Alexandra Lopes is a trained sociologist and holds a PhD in Social Policy from the London School of Economics. She works as a professor and researcher at the Department of Sociology of the University of Porto. She currently collaborates with the European Commission as an expert on ageing and on disability, with a focus on LTC and social care services. Currently, she is very interested in analysing the situation of older people living in institutional care facilities and particularly in regards to the models of service provision.