Maria da Graça Pereira Alves completed her PhD at Florida State University (FSU) in the field of Systemic Family Medicine and Medical Family Therapy Practice, and she obtained her Aggregation in Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, specializing in Clinical Research and Health Services.

She has served as coordinator of the PhD program in Health Psychology and the Master's program in Health Psychology at the University of Minho. She has also been a Visiting Professor at Florida State University (USA), Ribeirão Preto Nursing School of the University of São Paulo (Brazil), Nursing School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil), Nursing School of the Federal University of São João Del Rei (Brazil), and the Faculty of Psychology at Kazimierz Wieki University (Poland). Currently, she is the external vice-coordinator of the course "Special Topics in Health and Hospital Psychology" in partnership with the Hospital das Clinicas and the Federal University of Goiânia (Brazil).

Her academic career focuses on the psychosocial impact of chronic illness on patients, families, and caregivers; the neurophysiological impact of stress and trauma on patients/at-risk populations and their families; promoting individual and family health, particularly healthy lifestyles; and providing integrated healthcare to promote the well-being and quality of life of individuals, patients, families, and caregivers.

Maria da Graça Pereira Alves is currently the coordinator of the Specialized Training Course in Integrated Healthcare Approach for Health Professionals and is responsible for the Psychotherapy Consultation in Health and Illness (Clinical Psychology and Health Subunit) at the Psychology Association (APsi) at the University of Minho. She also coordinates the Research Laboratory in Health, Well-being, and Performance at the Research Center in Psychology (CIPsi) and leads the Health & Family Research Group (GISEF).