Vanessa Morais is neuroscientist working at the IMM (The institute of molecular medicine) in Lisbon, Portugal. Her lab is  interested in the role of mitochondria in the brain and how mitochondrial dysfunction arises in neurodegenerative conditions. We talk about how she got interested in biology and the mitochondria, her experiences of running her own lab and her thoughts on how to improve the representation of women at the highest levels of biomedical science.