Maria do Carmo Fonseca is a Professor at the University of Lisbon Medical School and President of the Institute of Molecular Medicine João Lobo Antunes (IMM). She is member of several scientific organizations such as the European Molecular Biology Organization and the Portuguese Academy of Sciences, and she is editor for the Journal of Cell Science and the RNA journal. She currently chairs the Scientific Advisory Board for GenoMed, a spin‑off company of IMM dedicated to molecular diagnostics. She was visiting Professor at Harvard Medical School (2011 to 2013), and Director of the Harvard Medical School‑Portugal Program (2009 to 2015). She has received the Comenda Ordem de Sant’Iago da Espada Distinguished Career National Award (2001), the Iberian DuPont Science Award (2002),

the Gulbenkian Science Award (2007), Prémio Pessoa National Award in Arts, Science and Culture (2010), and Prémio D. Antónia Ferreira Portuguese award for Entrepreneurial Women (2013). Professor Fonseca has authored more than 150 scientific publications with a total of approximately 10 thousand citations. Her lab is known for studies on RNA biology. Her work has contributed to a better understanding of how perturbations in RNA metabolism regulation contribute to genetic diseases, including cancer.