Presenters' biography

Webinar presenters:

Raquel Guiomar holds a PhD in Public Health, specialisation in Epidemiology.Head of the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses at INSA since 2009, at National Institute of Health Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA), Portugal. She is currently the Microbiology National Operational Contact Point for Influenza and COVID-19 of the European Network for Viral Respiratory Diseases, coordinated by the ECDC. Member of the Portuguese Vaccination Technical Committee and a senior expert for virology of the European consortium for Influenza and COVID-19 monitoring vaccine effectiveness. The main areas of activity are linked to laboratory surveillance, detection and characterization of respiratory viruses, including virus culture, genomic sequencing and antivirals susceptibility. She is also responsible for the detection of respiratory viruses with pandemic potential such as avian/zoonotic influenza and MERS-CoV. Coordinates the annual national serological survey for Influenza, since 2014, and collaborates in the laboratory component of the national serosurvey for COVID-19.

• Ana Paula Rodrigues

Ana Paula Rodrigues is a public health doctor (2010) and has a Master’s degree in Methodology of Research in Health (2015).  She is Head of the Surveillance Unit at the Department of Epidemiology of the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge since 2024, and her work focuses on public health, infectious disease and mortality surveillance.

Webinar facilitators:

• Camila Henriques

Camila Henriques holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and a Master’s degree in Human Biology and Environment from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon. Since 2021, she has been working at National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) in the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, where she performs cell culture, viral isolation, molecular and serological diagnostics and antigenic characterization of influenza viruses.

• Nuno Verdasca

Nuno Verdasca is a virologist with a degree in Biology and a specialist qualification in Clinical Analysis. He is a former Head of the Papillomavirus Laboratory and has collaborated with the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2025, he has been a full-time staff member at the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, where he serves as Alternate to the Head and as Alternate National Operational Contact Point for COVID-19 at the ECDC. Since 2024, he has also been the Laboratory Coordinator for SARS-CoV-2 at the VEBIS Consortium.

• Licínia Gomes

Licínia Gomes holds a degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering and a Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Coimbra. She has been working at National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge (INSA) in the National Reference Laboratory for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses since 2022, where she is involved in the molecular diagnosis of respiratory viruses and antiviral resistance testing of influenza viruses. Her work also includes the genetic characterization of respiratory viruses, such as Influenza, RSV, Enterovirus (EV-D68), and Rhinovirus. She is currently a PhD student at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, focusing on the seroprevalence and genetic diversity of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in Portugal.

• Irina Kislaya

Irina Kislaya completed the PhD in Public Health, with specialization in Epidemiology, in 2022 by the National School of Public Health, NOVA University Lisbon, and an MSc in Statistics in 2012 by the University of Minho. Her main research interests are the development of population-based epidemiological studies, including national health surveys with physical examination, serological surveys for vaccine-preventable diseases, and the evaluation of public health interventions, with emphasis on vaccine effectiveness studies using electronic health records.

• Susana Pereira Silva

Susana Pereira Silva holds a Master’s degree in Biostatistics from the University of Lisbon (2016) and a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of Algarve (2004). She has worked at the Department of Epidemiology of the National Institute of Health Dr. Ricardo Jorge since 2012 and her research focuses on biostatistics, epidemiology, public health, infectious disease surveillance, and the health impacts of climate change.