Project Description

Biography:

Beatriz Soares, DC6 | The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) 

Originally from Portugal, Beatriz earned her BSc in Biology and MSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Coimbra (Portugal). She joined Manuela Ferreira’s Lab at Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology (Portugal) during a summer internship and continued there throughout both her undergraduate and master’s research projects. For her BSc project, Beatriz investigated the role of retinoic acid in the development of invariant natural killer T cells. Her MSc work opened a new research line in the lab, focusing on how lipid metabolism shapes the function of intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes and their broader roles in health and disease. These experiences strengthened her passion for immunology and sparked a deep interest in metabolism, particularly the interplay between these fields in the context of cancer. Motivated by this growing interest, Beatriz moved to Barcelona, after completing her MSc, with an Erasmus+ graduate fellowship to join Salvador Aznar-Benitah’s lab at IRB Barcelona. During this internship she explored how metastatic triple-negative breast cancer alters host metabolism and how metabolic pathways might be modulated to enhance immunotherapy. She gained extensive experience with metastatic breast cancer mouse models and deepened her knowledge in cancer metabolism. 

In June 2025, Beatriz joined Karin de Visser group as a PhD student within the Adaptmet Doctoral Network. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding how the genetic makeup of breast tumors shapes the immune landscape within the pre-metastatic and metastatic niches.

Beatriz is grateful to be part of such a stimulating scientific environment at the NKI and within the Adaptmet network. She is highly motivated to tackle one of cancer’s greatest challenges, metastasis, using her favorite ally: the immune system.