Cynthia is a first-year Ph.D. student focusing on comparative politics. Her research interests (still in development!) revolve around gender inequality in politics, gender quotas and latin-american politics.

She is from Brazil and grew up in a city called Belém do Pará, well known as the metropolis of the Amazon. There, she received her J.D. (2016) from the Federal University of Pará, and passed the bar examination, becoming associated with the Order of Brazilian Attorneys in 2016.

Cynthia also earned a M.A. in Law (2020) from the Graduate Program in Law at the Federal University of Pará, graduating summa cum laude. She majored in Human Rights and minored in Labor Law, with research focused on the Brazilian labor law reform of 2017 and its possible consequences for work environment balance.

As an attorney, Cynthia assisted unions in negotiations and workers in lawsuits. She was also a consultant for small businesses on labor law compliance, with a special focus on gender equality in the workplace. This work led her to research how the underrepresentation of women in politics affects the creation of laws that are concerned with gender equality in work relations. Additionally, Cynthia has experience as a labor law professor in her home country and a strong motivation to pursue an academic career. These motivations, among others, led her to enroll in the University of Kentucky's Political Science Ph.D. program.