Maria Rosário Almeida is a Senior Investigator in human genetics at the Center for Neurosciences and Cell Biology (CNC) and the head of the Neurogenetics Laboratory. In 1990, she graduated from Lisbon University with a degree in Biochemistry and completed her Master’s degree in 1994. In 2001, she received her PhD in Human Genetics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. As a post-doctoral fellow, she studied at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne until 2003, when she became research associate of the Northern Genetics Knowledge Park. In 2004, she returned to Portugal to set up a molecular diagnosis laboratory in Lisbon, where she developed the genetic diagnosis of different neurodegenerative disorders. Her research interests focus on the molecular diagnosis of Alzheimer Disease, Parkinson and Frontotemporal dementia. More recently, she is committed to promoting the quality of molecular genetic testing at a national level by harmonizing procedures and strategies adopted by different centers.