Maria de Aires Pereira

Graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 2000, Maria A. Pereira obtained her master’s degree in Medical Parasitology in 2004 and, more recently, the degree of Doctor in Biomedical Sciences (2017) with the thesis entitled “Neutrophil-Leishmania interaction during the initial phase of Leishmania infantum infection in dogs”.

Maria Pereira is co-author of three book chapters, 19 scientific articles published in international journals and several communications at international and national scientific meetings, some of which are by invitation. Co-investigator in 10 scientific projects, Maria Pereira has developed her research work mainly in parasitic immunology, in the context of Leishmania spp. infection and other parasitic infections.

Maria Pereira worked as small animal veterinary practitioner until 2012 and since 2010 as a teacher, initially at the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre and currently at the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu in undergraduate and CeTESP courses, as well as in master’s courses. Maria Pereira supervised 43 undergraduate internships and co-supervised 4 master’s students.

In addition, she has developed other relevant activities to the mission of higher education institutions, namely the provision of services abroad, dissemination of the institution’s training and scientific activity, organization and participation in congresses and training actions.

The main area of research is the study of canine leishmaniasis, namely the parasite-host relationship, treatment, monitoring, and control. However, other zoonotic parasitic diseases are also investigated.

1. Oliveira A, Pereira MA, Mateus TL, Mesquita JR, Vala H. Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Client-Owned Cats from Portugal. Veterinary Sciences. 2022; 9(7):363. https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci9070363.
2. Pereira MA, Santos R, Nóbrega C, Mega C, Cruz R, Esteves F, Santos C, Coelho C, Mesquita JR, Vala H, Santos-Gomes G. A Questionnaire-Based Survey on the Long-Term Management of Canine Leishmaniosis by Veterinary Practitioners. Animals (Basel). 2022 Mar 14;12(6):731. PMID: 35327128; PMCID: PMC8944528. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12060731
3. Nóbrega, C., Pereira, M. A., Coelho, C., Brás, I., Mega, A. C., Santos, C., Esteves, F., Cruz, R., Faustino-Rocha, A. I., Oliveira, P. A., Mesquita, J., & Vala, H. (2021). Virtual Physiology: A Tool for the 21st Century. In C. Rutland, & S. El-Gendy (Eds.), Updates on Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology [Working Title]. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99671.
4. Rodrigues AV, Valério-Bolas A, Alexandre-Pires G, Pereira MA, Nunes T, Ligeiro D, Pereira da Fonseca I, Santos-Gomes G. Zoonotic Visceral Leishmaniasis: New Insights on Innate Immune Response by Blood Macrophages and Liver Kupffer Cells to Leishmania infantum Parasites. Biology (Basel). 2022 Jan 9;11(1):100. PMID: 35053098; PMCID: PMC8773027. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology11010100
5. Almeida D, Quirino J, Barradas PF, da Silva PG, Pereira M, Cruz R, Santos C, Mega AC, Esteves F, Nóbrega C, Vala H, Gärtner F, Amorim I, Mesquita JR. A 2-Year Longitudinal Seroepidemiological Evaluation of Toxoplasma gondii Antibodies in a Cohort of Autochthonous Sheep from Central Portugal. Pathogens. 2021 Jan 6;10(1):40. PMID: 33419095; PMCID: PMC7825394. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33419095/.