1. Tell me in five words who is Joana Ferreira da Silva?
   Portuguese scientist driven by questions
    
2. What made you join CeMM?
   It was clear from the beginning that CeMM was a special place – unlike anything I had encountered before. I was immediately struck by its international atmosphere, collaborative spirit and vibrant energy, all fueled by a commitment to excellence. People and ideas were valued. Creativity and art were celebrated daily. And all this with beautiful Vienna as background. It felt like the perfect place to embark on a PhD adventure.
    
3. What is it about science that interests you the most?
   The questions. Science is an endless pursuit. With every answer, a cascade of new questions emerges. It’s this constant endeavor of inquiring, hypothesizing, and methodically crafting ways to explore the unknown that makes being a scientist so unique. There’s nothing quite like the adrenaline rush of being the first-and for brief moments, the only-person in the world to grasp a new understanding.
    
4. What is the best career advice you ever received, or you can give to the CeMM community?
   Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you. And to that, I would add: seek out those who are also incredibly kind and deeply committed to doing their best work.
    
5. Tell us what happened to you after you left CeMM?
   After my PhD, I moved to Boston where I started by PostDoctoral work in the laboratory of Ben Kleinstiver at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Hospital. My research focuses on developing innovative genome editing technologies with therapeutic potential.
    
6. What book do you have on your night table at the moment
   The Trial, from Kafka. The story about a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge for which he has no information – an existential tale perhaps?
    
7. What is the last song you heard?
   The Ultracheese, from Artic Monkeys. One my favourite songs of all times (I also love cheese)
                 
8. Any message you would like to give to CeMMies or a former colleague?
   Enjoy your time at CeMM, it’s the ride of a lifetime!

Joana Ferreira da Silva is an EMBO Long-Term Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She complete her P.h.D. in 2022 under the mentorship of Dr. Joanna Loizou, where she studied the DNA repair mechanisms integral to CRISPR-based technologies. She then moved to Boston to start her Postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Benjamin Kleinstiver, PhD, working on the development of innovative genome editing technologies for therapeutic applications.