About

When I had to choose a major, I was undecided between pursuing a career in technology or medicine. I opted for technology, nevertheless, I have always been looking for opportunities to combine my passion for neuroscience. For a long time, I thought I would never be able to do it, however, during my bachelor's degree, I discovered that it is possible. Since then, I am fascinated by understanding and describing brain mechanisms, from electrophysiology, neuroimaging biomarkers, to functional connectivity.

I did a bachelor in telecommunication engineering at Federal University of São João del-Rei, Brazil, with research stays in Birmingham and Chicago, working with MRI, REM sleep disorders, and Parkinson’s disease. During my masters in computational engineering at University of Campinas, Brazil, I investigated Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis using MRI and deep learning. I am currently pursueing my doctoral degree in the Radboud University Medical Centre, at the Donders Institute in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, under the supervision of Dr. Martin Dresler.

In my PhD in the Sleep & Memory Lab I investigate the neurobiology of human REM sleep throughout a comprehensive physiological characterization utilizing recent developments in neuroimaging, with a focus on EEG/fMRI combined. Mariana's academic publications can be found online.

Besides science, I love traveling, cooking, lifting weights, and painting watercolor. I am also passionate about knowledge exchange especially with the fellow females from underdeveloped countries such as my home country Brazil. My aspiration is to promote equality and technical support, which can allow women to have the necessary skills required in both academia and industry.

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