As a consultant, researcher, and educator, Filipa Breia Fonseca has dedicated her career to enhancing healthcare services, developing the capacity of health professionals, and bridging the gap between academic knowledge and real-world application.
With over 20 years of experience, she leads consulting and training projects with hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical technology firms, and professional associations. She is recognized as a reference in the fields of Healthcare Operations Management and Organizational Safety.
Her teaching approach emphasizes critical thinking, process improvement, and strong connections to practical reality. She believes in the power of simple, high-impact solutions and uses participatory methods that equip professionals to transform their contexts using accessible and actionable tools.
Filipa holds a PhD in Management from Nova SBE, where she received the Amélia de Mello Foundation Award for Best Doctoral Dissertation. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in management, an MBA, and a master’s in management from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and was a visiting researcher at Oxford University during her PhD.
Her research focuses on process improvement, organizational and psychological safety, and the management of medical error. She is co-author of the book “Inovação em Saúde por Quem a Pratica” (“Health Innovation by Those Who Practice It”), a collaboration between Nova SBE, Fundação “la Caixa”, BPI, and Health Cluster Portugal, within the framework of the Social Equity Initiative. The book seeks to foster a national culture of innovation in health by highlighting solutions imagined and implemented in Portugal.
Filipa Breia Fonseca believes that developing leaders capable of transforming the healthcare system is a profound responsibility, and she works every day to ensure that knowledge translates into real and lasting impact.