CINTESIS’ Identity Diagram
(Based on CINTESIS researchers’ testimony from Feb 2017)

CINTESIS

CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research is an important Research & Development Unit (R&D) whose mission is to find answers and solutions, in the short term, to relevant health problems, without ever losing sight of the cost-benefit ratio.

Hosted at the University of Porto, CINTESIS takes pride in its multicenter, decentralized and flexible nature grounded in 46 partner institutions (29 Higher Education institutions, 12 hospitals/health institutions and 5 health companies) and 8 Higher Education institutions acting as hubs, namely, 5 universities (University of PortoNova University of LisbonUniversity of AveiroUniversity of AlgarveUniversity of Madeira) and 1 Polytechnic Institution (Nursing School of Porto).

Altogether, the center aggregates over 500 researchers, in 24 research groups working in 3 main thematic lines: Preventive Health and Societal Challenges (TL1), Clinical and Translational Research (TL2), and Health Data and Decision Sciences & Information Technologies (TL3).

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Promote and integrate basic, clinical, and applied research, with the objective of accelerating the cycle of translational research, namely through the improvement of technology transfer to health and/or healthcare innovation sectors.

CINTESIS maintains close relations with many international institutions, with the aim of promoting innovative, interdisciplinary, and clinically relevant scientific research in areas such as health prevention, diagnosis, management and treatment.

Within the existing collaborations there are cooperation bonds with institutions as renowned as the Imperial College London (United Kingdom), the Arhus University (Denmark), the Sidney University or the Harvard University (United States). In addition, collaborations initiated with Portuguese-Speaking Countries (PALOP) have resulted, for example, in common projects with the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and the University of Minas Gerais (Brazil).

In 2016, 21 awards and/or honors were granted to CINTESIS researchers, representing an increase of 31% over last year. The following are some of the most important, publicly and scientifically; Pfizer Award to Clinical Research 2016 (granted to Pedro Pimentel Nunes), The Banco Carregosa Award (won by Liane Costa, within the framework of her doctorate studies at the PDICSS, Doctoral Programme supported by CINTESIS, and at the ISPUP), the SPAIC Award – DIATER 2016 (conferred to Bernardo Sousa Pinto), the Iraci Santos Award (obtained by José Carlos Carvalho) or the Fellowship of the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (awarded to Gil Faria).

Awards – 2016

Scientific Coordinator

Altamiro da Costa Pereira
Altamiro da Costa PereiraCoordinator
OrcidAuthenticus

Altamiro da Costa Pereira is the Coordinator of CINTESIS.

He is a researcher of the Charter research group, Full Professor and Director of the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP).

He graduated in Medicine from FMUP in 1983, and began his academic career as Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health in 1985, while attending the Specialization in Pediatrics, at the Hospital of São João (Porto). He also participated in several postgraduate courses at the Universities of Johns Hopkins (USA), McGill (Canada) and Nijmegen (Netherlands) and finished his doctorate studies at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School – University of Dundee (Scotland), in 1993.

Altamiro da Costa Pereira has developed scientific activity in national and foreign institutions, in Epidemiology, Health Informatics, and Clinical Research, with more than 300 scientific works published. He has participated in more than 50 panels, and national and international evaluation commissions of scholarships, projects and scientific research teams, in the fields of Life & Health Sciences, and Technology, and since 1999 he is regularly invited by the European Commission to act as evaluator.

Recently, he was reelected member of the General Council of the University of Porto.

Management Team

António Soares
António SoaresExecutive Manager

António Soares is the Executive Manager and head of the management team of CINTESIS.

He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Minho and a post-graduation course in Project Management from the EGP-Porto Business School. Before working full-time as a researcher, António Soares held jobs as clinical psychologist and professor of higher education.

In 2011, he joined a project in the Clinical Communication field, under the supervision of the Faculty of Medicine of the U.Porto (FMUP), that gave him the possibility of visiting all the Faculties of Medicine of the country and get to know in depth what Medical Education is about in Portugal. In parallel, he was an instructor at the Center of Medical Simulation of Porto (CESIMED) and an associate member of the Center of Biomedical Simulation of FMUP.

He was invited, in 2012, to take over the scientific management of CINTESIS, adding up to that job the responsibility of representing FMUP at the AgeUP Consortium, at the PtCRIN (Portuguese Clinical Research Infrastructure Network), at the Health Cluster Portugal and at the A3ES.

He is also an expert of the Portuguese National Innovation Agency (ANI) who has accompanied the submission of more than one hundred scientific projects, some of which of international dimensions. Recently, he was invited by the European Commission to join the selected group of experts that evaluate and monitor the scientific projects financed by that entity.

Isabel Costa Pereira
Isabel Costa PereiraResearch Manager

Isabel Pereira is a Research Manager at CINTESIS since 2016, and she is especially focused on project management and on national financing sources.

She graduated in Economy from the Faculty of Economy of the University of Porto (FEP), and began her professional career at the Portuguese Association of the Mesh and Clothing Industries. By the end of 2002, she joined the Portuguese Association of Furniture Commerce and promoted its legalization, revitalization and incorporation into the Strategies of Collective Efficiency in 2008.

Because of her vast experience in preparing projects to apply for national funds and in the mediation with funding sources, promoters and governance bodies, Isabel Pereira assumed the Management of the Portuguese Furniture Enterprises Cluster and was present at the genesis of the Strategies of Collective Efficiency representing the Furniture Industry.

In 2013, she developed the Department of Consulting and Projects of the Calculus Projects (Emibra), where she accompanied several projects in the fields of internationalization, productive innovation and health.

Paula Abrantes
Paula AbrantesFinancial Manager

Paula Abrantes is a Financial Manager of the CINTESIS Management team, integrating the financial functional area since mid-2016.

She graduated in Economy from the Faculty of Economy of the University of Porto (FEP), and has more than 25 years of experience in financial management.

Paula Abrantes began her career as auditor at an important multinational company, eventually reaching the position of Administrative and Financial Director of a corporate group of the Transport and Tourism Industry where she worked for 10 years. When faced with the appealing business world, she initiated her career as entrepreneur, during which she worked as a business and financial counsellor, intermediating among banks, individuals and enterprises.

After the financial crisis of 2010, her career took a new direction, and in 2012 she went down the road of financial management of scientific research as Project Manager at REQUIMTE – Rede de Química e Tecnologia (chemistry and technology network). It was at this research unit where she gained vast professional experience in the financial management of R&D projects.

Currently, she is attending the Doctoral Program in Economics and Business of the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain).

Ana Maria Gomes
Ana Maria Gomes Financial Manager

Ana Maria Gomes is a Financial Manager of the CINTESIS Management team since November 2016, integrating the financial functional area.

She graduated in Economy from the Faculty of Economy of the University of Porto (FEP), has a bachelor degree in Accounting from the School of Accounting and Administration of Porto (ISCAP), and is a Certified Accountant Professional.

Ana Maria Gomes has more than ten years of experience in the financial and accounting fields. She has worked in different business areas from information technology applied to the financial market to real estate investment.

Recently, she has been involved in the financial management and budgets preparation of research projects applications to European funds in the framework of the activity of the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP).

Olga Estrela Magalhães
Olga Estrela MagalhãesMedia Relations Specialist

Olga Estrela Magalhães is a Media Relations Specialist and coordinator of the Department of Communication and Image at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP).

She graduated in Journalism and Communication Sciences (2005), obtained a Master in Communication Sciences (2012) from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto (FLUP), and a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho (2020). Olga Estrela Magalhães specializes in Media Advisory in the area of ​​Health Research, with over ten years of experience in this field.

She started her professional activity in 2005, at the Communication and Image Department at FMUP. She has worked on several communication projects and has assumed the operationalization of the institution’s media strategy. From March 2013 and May 2016, she worked both as the coordinator of the Communications and Image Department at FMUP and as Media Relations Specialist, managing the organization of events, public relations, and protocol.

Cláudia Azevedo
Cláudia AzevedoCommunication Manager

Cláudia Azevedo works as Communication Manager at CINTESIS and she is part of the Communication functional area since 2017.

She holds a Master degree in Communication Sciences from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto (FLUP) and a Graduate Law Degree from the Catholic University of Portugal. Cláudia Azevedo is a very experienced medical Journalist and Science Communication professional. She has worked for several medical publications and science websites of scientific dissemination and health education.

In 2012, she joined the project Ciência 2.0 of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Porto, and was responsible for the script writing of documentaries and magazines forecasted by RTP. She also worked as researcher, manager and instructor in projects about media, scientific, and health literacy.

Recently, she finished the Course in Digital Marketing from Google and the course “To Inform about Science and Health” from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP). Currently, she is responsible for CINTESIS’ social media management.

Pedro Sacadura
Pedro SacaduraDigital Marketing Manager

Pedro Sacadura works as a Digital Marketing Manager of the CINTESIS management team as part of the Communication functional area.

He graduated in Marketing from the School of Accounting and Administration of Porto (ISCAP) and has specialized in Digital Marketing while also enrichening his curriculum in other areas, such as Web Design and Multimedia, Web Development and Google Adwords.

He began his professional activity in 2008 at the Department of Community Medicine, Health Information and Decision (MEDCIDS) of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), where he worked in the creation and management of many websites related to research and Higher Education. He also worked in the development of promotional campaigns of Master’s degrees, Doctorate degrees, continuing education courses and scientific events; and in the production of many brand images.

Recently, he finished the Course in Digital Marketing from Google.

Milaydis Sosa Napolskij
Milaydis Sosa NapolskijOffice Manager & Translator

Milaydis Sosa Napolskij is a member of the management team of CINTESIS since June 2017.

She is a Translator and an Interpreter who graduated from the University of Havana, Cuba, in 2000. She completed a Specialization in Terminology and Translation, in 2004, and a Doctorate in Language Sciences, specifically in Human Language Technologies (HLT) in 2021, both from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto.

She began her career as an English teacher. In 2003, she headed down the route of Communication and Scholarship Management in the framework of the High-Level Scholarship for Latin America Programme (AlBan), and in 2010, she joined the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS) as Office Manager of the Department of Immuno-Physiology and Pharmacology (IMFF) and of the Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine – UMIB.

At the same time, she has participated in scientific and academic events as interpreter and assistant and, more recently, as a member of the organizing committees, in the management of venues and communications, and in the coordination of budget preparation and logistics.