Prof. Romana Lopes Almeida dos Santos is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon and Head of the Bioadhesion & Biomimicry Research Group at MARE. With a PhD in Biological Sciences (University of Mons, 2005), she has over 20 years of experience in marine bioadhesion, marine biotechnology, and biomimicry. Her research focuses on nature-inspired, biocompatible wet adhesives for biomedical and biotechnological applications, reinforcing the scientific and economic impact of biomimetic innovation.

She has held FCT Ciência 2008 and FCT IF 2015 research positions, coordinated national and international R&D projects, and contributed to a funding portfolio exceeding €12M. An active educator since 2009, she has supervised PhD, MSc, and undergraduate students and participates regularly in science outreach and teacher training.

Prof. Santos served as Vice-President of two COST Actions within the European Network of Bioadhesion Experts, received the Adhesion Innovation Award (EURADH/FEICA), and is Innovation Executive of the Horizon Europe TWIN2PIPSA project. She has authored numerous publications (H-index 21–22), is co-inventor of an international patent, and co-founded Biomimetx S.A., a Portuguese startup developing nature-based solutions.