Sandra Hilário is graduated in Agronomic Engineering in 2012 from the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu, completed her Master's Degree in Microbiology in 2017 and her Ph.D. degree in Biology in 2023 (specialization in Microbiology) at the University of Aveiro. Currently she is a doctorate researcher at the University of Porto. Most of her research is focused on microbial diversity, mycology, taxonomy, molecular evolution, phylogenetics, bioinformatics, genomics and plant biochemestry and ecophysiology. Since 2019, she has published 23 articles in international peer reviewed journals and 2 encyclopedia entries. The recognition of her work is supported by more than 190 citations and an h-index of 8. She is also an invited reviewer in international journals and editor of 2 SCI journals. Recently, she was awarded with an honorable mention by the Portuguese Society of Microbiology and an Early Career Scientist Grant offered by the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.