M. Isabel Ismael holds a degree in Chemistry, a branch in Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, and a Ph.D. in Chemistry (Organic Chemistry). Her main scientific interests have been in Carbohydrate Chemistry in the synthesis of new compounds with biological activities, and in the area of Natural Products. She works in the University of Beira Interior, since 1986, and in research center FibEnTech, of this University, and also in Centro de Química Estrutural, Institute of Molecular Sciences, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, Lisboa. She has been working in the synthesis of carbohydrate derivatives and in the evaluation of some biological activities, including antioxidant and anti-cholinesterase. She also works in the isolation, identification, and structural determination of new secondary metabolites from plants. She publishes some papers, has several communications at scientific meetings, participated in several funded projects. She supervised and is supervising/co-supervising several Ph.D. and Master Students. She was an ERASMUS coordinator of Chemistry. She was a director of Graduation and Master in Medicinal Chemistry.