Mariana is a designer and has worked on design innovation across several industries, non-governmental organisations and the public sector throughout her career. She is passionate about designing and building better (just, equitable and sustainable) futures by learning from people’s lived experiences and everyday practices to responsibly inform technologies and policies towards these futures. Braga has also helped non-expert groups integrate design approaches (design thinking, strategic design, product-service systems, and design-driven innovation) into their organisations and with various stakeholder groups and communities.

Her current research looks into community knowledges and strategies to mitigate the impact of public health problems. In this context, she was Principal Investigator of Damn It, a pilot project that identified areas of challenges, problems, adaptative strategies and needs of informal-settlement communities during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. And also collaborated on community engagement projects in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Braga is interested in how design capabilities could evolve to effectively contribute to a shared, equitable, and just future, playing a role in tackling these societal challenges by informing policymaking and implementation as well as technology development in areas of public health.