Paula joined the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at the University of Porto in 1993, where she has since been devoted to both Teaching and Research. She finished her M.Sc. Thesis in Organic Chemistry in 1996, in the same Department, and concluded her Ph.D. in Peptide Chemistry in 2000, in the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Barcelona, Spain. Since her return to the University of Porto, in 2001, Paula built her own research team, devoted to Peptide Synthesis and Medicinal Chemistry.

Paula coordinates the Peptide Synthesis Facility of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, and has been recently appointed Secretary of the European Peptide Society and the Portuguese national representative at Division VII - Chemistry and Human Health, of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry, IUPAC.