I am the coordinating investigator of the Medical Parasitology Unit at the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, NOVA University of Lisbon (IHMT/UNL). I hold a PhD in Biology from the University of Lisbon (1997) and a Habilitation in Biomedical Sciences – Parasitology from UNL (2011). From 2014 to 2017, I was an invited professor at the University of Lúrio in Mozambique.

I teach and coordinate Master’s courses in Medical Parasitology and Biomedical Sciences at IHMT/UNL and contribute to other postgraduate programs in Portuguese-speaking countries. I also participate in several PhD programs and help organize short specialized courses in Mozambique and Cape Verde. In recent years, I have supervised postdoctoral researchers, PhD candidates, and numerous Master’s students.

My research focuses on parasite–vector interactions, using systems biology approaches—including proteomics, transcriptomics, functional genomics, and immunoinformatics—to identify vaccine candidates and drug targets for diseases such as malaria, babesiosis, and theileriosis. My team has characterized arthropod transcriptomes and proteomes and tested new antigens in vaccination trials.

Over the past decade, I have developed several funded projects and published 105 peer-reviewed scientific papers. I serve on editorial boards of journals such as Scientific Reports, Frontiers, and PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Since 2021, I have been a member of the Scientific Commission of the In Vivo Arthropod Security Facility (VIASEF). I served on the scientific committee of the TTP11 congress and will organize the upcoming TTP-12. I am also a member of the IHMT Scientific Council and the General Council of NOVA University of Lisbon.