After receiving my Pharm.D. degree from the University of Lisbon, I moved to Karolinska Institutet (KI) for my doctoral studies. During that time I investigated how cellular oxygen levels can regulate adaptive gene expression, and in 2005 received my Ph.D. in Medical Sciences.

In 2006 I moved to Boston to pursue postdoctoral studies at the Division of Metabolism and Chronic Disease at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. During this period I focused on the study of transcriptional networks that control skeletal muscle physiology. In 2011 I started my research group at the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at KI, became an Associate Professor in 2016, and Professor of Molecular Physiology in 2020.

In 2023 I joined the Department of Pharmacology and The Institute for Heart & Brain Health(link is external) at the University of Michigan Medical School as Professor of Pharmacology.

Our research (ruaslab.science) aims to identify the molecular mediators of the health benefits of exercise and to use this knowledge to develop novel disease therapies.

Research in our laboratory is aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that mediate skeletal muscle adaptations to diverse challenges and their local and systemic consequences. We are particularly interested in understanding how exercised or sedentary skeletal muscle cross-talks with other organs, and how it can affect individual health and disease.