Fernando Schmitt is the Director of the RISE-Health. He is also the director of the Associate Laboratory RISE – Health Research Network, a leading researcher at the Centre for Health Technology and Services Research (CINTESIS), and a Full Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP).

With a degree in Medicine from the Federal University of Santa Maria (1983) and a doctorate from the São Paulo State University (1990), Fernando Schmitt also has a post-doctorate in Pathology from the University of Porto (1993).

He is one of the world’s leading experts in cytopathology and breast pathology, has published 568 articles in specialised journals, and is the author of seven books on breast cancer, cytopathology, and molecular pathology. He is a member of the International Agency for Research on Cancer under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). He has served as President of the International Academy of Cytology (IAC). Currently, he is one of the editors of the WHO’s series on Cytopathology Reporting Systems. 

For two years, he was the Director of Luxembourg’s National Health Laboratory and, therefore, played an active role in defining public health policies in that country. So far, he has been awarded three major prizes, two of them from international institutions.