Paula is a Professor of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology in the School of Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham, UK. She received her MSc and PhD degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal. She undertook post-doctoral research firstly in the School of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, UK, and subsequently at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA.

Paula’s research enabled the molecular and nanoscale engineering of new materials for biological and medical sensors, leading to major breakthroughs in the fields of cell therapy bioprocessing and cancer diagnosis.

Paula has been recognised for her work with the 2016 IChemE Global Award, 2017 General Electric (GE) Healthcare Life Sciences Prize and 2019 Women in Tech Award.