Maria Adelina Coelho Ribeiro Costa completed her PhD in Biomedical Sciences on 02/21/2001 at the University of Porto in Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, her’s Master Degree in Technological Organic Chemistry on 1991/11/25 by University Nova de Lisboa at Faculty of Sciences and Technology and her Degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Option of Chemical-Biological Analysis in 1985/07/30 at the University of Porto - Faculty of Pharmacy. She started her scientific activity (1986-94) working on the isolation and structural elucidation of relevant molecules present in plants known or suspected of being pharmacologically active; her’s Master Thesis “Isolation and structural elucidation of chemical compounds from Blumea viscosa (Miller) Badillo)” addressed this issue. Since then, she changed her research area to the basic health sciences (1994-2005), namely, the establishment of in vitro models of primary cultures of human and rat cells (Wistar) to address the proliferation / differentiation during osteogenic differentiation, the possibility of its pharmacological modulation (e.g. drugs, hormones) and the interaction of human osteoblastic cells with bone replacement material and its modulation, with the objective of obtaining greater speed and more effective osteointegration of the material; her’s PhD Thesis “Modulation of osteogenesis in human alveolar bone cultures” addressed this theme. Since 2005 to present, and while remaining in the same area, she started pursuing in a more pharmacological orientation, namely in the study of the role of purinergic signals in the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), obtained from the bone marrow, to study the proliferation / differentiation relationships during osteogenic differentiation and the possibility of their pharmacological modulation for a better understanding of bone physiology and pharmacology in certain diseases, namely in osteoporosis. At this stage, she also developed new types of primary cell cultures: 1-Smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells, obtained from human cavernous tissue, for applications in the study of vasculogenic erectile dysfunction; 2-Human fibroblastic cells (subcutaneous tissue and bladder) and rat (subcutaneous tissue, heart and bladder) to address the proliferation / differentiation relationships during fibroblast differentiation and the possibility of their pharmacological modulation. Understand how fibroblasts cause the release of signaling molecules, such as nucleotides, that can contribute to stimulate neighboring cells, including sensory neurons, allowing to clarify the hypothesis that fibroblasts may be a new target for therapeutic interventions in chronic conditions (e.g., fibromyalgia, cardiac fibrosis, bladder fibrosis). Based on her activity, she published about thirty articles in specialized magazines. She co-supervised four doctoral theses, three completed and one still ongoing. She supervised six master's dissertations and three undergraduate internship reports.