Carla Sá Couto is a clinical simulation educator and researcher, with a background in Biomedical Engineering. She has been involved with biomedical simulation-based research for nearly 25 years. She was part of the founding team of Portugal’s first biomedical simulation center in 2003 and later served as its director (2014–2022), leading the integration of simulation across all levels of education. Currently, she is a lead researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of University of Porto and RISE-Health, being responsible for several simulation-based pre- and post-graduation courses and national/international research studies. She contributes to several scientific societies and initiatives. She has been a SESAM member since 2001, and is currently chairing the European Simulation Research Network (SiReN@SESAM). Since 2022, she has also served on the Executive Committee of ASPiH, where she was Conference Director for three years (2022-25) and now serves as Treasurer.
Her current research focuses on using simulation as an investigative tool to explore how human factors and ergonomics influence clinical practice. She is also interested in evaluating the impact of integrating innovative technologies (such as AR/VR/XR and AI) into healthcare education and how they shape learners’ knowledge, skills, and behaviours.