José Miguel Padilha, researcher at the Research Unit (RISE-Health@RISE/ESEP) and Coordinating Professor at the School of Nursing of the University of Porto, was elected director of ESEP by the institution’s Council of Representatives for the term from 2025 to 2030.

With this election, the RISE specialist becomes the first director of the institution after its integration into the University of Porto, succeeding Professor António Luís Rodrigues Faria de Carvalho.

The inauguration ceremony is scheduled for 23 December, at 11:00 a.m., in the Celeste Gomes Marques Auditorium, in the headquarters building of the School of Nursing of the University of Porto.

About José Miguel Padilha

José Miguel Padilha holds a Master’s degree in Nursing Sciences from the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Porto (2006), a PhD in Nursing from the Portuguese Catholic University (2014) and a post-doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP).

Between 1997 and 2003, he was a nurse at the Porto Hospital Centre. As a researcher, he focuses on the self-management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and simulation in nursing education.

He coordinated the group of nurses at the Portuguese Society of Pneumology (2022–2025) and was Chair of the Nurses Group of the European Respiratory Society during the same period. He is a founding member of the International Coalition of Respiratory Nurses and is a member of the general assembly of the Portuguese Association of Rehabilitation Nurses.

He is currently a researcher at RISE-Health, the largest research unit in the country, and is a member of the Scientific Council of the RISE Associated Laboratory – Health Research Network.