Cândida Tomaz holds a PhD in Biochemistry (2002, University of Beira Interior - UBI) and a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (1990, University of Coimbra). She is currently Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, at UBI, where she has coordinated the Biochemistry Doctoral Program since 2013 and has also served for several years as Director of the 1st and 2nd Cycle Degrees in Biochemistry. She serves as President of the Coordinator Institute of Research (ICI-UBI) and has previously been President of both the Faculty Council and the Pedagogical Council of the Faculty of Sciences, as well as a member of the University General CouncilShe was Vice-Coordinator of the Biopharmaceuticals and Biomaterials Research Group and a member of the Executive Board of the Health Sciences Research Centre (CICS-UBI). Since 2025, she has been an integrated researcher at RISE-Health, the newly created and largest R&D unit in Portugal. Her research focuses on downstream processing and purification of biopharmaceuticals, particularly the development of novel chromatographic supports such as monoliths and cryogels. She is also involved in developing innovative therapeutic strategies for ocular neovascular diseases. C. Tomaz has participated in 23 national and international research projects, including six as principal investigator, two funded by Novartis Farma and one awarded by the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (Ordem dos Farmacêuticos). She collaborates with several institutions, including the University of the Basque Country (Lascaray Research Centre), the National Biotechnology Centre (CSIC, Madrid), the University of Coimbra, the University of Minho, and multiple hospitals (CHUCB, HUC, ULS Guarda, CH Leiria).
She has supervised around 50 MSc and 8 PhD theses, and is currently supervising or co-supervising 2 PhD and 2 MSc students. Her scientific output includes approximately 60 peer-reviewed papers, 9 book chapters, over 1,450 citations, and an h-index of 20.
Her main research keywords are: Chromatography, Plasmid DNA, DNA Vaccines, Aptamers, Proteomics, Cryogels, Monoliths, Biological Engineering, Retinal Diseases, Phenolic Compounds, and Bioprocesses.