She holds a Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy Biochemistry from the Federal University of Bahia (1980) and a PhD in Immunology also from the Federal University of Bahia (2000). She is a researcher at the Immunology Service (SIM) at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA), and the Tropical Medicine Research Center of the NIH, USA. She is a permanent professor of the graduate programs in Immunology (PPGIm) and Health Sciences (PPgCS), at UFBA. She acts in the area of Immunoparasitology, mainly of Immunology leishmaniasis. She has also studied immune response of schistosomiasis and infection by HTLV-1. She is responsible for the laboratory of Immunoregulation (UFBA), where she guides students of undergraduate, Master's and Doctoral degrees. Researcher 2 of CNPq.