Beatriz Brandao is a Ph.D. candidate in Cognitive Neuroscience and Health Psychology at Rice University. Her research focuses on understanding how sex hormones, both naturally fluctuating across the menstrual cycle and exogenous through hormonal contraceptive use, influence emotion regulation, emotional memory, and stress-related biological processes. She integrates behavioral methods with physiological measures to examine how hormonal mechanisms contribute to risk for mood disturbances, particularly among women of reproductive age.