Mara de Sousa Freitas is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) and Director of the Institute of Bioethics at UCP. She holds a PhD in Bioethics (2018), with a thesis on human vulnerability, autonomy, and ethical decision-making in oncology (summa cum laude). Her academic background also includes a specialization in Anthropology and Health (UCP), a postgraduate degree in Bioethics Law (University of Lisbon), and advanced training in Medical Law and Bioethics (Université Paul Sabatier – Toulouse III). She holds a Nursing degree from the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Francisco Gentil. She is a member of the Steering Committee of the UCP Digital Ethics Lab, Board Member of the Portuguese Observatory of Palliative Care (FCSE-UCP), and currently serves as President of the UCP Health Ethics Committee (2019–2023 and 2023–2027). She is also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Ethics Committee for Clinical Research (CEIC) and Co-Chair of the CoARA-ERIP working group on Ethics and Research Integrity Policy in Responsible Research Assessment for Data and Artificial Intelligence. From 2017 to 2022, she served as Health Advisor at the National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences. She was a Member of Parliament and rapporteur for the Ethics Committee of the Health Parliament Portugal (2016–2019), and has chaired or participated in several national health ethics committees, including LInQUE Home Palliative Care, Instituto Nacional Doutor Ricardo Jorge, ULS Loures and Odivelas, and ESSCVP. Between 2003 and 2015, she worked as a nurse in the Portuguese National Health Service, with roles in clinical care, team coordination, and multidisciplinary training, in institutions such as the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Lisbon, Hospital de São José, and the Bom Jesus Health Center in Madeira. She is the author of numerous national and international publications in the fields of Bioethics, Medical Law, Health Ethics, Palliative Care, Oncology Ethics, and Value-Based Healthcare. Her main research interests include: human vulnerability, ethical decision-making in healthcare, end-of-life ethics, public health ethics, organizational ethics, research ethics, and narrative medicine. She is fluent in Portuguese, French, and English.