Luís Mendão completed his studies in Biochemistry in 1983 at the Pierre et Marie Curie University, in Paris.
He was diagnosed as HIV positive and as having AIDS and hepatitis C in 1996.
He is currently Chairman of the Board of GAT - Treatment Activists Group, an NGO founded in 2001 that works in HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and drug policy, with a view to prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and support for infected people and affected by these infections.
He was founder and director of the Anti-prohibitionist Association (SOMA-APA).
He represented Portugal at the Civil Society Forum on HIV/AIDS at the European Commission and was President ("Chair") of the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG). It also integrates the "Steering Committee" of the VIH Portugal initiative.
He has been a Community Consultant for the World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe (WHO Europe), the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
