I am a Veterinarian from Brazil, graduated in 2017 from the Federal University of Lavras (UFLA) with an exchange program at Colorado State University (CSU). In 2019, I finished a master’s degree in Pharmacology and Biotechnology at the Institute of Bioscience – Sao Paulo Stage University (UNESP), and later I worked in the Research & Development department at ABS Pecplan (Brazil). My master's was focused on the oocyte response to heat stress during in vitro maturation. By applying different techniques, such as fluorescence and confocal microscopy, western blotting, gene expression, and in vitro embryo production, I could study the role of endoplasmic reticulum stress and autophagy on bovine oocyte competence during a stressful situation. It was the beginning of my research career and since then I have been interested in oocyte biology and development.

The EUROVA training program is a wonderful opportunity to expand the knowledge about female fertility, with the advantage of being able to work with brilliant researchers in the field. My research project is focused on the mitochondrial function, the telomere system, and epigenetic programming of bovine oocytes. Overall, throughout the collection of oocytes from early antral follicles, we aim to characterize oocyte methylation and transcriptome profile, histone modifications, telomere length, in addition to oocyte cytoplasmic and nuclear morphology and physiology to link the activity and functional integrity of these organelles with epigenetic and transcriptional states.

In summary, the elucidation of bovine-specific knowledge can provide critical insights into factors that affect the epigenetic quality of oocytes in larger mammals, as chromatin states established in the oocyte likely have a major impact on decisions in the developing embryo as well as longer-term. Furthermore, an integrated profile might serve as a biomarker of cell, organ, or individual’s health and longevity or indicate checkpoints for potential endogenous/exogenous environmental manipulation.