She holds a PhD in Process Engineering from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. Part of her doctoral research was conducted at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, Germany, and the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands.
Her work focuses on food and bioengineering processing, with an emphasis on emerging technologies, sub/supercritical fluids, bioactives, and natural health products.
Throughout her career, she has received several awards, including:
Killam Annual Professorship Award (2023-2024)
AFNS Graduate Mentor Award (2023)
ALES Faculty International Engagement Award (2022)
McCalla Professorship (2017)—awarded to outstanding academics who have made significant contributions in research and teaching.
Gold College (2015)—an academic leadership program.
FAPESP Scholarship (1997-2002) and an Industry Award from the Brazilian Coffee Industry Association (ABIC) (1998).
She leads studies in emerging processing technologies, including:
Sub/supercritical fluid processing (supercritical CO₂, subcritical and supercritical water, pressurized fluids for extraction and particle formation).
Ultrasound processing (extraction, emulsification, chemical reactions and seeds germination).
High-pressure processing for treating food products and agricultural materials.
Additionally, her team works on unit operations for food and by-product processing, such as extraction, adsorption, fractionation, particle formation, and mathematical modeling.
She maintains collaborations with researchers in Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Brazil. She also encourages graduate students and researchers interested in supercritical fluid technology, nanoencapsulation, and high-pressure processing to apply for opportunities in her research team.