Joana Machado is a postdoctoral researcher at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, working on the Horizon Europe project COUSIN (Crop Wild Relatives Utilisation and Conservation for Sustainable Agriculture). Her research focuses on the characterisation of genetic diversity in crop wild relatives and cultivated germplasm, particularly its impact on nutritional value and quality, and its role in supporting more sustainable and resilient agricultural systems.

She is also the Principal Investigator of the HEATDRY project, which investigates how combined heat and drought stress affect pea physiology, metabolism, and nutritional quality.

She holds a degree in Biology, an MSc in Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, and a PhD in Agrarian Sciences, all from the University of Porto. Her work lies at the interface of plant physiology and biochemistry, with a particular emphasis on plant responses to abiotic stresses and their implications for food quality.