Position:	Postdoc -- ended Dec 2022
Email:	mdr@ini.ethz.ch
Work phone:

I want to better understand how the brain controls cognitively-complex behaviors, with a particular focus on the role of neuromodulators and social interactions. After finishing my Biology BSc and MSc degrees in Portugal (University of Porto) and Austria (University of Innsbruck and University of Salzburg), I joined Manfred Gahr’s group at the Max-Planck Institute for Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany. During my PhD, I focused on investigating the interplay between sex hormones, vocal motor learning, and brain plasticity, and in developing better tools for songbird connectomics. In 2019, I joined Richard Hahnloser’s group at INI, where I’m exploring the role of dopamine in reinforcement and vocal learning through the use of in vivo techniques. I’m especially interested in the development and application of novel tools to monitor brain function and animal behavior in naturalistic environments.