Alexandra B. Veloso

What are you investigating?

My work is focused on understanding gene deregulation in one type of blood cancer, T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Imagine that you are playing with LEGO blocks, you will choose different colors and shapes that interact with each other to build a structure. The human cells follow the same strategy. Similar structures are made by different effectors that form complexes and lead to the regulation of gene expression. However, mutations within these important effectors can scramble the normal structure and promote like this deregulation of gene expression and subsequently cancer. My goal is to uncover which mutations and mechanisms are responsible for the deregulation of gene expression that lead to leukemia development and proliferation.

Outside research, what is your favorite thing about VIB?

The sense of community and collaborations which are extremely easy to put in place within different research teams.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

Every day is different with new data, new experiments, or new scientific problems to tackle. I also love that you are continuously exposed to different science subjects at conferences and seminars.

Do you have any tips to stay focused?

I have a “to-do” list per work day and another list for each month so I can better prioritize, have a bigger picture of what needs to be done for the project and not feel overwhelmed.