Ana has joined CIC energiGUNE in February 2022 as an International Recruiter and Trainer.

• Office of Intramural Training & Education (OITE), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA (2019-2021). Special Programs Coordinator.
• Animal and Avian Sciences Department, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA (2017-2019). Postdoctoral Researcher.
• Developmental Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal. (2008-2009). Initiation to Research Scholarship Awardee (Portuguese Science Foundation, FCT).
• ‘Darwin´s evolution’ exhibition at the Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal (2009). Educator promoting connections between science and the public from all ages and educational backgrounds.

• PhD Programme for Integrative and Biomedical Sciences (PIBS). Dissertation conducted at the Inflammation Laboratory, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Oeiras, Portugal (2011-2017).
• Master of Science Degree in Evolutionary and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Dissertation conducted at the Biology of Parasitism Laboratory, Institute for Molecular Medicine (IMM), Lisbon, Portugal (2009-2011).
• Bachelor of Science Degree in Evolutionary and Developmental Biology, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (2005-2009).