Maria Rita Paiva Pessoa is a researcher at ENSP-NOVA since 2024 whose work examines how public policies shape population health through health-system organisation, with interests in health economics, social determinants of health and evidence-based policies. She holds a BSc in Cellular and Molecular Biology from FCT-NOVA, and an MSc (Molecular Medicine) and PhD from Imperial College London, where her doctoral work focused on metabolic signalling and food-related behaviours.