Joana Menezes Nunes

Path & Footprint

Joana Maria de Menezes Nunes is an endocrinologist that stands for people living with obesity and advocates for them. She is dedicated to the management and treatment of obesity without any kind of stigma, as well as Lifestyle Medicine and cardiovascular risk factors management.

Joana Maria de Menezes Nunes was born in Porto (Portugal) and finished secondary school with a grade of 20/20 (Escola Secundária Carolina Michäelis). From 2001 until 2007 studied at Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto / Hospital de São João (graduated with 16/20). During her degree, she was awarded the D. Idalina de Almeida and Prof. Doutor Tiago de Almeida prizes (best student in Medicine - 6th year subject). She made all her education at Hospital São João, in Porto, where was also a volunteer lecturer in Endocrinology at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto. In 2015, obtained her Specialist Degree in Endocrinology and Nutrition with 19.9/20 and decided to leave the National Health Service to the private medicine - Trofa Saúde and Luz Saúde. From 2016 to 2018, by invitation, she was Director of the Endocrinology Department at Trofa Saúde Alfena, where implemented protocols for action and interaction between the different specialties. In 2018, left her job at Trofa Saúde and remained at Luz Saúde medical group, as an endocrinologist and co-investigator in clinical trials, the latest being STEP 4 of the Danish pharmaceutical company NovoNordisk®️, focused on the drug semaglutide. In 2021, after the covid-19 pandemic and motherhood, she decided to dedicate herself solely to private clinics and embraced the Allure Clinic project (and later the Leg Clinic, dedicated to the treatment of lipedema among other pathologies in the field of Vascular Surgery), as well as the Uffizi Clinic project (a clinic initially focused on aesthetic health, but which began to grow into a clinic also focused on physical and mental health).

In her years of private practice, she became aware of the lack of understanding, respect, compassion and empathy towards patients living with obesity and began her journey, carving her path in this field. In January 2018, she was co-author of the guidelines on pregnancy after bariatric surgery and sought specific knowledge in the area of obesity, completing the Harvard Obesity Course in 2019 (Harvard Medical School - The Blackburn Course in Obesity Medicine and Obesity Medicine Board Review).

In July 2021, published her first book, “From XL to S”, a metaphorical title referring to the journey of weight loss (and not focusing neither suggesting ideal sizes that do not really exist). The book aims to serve as a guide on this journey, offering tips to help with healthy weight loss but, most importantly, with its maintenance in a safe and healthy way.

Always committed to scientific advancement and seeking the best knowledge for her patients, she continued her scientific training in the Obesity field in the following years: in 2022, she completed the AOMP (Advanced Obesity Management Program) from the Obesity Canada, and in 2023 and 2024, the CALIBRE (Canadian Advanced Learning in Bariatric Care), cohort 3 and cohort 6, respectively. She also dedicated herself to other certifications and innovative projects - the Healthy Weight Department at Allure Clinic and the Lifestyle Medicine Consultation at Uffizi Clinic (leveraged by the Lifestyle Medicine postgraduate program at Harvard Medical School 2024).

In 2025, decided to embrace the Uniclinica project, a hospital clinic with various specialties, focused on the health of women and children, where she can begin treating obesity at an earlier stage, as she believes. Acting in adulthood seems too late and irrational, not only because of the delay in treating a disease but also due to the stigma a child faces at such a critical time for the character development. Because aging with health is an achievement and should be seen as such - she complements her footprint at younger ages. Dr Menezes opens the doors of her office in a space that is much more than just a clinic, but a home for her patients, where all sizes, colors, shapes, and ages are welcome, without discrimination or stigma. A home centered on the same values she has always believed in: respect, empathy, understanding, love for others, education, and health promotion (for patients, healthcare professionals, and the community). It is in this space that she offers treatment for Obesity, Women's Sexual Health, Men's Sexual Health, and her unique Lifestyle Medicine Program. Other specialties join her with the same purposes and values: preventive health, health that deserves treatment, and health with quality of life, adapted to today's world and modern times, for all ages.

In addition to all this academic and scientific work, she is invited for interviews in magazines and newspapers, participates in television programs and gives voice to some podcasts such as MyObesidade, sponsored by Medinfar®️ and Truth about weight - Episode 1 - living with the disease, an initiative sponsored by NovoNordisk®️. She is also invited for lectures and scientific presentations by her peers. During her career, won prestigious awards such as the Presidential Poster Competition at ICE/ENDO 2014 (Chicago, USA) and the ISE Travel Grant (2014, Chicago, USA), as well as other national and international distinctions, published several articles as first and second author, presented several national and international posters and oral communications, participated in several conferences and attended numerous congresses and courses at national and international level.

She has always been dedicated to clinical research - in 2009 completed a postgraduate course in clinical research and health services (final grade of 17 on a scale of 0 to 20), participated in national clinical trials (HIPOS-ER) and in the Geração XXI study group of the Public Health Institute of the University of Porto and was part of international clinical trial teams (ELIXA- EFC11319; STEP4). Continued her research work as a reviewer for the indexed journal Acta Médica Portuguesa and later for the indexed journal JCEM Case Reports (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism of the Endocrine Society)- until December 2024. In 2025 returns to her original line of clinical research, with new and innovative projects, and intends to dedicate herself to Volunteer Associations in the educational and health promotion field.

Distinctions and Awards

• 2007:Dª Idalina de Almeida Award and Prof. Tiago de Almeida Award (Highest-Performing student in 6th-year in Internal Medicine Discipline at Med School FMUP) - Portugal
• 2013:NEDO/Novartis Oncology Award (Category: Acromegaly) - Portugal
• 2013:Dr. Luís Marques Award - XIX Postgraduate Course in Endocrinology of Porto (Posters Presentation) - Portugal
• 2014:Presidential Poster Award Winner Competition ICE/ENDO 2014 (Category: Adrenal Glands) - Chicago, USA
• 2014:ISE Travel Grant ICE/ENDO 2014 - For All the Presented Posters and Scientific Commitment - Chicago, USA
• 2015:Shortlisted Poster (Category: Thyroid Nodules) GP-25-03 - ECE 2015 - Dublin, Ireland
• 2015:5th ALGEDM (Luso-Galician Association of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism) - Best Oral Presentation (Category: Diabetes Mellitus) - Portugal
• 2016:Research Project in Diabetes Mellitus - Portuguese Diabetes Society Award - Portugal