Since several years Fátima Cabral scientific interests focus on Bioinorganic Chemistry, on the synthesis, thermodynamic and structural studies of novel macrocyclic compounds for potential biomedical applications namely as SOD mimetics, as antifungal agents, as radiopharmaceuticals and for chelation therapy. In order to evaluate the potential applications of the macrocycles, several chemical studies have been performed, namely thermodynamic studies (determination of the protonation constants of the ligands and their stability constants with several metal ions); structural studies (UV-Vis, FT-IR, ESI-MS, EPR and NMR spectroscopies); electrochemical studies and X-ray diffraction analysis. The most promising bioactive compounds and some of their complexes, namely with copper(II) and nickel(II) have been evaluated in vitro by biological assays showing their efficacy and safety. Some relevant collaborators include Maria José Villa de Brito (Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon) and Maria Manuel Lopes (iMed).