Mara Almeida has a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Porto and a PhD in Developmental Biology from the University of Cambridge. She has worked at Oxford University as a postdoctoral research scientist on questions of neuronal function regulation. After her academic work in life sciences she worked as a Scientific Adviser for Biological Sciences & Health in the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), making research evidence accessible to the UK Houses of Parliament. Her interest and work in scientific policy advice was further strengthened by coordinating the activities of two European projects within its Portuguese partner: a FP7 EU project about Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment (PACITA), followed by a Horizon 2020 EU project about the Genetics Clinic of the Future (GCOF).
Currently, she is interested in carrying out interdisciplinary analyses of the impact of science and technology in society. This includes exploring the social and ethical implications of new and emerging biomedical technologies, in order to contribute to policy development on the application of these technologies. Moreover, she is interested in exploring the relationship between science and policy works in modern societies, including how scientific knowledge is used by policymaking. More broadly, Mara aims to contribute to the study of key challenges in the relationship between science, policy and society.