Ana Magalhães graduated in Biochemistry (2005) and obtained a PhD in Biomedicine (2011) from the University of Porto. She received advanced training in cancer glycobiology at IPATIMUP under the mentorship of Prof. Celso Reis, and in glycan-mediated bacterial adhesion at Umeå University (Sweden) in the laboratory of Prof. Thomas Borén. She is currently Associate Professor of Biochemistry at School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences of University of Porto (ICBAS) and Senior Researcher at Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (i3S). Her research has significantly contributed to elucidating the role of glycans in gastric pathology, including their function as receptors for the oncogenic bacterium Helicobacter pylori and their involvement in cancer cell signalling, extracellular-communication and metastasis. Ana has co-authored over 50 scientific publications in journals, such as Cancer Cell, PNAS, Nature Cell Biology and Journal of Biological Chemistry. Her work has received more than 3500 citations (H-index 36). She has successfully supervised 6 PhD and 8 MSc students as main or co-supervisor (ORCID: 0000-0003-4863-6668). Over the past five years, Ana has been leading a research team dedicated to investigating glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in gastric cancer, with a strong focus on translating fundamental discoveries into clinical applications. Her team has shown that dysregulation of GAG biosynthetic pathways drives aggressive tumour behaviour and identified the proteoglycan SDC4 as a biomarker of poor prognosis associated with tumour dissemination. Ana has solid experience in scientific projects coordination and research management and has participated in several European consortia, including GASTRIC GLYCO EXPLORER MSCA-DN and INNOGLY COST action. She is also committed to science outreach and enjoys engaging regularly with younger audiences through school visits to talk about science and organize hands-on science activities in the laboratory (Ciencia Viva and Universidade Junior).