Maria Felipa Ferraz de Oliveira has a PhD in Medicine from the New University of Lisbon in Portugal. After having worked for some years as a Medical Doctor,in 1993 she advanced her academic career from Assistant Professor specialized in epidemiology and tropical health at the New University of Lisbon, including two years of teaching in Mozambique, to Head of Health Sciences Department in 2004. She has also been Professor in epidemiology, environmental health and comunity health at the Lisbon School of Health Technologies. For the past 15 years, Filipa Ferraz has worked in the European Commission, in DG Research as Ethics Scientific Officer and now, since 11 years ago, as Head of Sector for Ethics at the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA), contributing to the organisation of the ethics review and monitoring procedures of research projects under FP7 and H2020.