Emilene completed her Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnological Engineering at UNESP, São Paulo, Brazil and a Master’s degree at Munster Technological University, where she got The Best Post Graduated Student Award. From 2018 to 2023 she undertook her PhD at University College Cork. During her PhD, she investigated the microbiome of infants and their mothers aiming to develop microbiome-based solutions to help to establish a healthy microbiome in early life to facilitate the long-term health of individuals. Emilene also acted as the Irish Division - Early Career Representative of the Microbiology Society in 2022.

Research Project

Emilene is a post-doctoral fellow working with Prof. Mark Tangney and Prof. Roisin Connolly. She is investigating the intra-tumour and stool microbiome of patients with triple-negative breast cancer. Triple-negative breast cancers account for ~15% of all breast cancers and are associated with an increased risk of disease recurrence and death when compared to other breast cancer subtypes.