I am Biologist (2012) graduated by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN, RN – Brazil), with MSc. (2015) and PhD (2019) degrees in Plant Pathology in the University of São Paulo (USP, SP – Brazil). Right after my PhD, I joined the Department of Entomology and Acarology in the same institution as Postdoctoral Researcher. I have been researching plant parasitic nematodes management since 2013, especially Meloidogyne incognita and Pratylenchus brachyurus and I am still fascinated about them. My expertise areas are Plant nematology; Biological control of pathogens; Plant Nematode interaction.

I was recently awarded a Marie Curie fellowship to join the Plant-Parasite/Pathogen Interactions Group. On this, I will research the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita, one of the most important plant parasitic nematodes worldwide. M. incognita has the widest host range of any obligate biotroph, being able to parasite more than 3,000 different flowering plant species with apparently highly specialized mechanisms (i.e., “Effectors”). Therefore, our research aims to unveil this “paradox” and understand whether and how M. incognita can select and adapt the effectors expression for different hosts. Bringing light for this could provide new insights about its parasitism and help in the development of novel sustainable management strategies.