I graduated in Philosophy in 1998 and completed my PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology in 2003 at the University of Turin, Italy.

After my Ph.D., I developed my career at the ISCTE-IUL as a postdoctoral researcher (2003-2007) and then as a senior researcher (2008-2013) at the CRIA Anthropology Research Centre, hired under the FCT "Commitment to Science 2007" programme. In 2013 I obtained the Italian National Qualification for Associate Professor in Anthropology and in 2014 I spent a year as Visiting Associate Professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

In 2014 I was awarded another six-year postdoctoral fellowship at ICS-UL. In 2019, I was hired as an assistant researcher at ICS-UL in an international competition under the transitional regime of Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, as amended by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 June. In July 2021, I was hired for another 6 years at the same institution as an assistant researcher in the associated laboratory, always in an international competition.

Since the beginning of my postdoctoral career, I have coordinated 2 postgraduate courses, 1 professional diploma and taught full-time in 26 semester courses at leading universities in Italy, Portugal and Brazil.

Over the last five years, I have also been heavily involved in teaching and supervising postdoctoral and doctoral students and young researchers at all stages of their career development, supervising 4 postdoctoral fellows, 24 doctoral students and 9 masters students, and accompanying the activities of 28 international visiting doctoral students. Over the last five years, I have coordinated major national and international research projects that have won highly competitive calls (H2020, FCT, etc.).

I have established myself as a leading researcher in the fields of medical anthropology, urban anthropology and ethnographic art. My projects over the last five years have focused on 1) health, care and well-being in times of crisis; 2) quality of life and urban regeneration; and 3) ideals of beauty and perfection and human improvement practices.

In the last five years I have edited 3 books and 3 special issues. I have written 20 book chapters and 24 articles in peer-reviewed journals. The book "Remaking the Human: Cosmetic technologies of body repair, reshape and replacement" (Berghahn, April 2021) - dedicated to the reconfiguration of our body projects in the light of economic, political and health crises - has been nominated for the PROSE Awards 2022.

I have conducted fieldwork in Guinea-Bissau, Portugal and Brazil on public health policies, representations of race and racism, social vulnerability, institutional exclusion and discrimination, urban regeneration, creativity and public art.

I am strongly committed to scientific dissemination and outreach activities (exhibitions, festivals) as well as interdisciplinary collaborations with health professionals, cultural institutions, NGOs and policy makers from different countries in Europe, Africa and Latin America.

I welcome PhD students and post-doctoral collaborators in:

•  Medical Anthropology
• Anthropology of the body, gender and emotions
• Urban Anthropology
• Ethnography-based art
• Posthuman Anthropology
• Migration and Public Policy: Cultural and Political Processes
• Intercultural Processes, Ethnicity and Cultural Mediation
• Medical Tourism
• Self-making practices
• Wellness and well-being
• Social Suffering, Exclusion, Race and Gender Discrimination
• West Africa, Brazil and Portugal

Coordination of and participation in research projects

2018. Principal Investigator (PI), FCT Project IC&DT Number 30572: The pursuit of excellence. Biotechnologies, enhancement and human capital in Portugal.

2018. Researcher, FCT Project IC&DT Number 30734: Artcitizenship. Youth and the arts of citizenship: activism, participatory culture and creative practices.

2017-2020. Principal Researcher (PI) of the Portuguese team of the Horizon 2020 (Societal Challenge 5) project 'ROCK - Regeneration and Optimisation of Cultural heritage in creative and knowledge cities' (Coordinator: Municipality of Bolognahttps://rockproject.eu.

2014-2018. Researcher in individual postdoctoral project. SFRH/BPD/95998/2013, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon ICS/UL. Portugal.

2011-2015. Principal Researcher (PI) of the international project 'Public Policy, Vulnerability and Risk: Technologies of Citizenship and Social Inclusion in Contemporary Societies' (Proc.º 4.4.1.00), funded by the Portuguese and Brazilian Science Foundations FCT/CAPES.

2009-2013. Principal Researcher (PI) of the European Project 'T-SHaRE: Transcultural Skills For Health And Care', 504666-LLP-2009-1-IT-Leonardo-LMP.

2009-2013. Principal Investigator (PI) of the national project 'Immigrants and the social care sectors: technologies of citizenship in Portugal' (PTDC/CS-ANT/101179/2008), funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Scientific Research (FCT).

2007-2011. Principal Investigator (PI) of the national project 'Public Health Policies and Therapeutic Practices: Suffering and Treatment Strategies of Migrants in the Greater Lisbon Area.