Zoom-In on Champalimaud - 2nd Edition - Issue 10

Zoom-In on Champalimaud: Ana Beatriz Machado

My name is Ana Beatriz but most people call me Bia! :) I'm 25 years old and I'm a PhD student at the Fior Lab. My project is called "Fishing for new immunotherapy compounds to boost innate-tumor rejection". In simple terms, I'm using the zebrafish model to do a drug screen to find new drugs that can help the  innate immune system fight cancer. I'm just shy of finishing my first year so I'm still in the honeymoon phase :p I'm what we call an "alfacinha", so Lisbon born and raised. I did Erasmus in the Netherlands for 6 months during my bachelor's, and my master’s thesis in Porto for about a year, but other than that I've lived in Lisbon my whole life. I quite love Portugal, with its beautiful scenery and warm weather and people :)

What are some of your hobbies?

I'm a basketball referee! I played pro-basketball for most of my life, from 12 to 22 years old. I also have a coaching degree and have coached youth teams from 10 to 18 years old, which I'm really passionate about. It's super rewarding to see the impact you can have on the players' lives and you can't help but feel pride when you see them improve and have fun playing a sport they love. Sadly, I had to stop coaching when I started my master’s thesis due to lack of time and the infamously unpredictable schedules in science. That's when I started refereeing, since it's mostly on the weekends. ;) Now I referee games all throughout Lisbon, from under-14 all the way to senior level, and I like it a lot! It also keeps me in shape :p

Another hobby of mine is crocheting. I find it super relaxing and love making gifts for my friends and family. I even sell some pieces! I mostly make amigurumi (little plushies) but I also like to make clothes and accessories.

Lastly, I enjoy language learning! I started learning Korean last year, during the pandemic, and have fallen in love with both the language and the culture. I started learning online and now I have classes twice a week in an institute from the Korean Embassy. I'm even going to visit Korea for the first time during New Year and I'm super excited about it! :D

What do most people not know about you?

That I know a bit of Portuguese sign language (LGP - Língua Gestual Portuguesa). My mom is a special education teacher, and works particularly with specialising in deaf kidsness, so she taught me some when I was young. Although I don't practise as much as I should, I know the alphabet and some basic signs. I even organised a workshop in the CCU's last retreat where I taught some basic things like colours, family, days of the week, etc. It was tons of fun :)

What would be an alternative career choice for you?  

If I hadn't come into Science, I think I would definitely be working in something art related, such as design or advertising. However, after my PhD, I'm seriously considering doing something related to SciCom and/or event management. I love participating in SciCom activities where I get to talk about science to the general audience and I think it's a super essential part of our jobs as scientists. So I think I'd be really happy helping scientists convey their work and organising events and activities for that purpose :)