Abílio Almeida is a Portuguese social scientist with a PhD in Communication Sciences from the University of Minho. His thesis, awarded the Highest Distinction and commended by the jury, examined the transformative role of popular and emotional media in empowering marginalised populations in Portugal, employing mixed methods to highlight their positive impact on personal, social, and democratic well-being. With an academic foundation in Multimedia, Abílio integrates technological and scholarly expertise across multiple disciplines. Since 2016, he has been a researcher at CECS (Communication and Society Research Centre), focusing on media, emotions, and their societal impact. He is Associate Editor of the journal 'Humanities and Social Sciences Communications' (Nature, Q1) and serves as a regular peer reviewer for recognised journals such as 'PLoS ONE' (Q1), 'Sustainability' (Q2), 'Journalism and Media' (Q2), and 'Observatório' (Q3, Portugal). Among his academic contributions, two books are particularly noteworthy: 'A Cultural History of Laughter' (Guerra & Paz, Portugal, 2022; Routledge, UK, 2024), which explores the role of media in deconstructing the fear of laughter cultivated during the Middle Ages; and 'The Future of Television' (Routledge, UK, 2024), which proposes, among other aspects, a new public service model tailored to social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. The latter is included in the prestigious 'Routledge Advances in Sociology' series. Outside academia, Abílio has worked in media organisations and technology companies, contributing to the development of multimedia content, including websites, applications, iOS games, and social media bots. In teaching, he has accepted two invitations as a 'Guest Professor': at the Federal University of Recôncavo da Bahia (2024), to contribute to the discipline of 'Communication, Media, and Image'; and at the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (to start in 2025), to contribute to the discipline of 'Strategic Communication Planning'. Since 2022, he has been a volunteer columnist for the newspaper '7Margens', bridging academic knowledge with broader audiences and fostering discussions on diversity and inclusion. In 2023, he joined the 'Passeio' group (CECS/FCT), dedicated to the integration of cultural and ethnic minorities through collaborative initiatives and public engagement.