Joana Pinto

Dr. Joana Pinto is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Oxford's Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of St Peter's College. She holds roles as Principal Investigator of the Maternal Brain Project and founder of the Women’s Health Book Club. Previously, she was a Postdoctoral Researcher in Professor Daniel Bulte’s group (2020–2023) and a Junior Research Fellow at Kellogg College (2021–2024).

Education:

• PhD in Biomedical Engineering, University of Lisbon (2019)
• MSc and BSc (degrees unspecified)

Research Interests:

• Non-invasive neuroimaging techniques for cerebrovascular disease biomarkers
• Maternal brain dynamics using advanced MRI
• Integration of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) metrics

Her work bridges clinical MRI applications and women’s health, particularly pregnancy’s neurological impacts.

Key Projects:

• Maternal Brain Project (Funders: ARUK Thames Valley, Wellcome Centre, John Fell Fund)
• Eye-Brain Project (EPSRC-funded)

Awards:

• Early Career Fellowship (ESMRMB, 2021)
• Junior Fellowship (ISMRM, 2023)
• Premio Príncipe da Beira (2023)

Grants & Leadership:

• Lead researcher in multi-funder maternal health initiatives
• Collaborator on EPSRC neuroimaging projects

Lab Affiliations:

• Biomedical Image Analysis Group
• Maternal Brain Project team