Dr. Cardoso is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital | Harvard Medical School, affiliated with the Mass General Center for Global Health. Currently, Marcella conducts her research with the Strength & Serenity MGH Global Initiative to End Gender-Based Violence team, focusing on the reproductive and oncologic consequences of gender-based violence in the context of disasters and humanitarian settings. Additionally, Marcella is a trainee in the Fostering Diversity in HIV Research Program, a collaboration between Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Mass General Hospital.

Marcella is a specialist passionate about Women’s Health. She earned her master’s in Obstetrics and Gynecology, specializing in Maternal and Perinatal Health at the University of Campinas – Brazil. Subsequently, she pursued the first phase of her PhD at the same university, specializing in Gynecologic Oncology and Breast Cancer. Marcella completed the second phase of her PhD and defended her thesis at Harvard Medical School | Massachusetts General Hospital. She made her first postdoctoral fellowship in Immuno-Oncology and Infectious Diseases at the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard, where she worked with high-precision genetic engineering (CRISPR) on the development of immunotherapies and cell therapies for the treatment of malignant diseases such as breast cancer, as well as infectious diseases such as HIV-1, Monkeypox, and SARS-CoV-2. She is also a co-investigator involved in collaborative research projects with her team at the University of Campinas – Brazil. Additionally, she is part of the board of Heal Trafficking, where she is directly involved in anti-trafficking research, advocacy, and the implementation of training for universal healthcare (SUS) professionals in Brazil to identify and assist victims of human trafficking effectively.

Marcella is committed to improving healthcare outcomes and advocating for gender equity in medicine and research while addressing the intersectionality of gender, race, and social class.

Please see Dr. Cardoso’s Harvard Catalyst Profile for selected publications.