Manuela Proença is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Medical Devices Diéguez Group at INL, where she has worked since December 2025. As part of the FLUFET project, her research focuses on the development of microfluidic and biosensing platforms for virus detection. Manuela Proença holds a PhD in Physics (2024), an MSc in Biophysics and Bionanosystems, and a BSc in Biochemistry, all from the University of Minho (UM). During her PhD at the Centre of Physics of the UM, Manuela developed plasmonic thin films using DC magnetron sputtering for gas and biosensing applications, and specialised in surface modification and advanced materials characterisation techniques. In 2024, she joined the Centre for Microelectromechanical Systems (CMEMS) at the UM as a Postdoctoral research fellow, where she worked on the development of ceramic materials for medical implants. In August 2025, Manuela was awarded an FCT-funded project as Principal Investigator. The project, DentaFunImplant, aims to develop an advanced dental implant that integrates thin-film technology for superior peri-implantitis prevention and enhanced bone regeneration. Manuela has published 16 papers in international peer-reviewed journals (h-index:10 on Scopus) and presented her work at several conferences.