Profile

I did my first degree in Chemistry at the U.Porto, Portugal, a Ph.D. in Muon research as a joint project between the Univ. Glasgow, UK, and the then Swiss Institute for Nuclear Research (SIN) in Villigen, Switzerland, a post-doc at the Univ. Oxford, UK.

In 1991, I became a Professor in Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Porto. I now head the Theoretical and Computational Biochemistry Research Group.

My scientific research focuses on computational enzymatic catalysis and drug discovery, all aiming at a better understanding of the functions and applications of enzymes. Now I have 561 scientific publications and an h-index of 66 (Google Scholar).

I have been a consultant for national and international companies and have performed extensive evaluation research work for several research national and foreign entities, integrating panels for the prestigious ERC grants.

I have had many administrative duties in my academic career including Vice-Rector for R&D, U.Porto; Director of the Science & Technology Park (UPTEC), U.Porto; Associate Director of the NFCR (National Foundation for Cancer Research) Centre for Computational Drug Discovery at Oxford, Univ. Oxford. I got several prizes and awards: Chemistry Europe Fellow, Chemistry Europe (2024); Excellence in Scientific Research Prize, U.Porto (2023); Centenary Prize, FCUP (2020); Medinabeitia Prize, Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) (2019); Honorary Doctorate, Stockholm Univ., Sweden (2014); Italgas Prize for Research and Technological Innovation as part of the team (2001); Distinction as a FCUP student, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Portugal (1974).