Maria de Lourdes Aguiar Oliveira

Maria de Lourdes Aguiar Oliveira holds the position of Vice-President of Global Health and International Relations at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Ministry of Health (MoH), Brazil, and is a former Vice-President of Research and Biological Collections, as well as vice-deputy of Reference Laboratories, Outpatient Clinics, and Biological Collections at the Institute Oswaldo Cruz (IOC, Fiocruz). She serves as a virologist in the Laboratory of Respiratory and Exanthematic Viruses, Enteroviruses, and Viral Emergencies, which functions as the Reference Laboratory for both the Brazilian MoH and the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding SARS-CoV-2, Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Measles, Rubella, Poliovirus, and Mpox. As a Senior Public Health Scientist at Fiocruz since 1987, she possesses extensive expertise in research and health surveillance, encompassing sanitary, epidemiological, and environmental domains, alongside experience in managing epidemics and health emergencies with a focus on viruses of significant public health concern. Currently, one of her primary interests lies in establishing the National Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance network, designed as an early warning system to enhance Prevention, Preparedness, and Response for epidemics and pandemics - this initiative is a collaborative effort involving Fiocruz, the Brazilian MoH, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and various international partners. Her scientific and public health engagements are evident in numerous scientific articles, book chapters, postgraduate guidance, Ministry of Health guidelines and documents, as well as organization and coordination of scientific meetings and presentations at both national and international conferences. This body of work primarily addresses viral molecular, epidemiological, and environmental aspects, with emphasis on vulnerable territories and populations. She obtained her bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences in 1987, followed by a master's degree with practical work conducted at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin in 1997, and subsequently earned her doctorate in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Fiocruz, in 2008.