She holds a degree in Pharmacy and Biochemistry from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1976), a Master's degree in Microbiology from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (1980) and a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the Federal University of São Paulo (1989). He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Rockefeller University, New York, USA, studying the gene regulation of perfurin in cytotoxic T lymphocytes. She was a visiting researcher at the National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, England, at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, USA, and at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, New York University Medical Center, New York, USA. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais. She is a master's and doctoral advisor of the Post-Graduate Program in Biochemistry and Immunology. He has experience in the field of Biochemistry and Immunology, with emphasis on Immunology of Parasitic Diseases and Biochemistry and Cell Biology of Parasites, initially studying Schistosoma mansoni and the involvement of lethal antibody in schistosomiasis immunity.

The search for the identity and function of leishporine, a cytolysin-forming pore of the parasite described by its group and Host resistance to cutaneous leishmaniasis, focusing on innate immunity, in particular on the activation of macrophages induced by TLR4 ligands, on the leishmanicidal activity of the macrophage.