Daughter to parents from Vila do Cano, in Sousel, she was born in Lourenço Marques (known as Maputo from 1976), having lived in Beira, a Mozambican city, until she was 12 years old. Her father was in the military and she has a brother and sister who both studied medicine.
She has a degree in Civil Engineering, specializing in Urbanization and Transport, from the Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) of the Technical University of Lisbon in 1986 and a master's degree in Transport from the same institution in 1992, where she is an Assistant Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources, since 1989.
Since 1989 she has been a researcher at CESUR - Centre for Urban and Regional Systems at IST.[3] She is married to Eduardo Cabrita, a colleague in the Government as Minister of Internal Affairs and has no children by choice. They live in Almoster, in the district of Santarém.
She was diagnosed with cancer in 2007, when she was Secretary of State for Transport, and in January 2016, two months after she was sworn in as Minister of the Sea.
Chairman of the Group, the Monitoring Committee and the International Public Tender Committee for the design, construction, supply of equipment, financing, operation and maintenance of the Metro do Sul do Tejo (1999–2002)
Member of the Institute of Financial and Asset Management of Justice (2000–2001)
President of the Institute of Financial and Asset Management of Justice (2001–2002)