Joana is a professor at FGV/EBAPE and director of the Center for Applied Research to Public Security at FGV. She worked as the head of research at the Rio de Janeiro State's Attorney Office (2019-2021) and the head of the Institute of Public Security (ISP) (2015-2018). In both positions, Joana led initiatives to improve the use of evidence by Public Security and Criminal Justice agencies, having implemented projects to facilitate data analytics and to improve transparency to citizens. Joana holds a PhD and an MA in economics from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio) and was Lemann Visiting Public Policy Fellow at Columbia University (2021-2022) and a research fellow at the Center for International Development at Harvard University (2009-2012). She is specialized in development economics and is an expert in the impact evaluation of public policies. Her research has been published in journals such as the Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Development Economics, the Security Journal and Crime Science.