Helena B. Nader is professor emeritus at the Escola Paulista de Medicina of the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp). She obtained her PhD at Unifesp and post-doctoral training as a Fogarty (NIH) fellow at the University of Southern California.

Nader has been a research fellow of the highest order (1A) of the National Research Council for the Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) since 1985. She serves as president of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC), co-chair of the Inter-American Network of Academies of Sciences (IANAS), vice-president for the Latin America and the Caribbean of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and vice-president of the Alliance of National and International Science Organizations for the Belt and Road Regions (ANSO). Nader is a Governing Board member of the International Science Council (ISC), Advisory Committee member of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP), and Strategic Committee member of the Science Panel for the Amazon (SPA). She is Chair of the Science20 Brasil 2024 and is member of the ABC, TWAS, and the Latin America Academy of Sciencies (ACAL).

Nader is the former president of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, she is honorary president, former vice-president and former president of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC).