She was a founder member of the Associação Portuguesa de Farmacêuticos Hospitalares (Portuguese Association of Hospital Pharmacists - APFH) and its president from 1993 to 2002.
[1][2][3] Maria Odete Isabel was born on 14 July 1940, in Montouro in the parish of Covões, in the municipality of Cantanhede, in Portugal's Coimbra District.
Her original plan had been to study at the University of Coimbra but, after deciding to switch to pharmacy, she changed to Porto.
[1][2][4][5] Isabel's major political influence was Maria de Lourdes Pintassilgo, Portugal's first and, as of 2024, only woman prime minister.
She campaigned throughout the municipality and was successful, making her one of just five women elected as mayors on 12 December 1976, the others being Alda Santos Victor, Francelina Chambel, Judite Mendes de Abreu and Lurdes Breu.
At a later stage in her political career she had a falling out with the PS, being expelled from the party in 2003 for having successfully run for the council as an independent in 2001.