Maria Rita Paiva Pessoa is a Researcher at NOVA National School of Public Health since 2024. Her work focuses on examining public policies’ effect on population health through healthcare service organization. She is currently involved in a project to support the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Local Health Units in Portugal, with a broader focus on integrated care models and its dimensions. Additionally, she has a keen interest in health economics and inequalities, social determinants of health, as well as improving public health through evidence-based policy.
Previously, she served as Board Director at the Portuguese Red Cross School of Health in Chaves (2020-2022) and as a researcher at the National Institute of Health (INSA) (2023-2024). Currently, she holds a position as a member of the Board of Directors of the Portuguese Society of Public Health. She is also a member of the NOVA Health Economics and Management Knowledge Centre and a member of the Quality Assessment Council of the Portuguese Red Cross School of Health, in Lisbon.
Maria Rita Paiva Pessoa completed her BSc in Cell and Molecular Biology at NOVA, and her MSc in Molecular Medicine at Imperial College London. She began her doctoral studies also at ICL/ Medical Research Council, and successfully defended her thesis in 2020, on the genetic component of obesity and associated behaviours. She held a position as post-doctoral researcher following her doctoral degree.
