Paula Meireles is a public health and epidemiology researcher with a particular interest in studying the dynamics of HIV transmission and prevention options among key populations, employing a community participatory research framework. Currently, she leads the Lab “HIV and other sexually transmitted infections” within the research line “Syndemics, health inequalities, and vulnerable populations” at the associate Laboratory for Integrative and Translational Research in Population Health (ITR).
In June 2020, Paula Meireles earned her PhD in Public Health from the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Porto. Her doctoral research, conducted at the Epidemiology Research Unit-Institute of Public Health, University of Porto (EPIUnit-ISPUP) was supported by an individual grant from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (ref. SFRH/BD/112867/2015). Paula holds a BSc in Clinical Analysis and Public Health obtained from the School of Health, Polytechnic of Porto, in 2007, and a Master in Public Health from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, in 2015. She was awarded the MSD merit scholarship for the Masters in Public Health program.
She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Lisbon Cohort of Men Who Have Sex with Men since 2018. In 2023, she was reelected to a second three-year term as a board member of the Associação Portuguesa de Epidemiologia (APE). In the same year, Paula received the ASPHER Early Career Excellence Award.
