On 15 July 2026, the AIR Centre took part in the official visit of Brazil’s Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, marking the formal launch of the Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) Office in Lisbon. The new office is located in the same building that also hosts ApexBrasil, Embratur and Sebrae, reinforcing Brazil’s institutional presence in Portugal and expanding opportunities for bilateral cooperation. The event, organised in partnership with ApexBrasil, took place at its headquarters in Lisbon and was attended by the AIR Centre’s Executive Director Miguel Miranda and Deputy Executive Director Mafalda Carapuço.

The visit brought together a high‑level delegation of Brazilian and Portuguese authorities, including ApexBrasil President Laudemir Muller, Fiocruz President Mario Moreira, and Portugal’s Minister of Health Ana Paula Martins, alongside representatives from Anvisa, Infarmed, and the Universities of Coimbra and Aveiro. The programme featured the signing of new cooperation agreements aimed at strengthening collaboration in scientific research, technology development, professional training and regulatory alignment.

Among the agreements formalised were bilateral protocols between Fiocruz and the Universities of Coimbra and Aveiro, as well as a trilateral cooperation agreement between Infarmed, Anvisa and Fiocruz to reinforce regulatory cooperation between Brazil and Portugal. The inauguration of the Fiocruz Lisbon Office represents a significant milestone in the foundation’s internationalisation strategy and its commitment to Global Health and to strengthening Brazil’s Health Economic‑Industrial Complex through expanded partnerships with European institutions.

Minister Padilha highlighted the strategic importance of the new Fiocruz office, noting its role in supporting joint research on the health of Brazilian migrants in Portugal, strengthening professional training, and advancing cooperation in vaccine and technology production. Minister Ana Paula Martins took part in a joint press conference with Minister Padilha, held alongside the WHO International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Health, also taking place in Lisbon.

For the AIR Centre, whose mission centres on cross‑Atlantic scientific collaboration and the translation of knowledge into real‑world impact, the inauguration of the Fiocruz Lisbon Office offered a valuable opportunity to engage with leading institutions from both countries and explore new avenues for cooperation within this expanding Brazil–Portugal ecosystem.

[PC, 16 July 2026]