I am originally from a northeastern city of Brazil, named Fortaleza. I moved to Australia in 2019 to do my PhD and have been living here ever since. I come from a very big, close and loving family with five aunties on my mother's side and six uncles on my father's side – and I have about 50 cousins, whom I am very close to!

When I finished my PhD in 2023, I started working with Professor Lucinda Black in diet and multiple sclerosis (MS). I was immediately drawn to the field: the MS community is very involved in research, and I can honestly say that as a researcher that is a wonderful connection to have. This has been my first experience working so closely with people with lived experience and I was instantly touched by the community.

Coming from a nutrition background, I may have a biased opinion, but I honestly think the research coming from the diet space is one of the most exciting ones. Diet is one of the few risk factors that people with MS have control of and can change. There is still a lot we need to uncover, but the more we understand how diet can impact MS, the more we can help people make informed decisions about their diets.

My current project will capitalise on the use of studies from four countries (Australia, United Kingdom, Brazil and Japan), representing individuals with various ethnic backgrounds, where I will investigate associations between dietary fat and risk of MS and MS progression. The proposed project will generate high quality evidence to support the development of guidance regarding dietary fat for people with MS.

Dietary fat is one of the most controversial topics in diet and MS. Three of the most common diets marketed to people with MS have dietary fat at the core of their recommendations: Overcoming MS, Swank and Wahls Paleo diets. However, those diets have conflicting views on dietary fat, with the Overcoming MS and Swank diets promoting a low-fat approach, and the Wahls Paleo diet promoting high fat. As such, my research will generate high quality evidence to support the development of guidance regarding dietary fat for people with MS.

I don’t work in a lab per se as my work is mostly done in a computer, but what I enjoy the most about research is being able to understand the “if” and “how” of the associations between diet and MS! One of the most challenging aspects of working outside of the lab is that sometimes you miss the connection as to who the research is for, which is why I am so grateful for the involvement of the MS community in research, as it helps us tailor our research to their needs.