Pereira M.M. began her scientific activity in 1983 with a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry at the University of Coimbra, completed in 1986. She obtained her PhD in Chemistry, with Distinction and Honors (1992), with a thesis in the field of catalysis by metalloporphyrins. She carried out two postdoctoral fellowships: at the University of Liverpool (1993) and at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (1997/1998), focusing on homogeneous catalysis and organic synthesis.Since 2000, she has coordinated the research group Catalysis & Fine Chemistry (CQF) (www.catalysisfinechemistry.com), currently integrated in the Medicinal Chemistry line of the Coimbra Chemistry Centre (CQC). She has led projects with funding exceeding €1.5 million and established a state-of-the-art organic/medicinal synthesis laboratory, which includes the first carbonylation reaction centre in Portugal. She has supervised over 120 researchers, including 18 PhD students and 14 postdoctoral fellows. Her scientific interests focus on the synthesis of new chemical entities for therapeutic applications (photodynamic therapy, medical imaging) and on the development of catalysts for the production of bioactive compounds. She is the author of 4 books, 29 book chapters, and 202 scientific articles, with over 11,000 citations on Google Scholar (h-index: 57). She is also recognized for the societal impact of her research: she holds 8 patents, two of which have been granted internationally, and is co-founder of Luzitin SA, a spin-off company responsible for developing Redaporfin®, a drug approved for phase I/II clinical trials in photodynamic therapy for cancer. This achievement earned her the Inventa Award 2011, for both Best Health Patent and Best Overall Patent (2001–2010). Her international recognition includes: the Tremplin Mariano Gago Award 2022, granted by the Academies of Sciences of Paris and Lisbon, for her collaboration with Eva Tóth (University of Orléans); the Invited Distinguished Researcher Award from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (2022); and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Pécs, Hungary (2023). She actively collaborates with national institutions (ICNAS, IBILI, LaserLab) and international partners (France, Spain, Hungary, Brazil), as well as companies such as Bluepharma and Bio4Plas. She has organized major scientific events, including the IPA World Congress (2017) and CICAT (2018), each gathering hundreds of participants. A Full Professor at the University of Coimbra, she has taught across all three levels of higher education in the fields of Organic, Organometallic, and Medicinal Chemistry. She contributed to the creation of PhD programs such as CATSUS, ChemMedTrain, and Polythea, and has been a guest lecturer at universities across Europe and Brazil. She coordinated 7 Ciência Viva outreach projects targeting the school community and has held various academic and scientific management roles, including Vice-Director of the CQC and coordinator of several Master’s programs in Chemistry.