Maria is a scientific operations manager at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and a member of the Programme and Organising Committee of the European Conference on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies - Lisbon Addictions. She coordinates the secretariat of the EMCDDA Scientific Committee and manages the EMCDDA scientific award.Maria was the head of the Portuguese national drugs monitoring centre until 2007, which is also the EMCDDA's National Focal Point in Portugal. She served on a number of working groups and steering committees on national and EU drugs policy.Maria holds a MSc degree in Management of Information Systems and has a specific interest in the fields of scientific operations, information systems and quality management, research priorities and public policies.