Raquel Coelho

Raquel Coelho graduated in Chemical Engineering from the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil and has a Master´s Degree in Biochemistry and a PhD in Biological Sciences. Collaborated as Guest Researcher on the Laser Cooling and Trapping Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). She is a Senior Science and Technology Analyst, working at the Brazilian National Scientific and Technological Development Council (CNPq) since 2002. After a four-year period as Technical Coordinator of the Biomedical Sciences Programme, she became General Coordinator of the Health Sciences Division in 2007. CNPq is the main research-funding agency in Brazil and Dr. Raquel Coelho is responsible for the management of the entire health sciences portfolio. The Health Sciences division is also responsible for fostering several partnerships and cooperation agreements as with the Brazilian State Funding Agencies, the Department of Science and Technology from the Ministry of Health, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the last one as part of the Grand Challenges family of initiatives.