Manuela Barreto studied Work and Organizational Psychology at the University of Porto, Portugal and obtained her PhD in Social Psychology in 2000 from the Free University, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Manuela worked as an Associate Professor at Leiden University, the Netherlands (where she received the Heijmans early career prize), as full time Researcher at the Centre for Social Research and Intervention in Lisbon (CIS--ISCTE/IUL), and is since September 2011 a Full Professor of Social and Organizational Psychology at the University of Exeter. Manuela has led the University of Exeter's Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences research strategy theme on "Societal and Lifestyle Shifts" and was part of the University's Athena Swan Working Group. She is currently Head of Psychology and Deputy Director of the Wellcome Centre for Environments and Cultures of Health.

Manuela’s research focuses on identity and belonging, with a specific focus on the impact of social stigma on social relationships. Manuela is also very interested in loneliness, in particular its cultural aspects and relation to forms of exclusion.