Researcher profile

Patricia Rijo

Patrícia Rijo holds a degree in Chemistry from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (FCUL), and a Master’s, Ph.D., and Habilitation in Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Chemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon (FFUL). She is currently a Full Professor at the School of Health Sciences and Technologies (ECTS) at Universidade Lusófona (ULHT, Lisbon, Portugal), where she teaches Organic Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacognosy, coordinates the Master’s program in Chemistry of Natural Bioactives, and serves as International Coordinator. Her main research areas include medicinal chemistry, phytochemistry, and pharmacognosy, with a strong emphasis on the chemistry of natural products. She is Vice-Director for Internationalization & Strategic Networks at CBIOS – Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies at ULHT – where she leads the Laboratory of Natural Bioactives (Bio.Natural). Since 2015, she has participated in seven international scientific networks (COST Action and CYTED) and currently serves as Vice-Chair of the COST Action CA21145. She has also contributed to international project evaluation panels in countries such as Serbia, Argentina, Croatia, Poland, Chile, France (ANR), and the EU. Dr. Rijo is deeply committed to science outreach and academic engagement, having coordinated 14 outreach projects and organized 23 national and international scientific events. She has been involved in initiatives like the New European Bauhaus, CiênciaVitae–CBIOS, the Talent Bootcamp (FCT NOVA and FCUL), and the Global Women’s Breakfast (IUPAC) and she is serving as a member of the ESCOP Scientific Committee since 2025. Since 2019, she has presided over the Bio.Natural – Bioactive Natural Products Research Meeting. Currently she is the President of SPFito (Portuguese Society of Phytochemistry and Phytotherapy), member of the Botanical Safety Consortium (BSC - a international consortium in collaboration with FDA, NIEHS, and HESI Global) since April 2026, and the Vice-President of ICMAP (International Council for Medicinal and Aromatic Plants), and she was also the Top 2% 2022, 2023 and 2025 (Standford), and she is an Associate Editor of Phytomedicine (Elsevier) and Frontiers in Pharmacology (Ethnopharmacology and Drug Discovery section), and serves on the Editorial Board of hLife (Elsevier) and Pharmaceuticals (Natural Products section, MDPI). Dr. Rijo has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles, delivered more than 400 communications at scientific meetings—including up to 41 invited lectures worldwide—and holds three registered patents.