Armindo dos Santos Rodrigues has been a Full Professor at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the University of the Azores since 2022. He holds a PhD in Biology and completed his Habilitation in Functional Biology in 2012. His teaching activities cover areas such as Histology and Environmental Health, and he lectures in undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral programs, including Biology, Biological and Health Sciences, Civil Protection and Risk Management, Medicine, and Biomedical Sciences.

He conducts research in the fields of reproduction, ecotoxicology, and environmental health, and he is the leader of the Medical Geology Scientific Unit of the Institute of Volcanology and Risk Assessment (IVAR) at the University of the Azores.

He served as Pro-Rector for the Management of Scientific Research at the University of the Azores (2011–2012), has been a member of the University’s General Council since 2009, and chaired the Board of Directors of the Gaspar Frutuoso Foundation between 2015 and 2020. He has coordinated several regional and national research projects and has participated in European initiatives.

Since completing his PhD, he has developed research in the field of Medical Geology, particularly studying the harmful effects of contaminants (of anthropogenic or natural origin) on human health. He has published more than 120 scientific articles in peer‑reviewed international journals. He is co‑author of four book chapters on the health of human populations in volcanic environments and of several technical‑scientific reports, contributing to knowledge transfer to public and private entities.

Armindo Rodrigues has consistently valued the relationship between academia and the surrounding society through lectures, supervision of secondary school projects, articles in the regional press, and other science outreach activities. In this domain, he created and coordinated several regular columns in both regional print and radio media, most notably UAciência, created in 2012, which now includes more than 300 published articles. The quality and societal impact of this publication were recognized in 2015 with the Ciência Viva Montepio Media Award given by Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture.

His research is particularly focused on the cellular and molecular responses of human and animal populations to exposure to environmental factors of natural and/or anthropogenic origin, namely: 

       (a) the development and identification of biomarkers of exposure and effect (molecular, cellular, and histological); 

       (b) the investigation of environmental causes of pathologies relevant to the Azores.