Mónica V. Cunha

Currently, I am an Associate Professor of Microbiology, Microbial Genetics & Biotechnology at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon. I am also a Principal Investigator and the leader of the Pathogen Biology & Global Health Research Group of CE3C- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes.
I have a primary interest on infection biology, infectious disease ecology, and systems epidemiology without microbial or host taxa restrictions. Being a microbiologist, my natural focus is often at the level of the microorganism but my interests have progressed to understand the role of biotic factors and anthropogenic determinants in disease distribution, transmission dynamics and host’ responses, and to comprehend the evolutionary forces that are exerted both upon pathogens and host species, as well as their functional implications on disease burden. I am particularly interested on multi-host pathogens across animal-human-environment interfaces and under multidimensional perspectives. My work is thus guided by cross-disciplinary research processes, integrating microbiological, molecular, genomic and mathematical tools and combining ecological, public health and socio-economic approaches at different scales. I am highly committed to support knowledge-based interventions and to inform policy decisions.