Speakers

Alexandre Quintas holds a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry and is a Senior Associate Professor at Egas Moniz University, Lisbon, Portugal (www.egasmoniz.edu.pt). With over twenty-five years of teaching experience, he is the founder and course leader of the firsts Forensic Sciences BSc and MSc degrees. Dr. Quintas also leads the Forensic and Psychological Sciences Laboratory (www.lcfpem.com) which promotes a stronger link between scientific achievements and judicial system that better suits contemporary societies. With a background at protein science and molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration, Dr Quintas’ current research is tackling the novel psychoactive substances issue, linking its use to neurodegenerative diseases.

Alzria Cavacas is a member of Morphology Lab – CiiEM, as well as a member of the Board Portuguese Society of Anatomists (SAP/AAP) and of the Scientific Council of the Egas Moniz University Institute. Also is the Coordinator and Founder of Egas Moniz Histology Platform and the Responsible of Egas Moniz Social Action office and Student Support. Dr. Cavacas is also a Professor Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and a Member of the Scientific Committee of the Master in Dentistry. Her participation in scientific projects includes “Study of Periodontal Health in Almada-Seixal (SoPHiAS): a cross-sectional study in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area” and “Effects of Industrial Noise in stomatognathic system”.

Ana performed his professional activity for 40 years at Santa Casa da Misericórdia in Lisbon.

PhD in Social Sciences in the Specialty of Social Policy at Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Politicas, University of Lisbon.

Master in Community Nursing, with the Specialization Course in Public Health Nursing at the Post - Basic Nursing School in Lisbon; Executive MBA Course in Management of Social and Health Equipment by the Autonomous University of Lisbon; Post graduated in Inclusion Law from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra; Advanced Training in Third Sector Organizations by the Catholic University of Lisbon; General Nursing Course at the São Vicente de Paulo School of Nursing in Lisbon.

António Grilo is the Head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Director of the research center UNIDEMI, Coordinator of the PhD Program in Industrial Engineering, and President of Science Park MADAN Parque. He is an expert on Digital Platforms and Business Interoperability, and more recently his research focus on applications of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain technology in industry and services. His teaching is mainly focused in the scientific themes of Information Systems, Emergent Technologies, Digital Entrepreneurship, Strategic Management, Engineering Economics, and Decision Models. He has over 100 scientific publications in international journals and conferences.

António Lorena is an environmental expert with over 12 years of experience on waste management, circular economy and policy development. He holds a MSc in Environmental Engineering from IST and a postgraduate diploma in Sustainable Energy Systems.

Since 2016, António is the Managing Partner of 3drivers, an environmental consultancy firm specializing in fields such as waste management, environmental metrics and circular economy, supporting all types of organizations, from SME to the national governments. António has coordinated dozens of projects, from waste related R&D projects to the development of national level policies. António has authored the EC Eco-innovation Country Report for Portugal from 2016 to 2020 and is one of the authors of the National Research & Innovation 2030 Agenda for the Circular Economy.

António is also a researcher at the IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy, a transdisciplinary research unit in Universidade de Lisboa. His research work focus on topics such as the economic and environmental impacts of waste management and the design of more effective public policies.

Carina Dantas is CEO of SHINE 2Europe with over 20 years-experience in health and social care. She is the Chair of the COST Action NET4Age-Friendly, Coordinator of the Stakeholders Network on SHAFE - Smart Healthy Age-friendly Environments and the Portuguese Network on SHAFE and Vice-President of the European Covenant on Demographic Change. She is evaluator/reviewer for the European Commission, Eureka, AAL and EIT Digital; member of the Expert Team developing the EU Ethics framework for the ICT Profession, as external expert for CEN/CENELEC - UNINFO; and Team Leader of the group of experts designing the Reference Guidelines in the Field of Ethics, Data Privacy and Security, contracted by the AAL Programme.

David Chettle completed his PhD at the University of Birmingham (UK) in Physics (Medical Physics) in 1975. He pursued research at Birmingham until moving to McMaster University (Canada) in 1991. He began work measuring lead non invasively in human subjects while at Birmingham and this research continued at McMaster, notably collaborating with Professor J.A.A. Brito, currently of Egas Moniz University. Chettle retired from McMaster in September 2020.

Master in Physiotherapy. Since 1985 she is Physiotherapist in Service of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation from Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte CHLN -Hospital de Santa Maria (CHLN). Physiotherapist Sub - Coordinator of CHLN Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service, since 2008. Specialist Physiotherapist responsible for the group of Pediatrics, developing training activities in the area at the CHLN Training Center. Integrated in the Multidisciplinary Team of Pediatric Palliative Care. Lecturer and trainer at the CHLN Pediatric Conference.
Poster co-author “All Different… All Special” -12Th IAIM Educational Conference IAIM: United for well-being of families around the world. Organized by the Association Française de Massage pour bébé (AFMB).
Author of Scientific Article- “The Effect of a Physiotherapy Program on the Stabilization of the Premature” in the magazine Health & Technology. November 2014 from ESSeT Lisbon.
Invited Assistant at Escola Superior de Saúde Egas Moniz (ESSEM), in the discipline Special Populations III - Pediatrics (4th year - 1st semester) in the Physiotherapy Course from 2002 to the present date.
Responsible for Maternal-Child Post-Graduation at ESSEM in 2013/2014, 2019/2020 and 2020/2021.
Always maintaining a team spirit, training and updating in the intervention area of Physiotherapy, for the education and health promotion for children and their families

Filipa Fixe holds a degree in Chemical Engineering, a Master’s degree in Biochemical Engineering and a PhD in Bio-Nanotechnology in the development of DNA chips with electronic addressing for the detection of genetic mutations.
Filipa Fixe attended the Lisbon Medical School for three years, holds a Post-graduation in management by the Catholic University and has concluded the Singularity University Innovation Program on Exponential Medicine (2018).
She is the author and co-author of several publications in international scientific journals and conferences in the field of bioelectronics, biomedicine, biotechnology, education and eHealth.
Her professional career is characterized by a strong presence in the areas related to technology and health management and evaluation of SME ́s in biotech and medtech.
Nowadays, Filipa Fixe is an Executive Board Member at Glintt. She is an Invited Assistant Teacher in Universidade de Lisboa and Board Member at APDSI – the Association for the Promotion and Development of the Information Society.

Francesco qualified from the University of Naples, Italy in 1997. He attended post-graduate training courses in periodontology completing his specialty program (MClinDent) at UCL, London in 2008. His research career started with a Clinical research fellowship from the Italian Society of Periodontology (2000) followed by a PhD in clinical periodontology (2005) both at UCL. He was appointed Professor of Periodontology and Head of the Periodontology Unit at UCL in 2017. His research focus is predominantly on the association between periodontal diseases and systemic diseases including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as well as pathogenesis of periodontitis and innovative therapies.

Francisco J Pérez-Cano studied the degree of Pharmacy (1999) at the University of Barcelona (UB) where he also studied different masters in higher education. He performed his PhD in the “Autoimmunity and Tolerance Research Group” in the Department of Physiology and in the Center for Immunology at the University of California-Irvine in 2004. After that, he was hired as associate professor (2005), Lecturer (2007) and finally as a Permanent Lecturer (2011) in the Department of Physiology of the University of Barcelona. He is currently teaching different subjects in the Degrees of Pharmacy, Food Science and Technology, Human Nutrition and in several University Masters. He performed a post-doctoral training (2009) at the University of Reading (UK) and has participated in more than 50 research projects with public funding but also in collaboration with industry. Francisco has more than 100 peer-review manuscripts, books and several book chapters in the field.
Francisco’s research interests are Immunonutrition in early life. He has focused, on the one hand in the impact of cocoa, and its components the flavonoids, in immunity and microbiota in health conditions but also in disease by using models of acute/chronic inflammation and allergy. On the other hand, he has studied the impact of several components present in breast milk (whey proteins, lactoferrin, CLA, oligosaccharides, probiotic bacteria, etc.) at preclinical level on the developing immune function of infants but also under viral infections. His current line of research is focused on the effect of prebiotics, probiotics, postbiotics and its combinations on the neonatal immune system.
Dr. Pérez-Cano is member of the Research Institute for Nutrition and Safety-UB (INSA-UB), Ambassador of the Spanish Society of Immunology (SEI), and Academic Secretary of the Department of Biochemistry and Physiology at the UB.

Francisco Sampaio is a registered Mental Health Nurse, with a MSc in Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and a PhD in Nursing Science. Dr. Sampaio is a Postdoctoral Researcher at Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto and Assistant Professor at Higher School of Health Fernando Pessoa. Also has others roles, including Doctorate Integrated Member of the “NursID: Innovation & Development in Nursing” research group at CINTESIS - Center for Health Technology and Services Research and President of the Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing Speciality Board of the Portuguese Nursing Council.

Gonçalo Martins Pereira is a PhD student at ICBAS, Universidade do Porto, focusing his doctoral research on the metabolic effects of noise exposure. He holds a Master Degree in Dentistry and a Master Degree in Medicine and teaches Anatomy at Egas Moniz – Cooperativa de Ensino Superior, CRL.

Heber Silva is a Digital Product Owner (Specialty External Manufacturing - GSK), QC Improvement Lead (Biopharm & Steriles – GSK) and a Business Systems Analyst (Ware – GSK). Dr. Silva is also a Laboratory Analyst (Respiratory & HIV – Ware – GSK) and a R&D Scientist (Universidade Nova de Lisboa - FCTUNL).

Ingrid Stegeman is Programme Manager at EuroHealthNet, with over fifteen years of experience in the fields of health inequalities, the social determinants of health and sustainable development. She is responsible for overseeing and ensuring quality of EuroHealthNet’s project and policy work in these areas. Prior to joining EuroHealthNet, she was mainly active in the field of children’s rights and worked as a project assistant and researcher for various organisations in this field. She has a BA in International Studies from Vassar College in New York, and an MA in Political Sciences from the University of Amsterdam (UvA).

Graduate in Nursing. Degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology. Doctorate from the University of Jaén.

RESEARCH ACTIVITY: Researcher in the Nursing and Innovation in Health Care Research Group CTS 464 Plan Andaluz de Investigación (Andalusian Research Plan). Researcher in European, National and Regional Research Projects: NurSusTOOLKIT Project: A Teaching and Learning Resource for Sustainability in Nursing (2014-1-UK01-KA203-001645), with European Erasmus+ funds; Project Influence of the organisational model of hospitals on the implementation by nursing professionals of Evidence-Based Clinical Practice (PI11/02565), funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III; Project Validation of the pain-related questionnaires of the nursing outcome classification (REC) in the Spanish context (PI-0543/2011), funded by Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía; and other previous projects also funded by Instituto de Salud Carlos III. Contribution to International Health Research Congresses, with 70 papers and communications.

Direction of Doctoral Theses in the Inter-University Doctoral Programme in Integrated Care and Health Services.

Member Evaluator of Research Projects of the Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía. Evaluator of the Educational Innovation Projects of the Andalusian Public Universities of the Andalusian Knowledge Agency.

TEACHING ACTIVITY: more than 500 credits of teaching accumulated in 21 academic years in the Degree in Nursing and in 3 Official Masters (Research in Health Sciences, Dependence and Equality in Personal Autonomy and Nursing in Critical Care, Emergencies and Emergencies) of the University of Jaén. Teaching quality assessment of Excellent 100 points (maximum) in the DOCENTIA programme.

MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE: Vice-Dean of Quality and Mobility of the School of Health Sciences of the University of Jaén (2008-2012). Secretary of the Nursing Department of the University of Jaén (2012-2016).

João Bissau is a graduate in Pharmaceutical Sciences with a PhD in Pharmacy. Currently he works at AbbVie as the Medical Manager for Hepatitis C, Neurology and Eye care. His main focus is to manage a team of Medical Advisors with the objective of implementing medical education and disease awareness programs.

João Bissau earned his degree at Instituto Universitário Egas Moniz and did his PhD at the School of Pharmacy of the University of Manchester. In his PhD, João Bissau investigated the association between antimicrobial use and Clostridium difficile infections in the Hospitals of the NW of England. Then, João Bissau worked in scientific consulting until starting his career in Pharmaceutical Industry at BMS and then at AbbVie. Simultaneously, João Bissau maintains his academic activity, by lecturing seminars about critical appraisal of clinical studies.

Health Cluster Portugal

Graduate computer engineer from University of Minho. CEO of Health Cluster Portugal (www.healthportugal.com).

A significant part of his professional career was dedicated to CASO - Consultores Associados de Organizações e Informática, Lda (www.caso.pt), a consultancy company that he founded in 1983 and has been its CEO.

I was born in Haro, La Rioja (Spain) on December 22, 1960. After studying Medicine at the University of the Basque Country, I obtained the Ph.D. degree from the University of Navarra and did my specialization in Internal Medicine at the Virgen del Camino Hospital in Pamplona (Spain). Currently I am the Head of the Department of Infectious Diseases at San Pedro University Hospital of Logroño, La Rioja (Spain). Director of the Special Pathogens’ Laboratory-Center Rickettsiosis and Arthropod-Borne Diseases (CRETAV), and the Infectious Diseases, Microbiota and Metabolism Unit, Associated with the Higher Council Scientific Research (CSIC), at the Center for Biomedical Research in La Rioja (CIBIR). I have published more than 360 scientific manuscripts and have directed numerous research projects and clinical trials in the field of infectious diseases and development of new antimicrobials. I am a member of several Scientific Committees, Committees of Experts of International Scientific Journals, as well as Evaluation Agencies. I have received numerous scientific and social awards. My group has been pioneer in characterizing non-previously described diseases (DEBONEL), as well as in the isolation and involvement of new microorganisms as pathogens (Rickettsia monacensis or Rickettsia rioja). In recent years, my group has specialized in the study of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) for the study of antimicrobial sensitivity, in the study of the microbiota in patients infected with HIV, HCV or other pathologies (obesity, multiple sclerosis…) as well as in ticks microbiome, leading different projects in this field and with interesting publications in the area. The CRETAV is a Reference Lab member belonging to the Network of Biological Alert Laboratories (RELAB) from the Carlos III Institute of Health-Ministry of Science and Innovation (Spain). My group also belongs to the Spanish Network of Research in Infectious Pathology (REIPI). Since 2016, I am a member of the Institutional Committee of the National Plan to Combat Resistance (PRAN). In addition, I am accredited as Professor of Medicine by the National Agency for Quality Assessment and Accreditation (ANECA).

Júlio César Rocha is a Nutritionist, with a post graduate qualification in Clinical Nutrition from the
Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences – University of Porto (UP) and he has also a PhD in
Metabolism, at the Faculty of Medicine, UP.
He has been working in the field of inborn metabolic diseases since 2003. He is Assistant Professor
at NOVA Medical School teaching in the field of Nutrition and Metabolism. He is also Nutritionist
member of the clinical team at the Reference Centre of Inherited Metabolic Diseases at Centro
Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Central and he is a researcher at CINTESIS (Center for Health
Technology and Services Research), at the Faculty of Medicine, UP.
He is council member of the SSIEM (Society for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism) and Chair
of the Dieticians Group of the SSIEM (SSIEM-DG).
He is also member of the working group of the European Phenylketonuria Guidelines.
He is author of more than 50 international, indexed, scientific publications and he has done more
than 90 oral presentations/lectures/conferences in more than 12 different countries.

Physiotherapist. Professor of the Degree in Physiotherapy at Escola Superior de Saúde, Politécnico de Leiria.

Physiotherapist of the Senior Roller Hockey Team of Sporting Clube de Tomar.

Physiotherapist, with clinical care, at Clínica Vida Lis in Leiria.

PhD student, Human Motricity, specialty in Biomechanics, Faculty of Human Motricity, University of Lisbon.

Master in Exercise and Health, Faculty of Human Motricity, Technical University of Lisbon. Degree in Physiotherapy from Escola Superior de Saúde Egas Moniz.

Mara is an Invited Professor, R&D Project Leader and entrepreneur pharmacist. She is driven by positively impacting people’s lives through interdisciplinary research and by teaching tomorrow and today’s health care professionals. In addition to gaining an array of research skills in her PhD and post-doctoral work, Mara embraced state-of-the-art approaches in digital health and education technology. Her key competences include research projects funding, leadership & management, science communication & dissemination and digital transformation of teaching and learning in higher education, for efficiency and sustainability gains. She was the principal investigator of the national R&D project VASelfCare (vaselfcare.esel.pt), currently in sustainability phase, and leads other European funded projects in digital health and education technology (train4health.eu, ecco.esel.pt). Her communication and dissemination efforts include book editing, book chapters and, overall, more than 150 papers and presentations in scientific events, including plenary sessions by invitation, posters, oral communications and workshops. She implemented and evaluated innovative pedagogical practices with the aid of digital technology, such as team-based learning, flipped classroom, online summative assessment and serious games . She was distinguished as a fellow by the European Society of Clinical Pharmacy (2018) and her work was awarded in several scientific events. Her international profile is also evidenced by her role in governing bodies of European scientific associations and by the organisation of international scientific events in her interest areas. Mara’s personal values are hard work, initiative, creativity, commitment, integrity and leading by example. She is passionate about acquiring new knowledge and skills and enjoys challenging herself to expand her comfort zone.

Mário J. Silva is a Full Professor in Computer Science and Engineering (Information Systems) at Instituto Superior Técnico (U. Lisboa) and a Senior Researcher of the Information and Decision Support Systems Laboratory (IDSS Lab) at INESC-ID, Portugal. His main academic interests are in Data Science and Engineering (information retrieval and text mining, biologic and geographic information integration), Health IT and Bioinformatics, Ethical and Social implications of information technology, and Social Computing. In addition to teaching and research activities, he is leading multiple initiatives in digital infrastructures, technological innovation in health and the social implications of IT at Técnico. He is the Head of the Portuguese Node of the European Infrastructure on biological data, ELIXIR.

Patrícia Calado is a Member of the Board at the Portuguese Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB) where she coordinates the team of national NCPs and Delegates to the area of Health of the European Union Framework Programme for research and innovation. She has a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the Faculty of Medicine in Lisbon and solid experience in the fields of European Research and Innovation, research management, EU funding and policy analysis.

Doctoral Student at Faculty of Human Kinetic since 2017
Specialist in physiotherapy in 2019
Post-graduation in Oclusion, TMD and Orofacial Pain in 2019
Post-graduation in pathophysiology of cranio-mandibular, cranio-cervical and facial musculoskeletal system in 2016
Master in Neurology at Universidade Católica Portuguesa in 2012
Degree in Physiotherapy at ESTeSL in 2002
Exclusive private practice on TMD, Orofacial Pain and Sleep
Physiotherapist at Cuf Tejo Hospital
Researcher at Medical Pathophysiology, Nutrition and Clinical Exercise Group
Assistant at ESSEM between 2007-2021
Physiotherapist at Curry Cabral Hospital between 2003-2010

Raquel Santos holds a PhD in Ergonomics (2003) from the Human Kinetics Faculty of the Technical University of Lisbon, nowadays University of Lisbon. She was a professor for 15 years in the Ergonomics under graduation and master courses of the same University, in the areas of product ergonomics and physical and information systems design. Since 2014 she’s deputy-director of Organization and Processes at Luz Saúde - Hospital da Luz, leading the Ergonomics area of this healthcare private group. Considering the whole socio-technical system the main goal is to improve the care processes through a user-centered perspective. 

Ricardo Vagarinho, studied a Degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Masters in Business Management, at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal. He also developed projects in the field of biomechanics at the Polytechnic Institute of Milan. He is currently CEO of VimelCare, a company in the health sector that develops technological solutions to improve the clinical practice and the daily work of healthcare professionals. He has already coordinated several innovative projects in areas such as health, finance, biotechnology and education. Worked at the “Unit for the Support of Innovation, Research and Development and Entrepreneurship , at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal (UAIIDE-IPS)” and is currently a organization member of the European Innovation Academy, the biggest entrepreneurship academy the world.

Sandra Tenreiro is a senior researcher at iNOVA4Health, CEDOC - Chronic Diseases Research Center, NOVA Medical School, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal. She holds a PhD degree in Biotechnology since 2001. Her research is focused in clarifying the molecular mechanisms of retinal degeneration in the context of ageing diseases. She was Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI in several research projects and has participated extensively in advanced training, supervising post-docs, PhD and MSc students. Collaborates in several PhD and MSc programs from Universidade Nova de Lisboa but also from Coimbra University. She is also a member of the Management Committee (MC) of COST Action 15138 TRANSAUTOPHAGY. Globally, her scientific career is reflected in 47 peer-reviewed publications with an H-INDEX of 27 (according to ResearchID).

Dr. Sarah Rachel Dennison PhD graduated from the University of Wales, Bangor with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology in 1999. Subsequently, she undertook postgraduate research in Biochemistry / Biophysics, which led to a doctorate in 2004. Currently, Sarah is the Biomedical Research Facilities Manager and a Research Fellow in the School of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences where she is pursuing a number of questions concerning the mechanism of action of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) using a number of Biophysical techniques such as Langmuir Blodgettry and antimicrobial assays. She has produced over 80 publications from her research and parallel collaborative work.

Science Manager and Researcher at Mota Lab, Instituto de Medicina Molecular

Sofia Marques main scientific interests have always been the complexity of host-pathogen interactions and the understanding molecular determinants of disease. Sofia Marques graduated in Biochemistry by FCUL in 1999 and then joined Viral Pathogenesis Unit in IGC where she developed her PhD thesis, granted in 2005 by FMUL. In 2005, Sofia Marques moved to iMM, where she pursued a project on CD8+ T cell responses to gamma-herpesviruses. In 2013 Sofia Marques joined the Biology & Physiology of Malaria unit lead by Prof. Maria Mota. The Mota Lab research overall goal is the elucidation of the most fundamental and conceptually innovative questions of Host-Plasmodium interactions. Sofia Marques, besides a Lab management position and student mentoring, significantly contributes to projects with her background on animal models of infection, host-pathogen interactions and on molecular biology based methodologies.

Physiotherapist, PhD student in Biomechanics at Faculty of Human Motricity (FMH) of the Technical University of Lisbon. Master in Physiotherapy Sciences, FMH of Technical University of Lisbon. Specialist in the Scientific Area of Therapy and Rehabilitation. Degree in Physiotherapy at School of Health Technology of Lisbon. Physiotherapist at Hospital Garcia de Orta. Professor in the Physiotherapy Degree at Escola Superior de Saúde Egas Moniz.

Sónia Bernardes is an Associate Professor with Habilitation (Agregação) in Iscte-University Institute of Lisbon. She is currently the Head of the Psychology Department. She was vice-dean of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, vice-director of the Centre for Social Research and Intervention, the director of the Master in Social Psychology of Health and Head of the Research Group Health for All (H4A).

Her main research interests have generally revolved around social disparities in health and the role of psychosocial influences on chronic illness adaptation processes. She has mainly explored these issues in relation to a particular health-related topic – (chronic) pain.

More specifically, her current main lines of research aim to:
(1) understand the psychosocial processes accounting for health-care professionals’ (gender and social class) biases in the assessment and treatment of a patient’s pain;
(2) investigate the role of interpersonal dynamics in pain experiences, namely, pain-related social support interactions for the promotion of functional autonomy among adults with chronic pain.  In her research she uses a wide range of quantitative (e.g., experimental), qualitative (e.g., grounded-theory) and knowledge synthesis methodologies (e.g., scoping and systematic reviews). 

She has a strong publication record in high impact journals (over 40),  authored/edited 5 books, 16 book chapters and coordinated/participated in several (inter)national projects (10 as PI) funded by public (FCT, H2020) and private institutions (e.g. pharmaceutical companies). Several scientific awards have recognized her scientific contributions, namely, the Research Merit Award of the Portuguese Health Psychology Society (2008), Young Researcher Award of the Portuguese Psychological Association (2013), Best Paper Awards by the Portuguese Association for the Development of Pain Therapies (ASTOR) and the Grüenenthal PAIN Prize 2016.

Susana Paixão was born and lives in Coimbra - Portugal and became President of the International Federation of Environmental Health last October 23, 2020.
PhD in Geography by University of Coimbra (UC), Master in Environmental Education by UC. She has a degree in Environmental Health and a bachelor’s degree in Hygiene and Environmental Health by Polytechnic of Coimbra-Coimbra Health School (IPC- ESTeSC). She is also a Specialist in Environmental Health by IPC-ESTeSC and a researcher at the Center for Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning (CEGOT).
She started her activity as a guest professor at IPC-ESTeSC in the Department of Environmental Health in 1999 and has been a career professor since 2007. She is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Environmental Health, President of the Scientific Committee and responsible for International Relations in the same Department.
She held positions of Environmental Health Officer in the Waste Department of the Regional Directorate of Environment of the Center Portugal from 1997 to 2003 and in the Department of Public Health of the Health Center of Pombal from 2003 to 2007.
President of the Portuguese Society for Environmental Health and coordinator of the Health and Environment Center of the Academic Network of Health Sciences of Lusofonia (RACS).
Has an extensive experience in national and international contexts, collaborating with several scientific magazines and giving lectures on different themes of Environmental Health.

Telmo António dos Santos Pereira, FCT registered researcher with the Public Key J013600H925, is a Senior Lecturer in Health Sciences and the Head of the Clinical Physiology Department at the Coimbra Health School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, Portugal. With a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology – Neurosciences, title granted by the University of Coimbra, in the last five years has developed research in the areas of Cardiovascular Prevention and Neuroscience, and has also collaborated in the development of new non-invasive technology options for the assessment of vascular function. The current research output comprises more than 100 scientific articles published in journals with impact factor, and above 100 communications in national and international conferences, with publication of the respective Abstracts in prestigious scientific Journals. Received several national and international scientific awards, namely two Young researcher prizes for best communication in International Meetings, four best research communication awards in National Meetings. Invited reviewer of prestigious International Journals.

Dr. Vanessa Machado is currently a PhD student in Biomedical Science from School of Medicine and Biomedical Science (Porto, Portugal). Dr. Machado is involved in the Clinical Research Unit in Centro de Investigação Interdisciplinar Egas Moniz. Her main clinical research field is on the link between periodontitis and systemic inflammatory response.