Maria Aida da Costa

Maria Aida da Costa is a retired Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Lisbon, specializing in Microbiology and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She has held roles including Coordinator of microbiology-related curricular units and has extensive experience in research and teaching spanning over four decades.

Education includes a PhD in Pharmacy (Microbiology, 1988) and Habilitation in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2004). She has conducted research at institutions like the Egas Moniz Center and the iMed.UL Research Institute, focusing on antibiotic resistance mechanisms, bacterial biofilms, and antimicrobial agents.

Her research interests emphasize molecular characterization of antibiotic resistance in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly Klebsiella pneumoniae, and the evaluation of antimicrobial activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens. She has supervised numerous students (6 PhD, 33 Masters, 116 undergraduates) and contributed to over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Key projects include leadership in studies on colistin resistance and phage lysins, as well as investigations into biofilm formation and healthcare-associated infections. She has also advised on antimicrobial resistance prevention for the Portuguese Ministry of Health.

Her work bridges clinical microbiology and pharmaceutical sciences, addressing critical challenges in antibiotic resistance and infectious disease control.