Patrícia Rijo has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the Faculty of Sciences at the University of Lisbon (FCUL) and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical and Therapeutic Chemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Lisbon (FFUL). She is currently an associate professor at the School of Health Sciences and Technologies (ECTS) at the Universidade Lusófona (ULHT, Lisbon, Portugal), where she serves as the international coordinator and is responsible for organic medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy. Her main areas of research include medicinal chemistry, phytochemistry, and pharmacognosy, with an emphasis on the chemistry of natural products. She is the Director of Communication and External Relations at CBIOS (Research Center for Biosciences and Health Technologies at Universidade Lusófona), where she leads the Laboratory of Natural Bioactives (Bio.Natural). Mendonça has published more than 100 articles in international journals, presented more than 200 communications (oral and panel) at national and international meetings and conferences, and has three registered patents.