CV Synopsis
José Alexandre Silva Antunes, MD, cardiologist (OM 35650), graduated in Medicine from Nova Medical School (1994) with a final grade of 15/20 and completed his Cardiology residency at Coimbra University Hospitals (2003), achieving 18.5/20. During specialist training, he also pursued a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Coimbra, reinforcing the integration of clinical cardiology with biomedical research. He completed the academic component in 2002 (16/20) and defended his thesis in 2004, “Development of liposomes with affinity for the ischemic myocardium,” graded “Very Good.”
In 2006–2007, he served as a guest assistant in the Department of Biophysics at the University of Coimbra Medical School under Prof. Filomena Botelho. Clinically, he worked in cardiac intensive care at Coimbra University Hospital Centre until 2010, focusing on acute coronary syndromes and heart failure, and later coordinated the establishment of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Centro Hospitalar de Leiria.
His clinical experience led to a strong interest in Cardiac Rehabilitation. In 2007, he completed a training internship at Hospital Ramón y Cajal (Madrid) under Prof. Maroto. In 2017, he led the creation of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit at the ULS of the Leiria region, the first in central Portugal, which has been accredited by the EAPC since 2022.
He is currently undertaking a PhD on “Exercise prescription in Cardiac Rehabilitation mediated by autonomic function,” focusing on personalised exercise strategies in cardiac patients.