Maria da Conceição Medeiros de Castro Fontes graduated in veterinary medicine in 1997 from the University of Trá-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) and holds a PhD in veterinary sciences from the same university in 2010. She is assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Sciences of UTAD since 2010, teaching the curricular units (UC) of Sanitary Inspection I and II, Introduction to Quality and Food Safety and Veterinary Legislation, and Regulation of the Integrated Master in Veterinary Medicine. She collaborates in the teaching of the UC of Biological and Chemical Hazards in Food and the UC of Food Safety in Slaughter and Cutting of Carcasses and Fish, for the master's program in food engineering. She became member of the Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV) in 2010 and has developed her research in the area of food quality and safety; she has authored or coauthored research papers in this area.