She is Director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine, where she has worked as Lead Researcher since 2005, the same year she started teaching at the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Lisbon.
Although her research addresses various fields, her primary focus is malaria and the mechanisms that cause the infection to develop into a deadly disease.
With a PhD in Molecular Parasitology from University College London in the UK and a Master's in Immunology from the University of Porto, she has worked in scientific research centres such as the Gulbenkian Institute of Sciences and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the USA.
With over 100 publications and four patents, she has received dozens of national and international awards – including the Pessoa Prize (2013) and the Sanofi-Institut Pasteur Prize (2018).

Last updated: May 2023