Catarina is a junior researcher at the Centre of Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry, and an invited assistant professor at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Nursing School, in which she teaches subjects in the field of Nutrition Sciences. Recently she joined one of the work groups of PortFir.

Catarina’s major research interests focus on the development, characterization, and biological validation of plant-based functional foods; the study of prebiotic foods/ingredients, probiotics strains, and the modulation of intestinal microbiota.

Catarina holds a BSc. in Nutritional Sciences, a MSc. in Food Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology (Food Science and Engineering) – ESB-UCP. She had two experiences abroad: Florianopolis, Brazil (5 months-internship of BSc.); and Nairobi, Kenya (3-month-PhD fieldwork). She is a co-author of various internationally indexed publications and has been involved in the supervision of master’s theses. In addition, she has acted as an examiner for numerous bachelor’s and master's theses.

As nutritionist, she collaborates with Zé Picolé in the areas of nutritional labeling and food safety and quality (Zé Picolé) and used to collaborate with Novarroz S.A in the promotion the social media networks.