Dr Catarina Santos
Director, Department for Quality in Health, Directorate-General of Health (DGS), Portugal

Catarina Santos is a medical oncologist and Director of the Department for Quality in Health at Portugal's Directorate-General of Health (DGS). In that role she leads national quality governance initiatives, including clinical guidelines, clinical audit, quality improvement and patient safety across the health system. Before joining DGS, she built her clinical career in medical oncology in public and private hospitals in Portugal. There she combined patient care with clinical research and coordinated multidisciplinary tumour boards and a medical oncology residency programme. She has also developed work dedicated to the wellbeing of healthcare professionals in oncology. She holds the ESMO certification in medical oncology and ISQua Specialist Certificates in Quality Improvement and in Patient Safety. She is currently a PhD candidate in Health Sciences and Technologies at NOVA Medical School, Lisbon, where her research looks at digital solutions to bring the patient's perspective into oncology multidisciplinary team meetings. Her work lies at the intersection of oncology, digital health, patient-centred care and health quality governance.

Updated: September 2026