A native of Brasília, Brazil, Proença is the founder and CEO of VETAHEAD! Proença has always been passionate about veterinary medicine. She is the first South American to become a Diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine (DACZM), with an emphasis on zoological companion animals (a.k.a. exotics). In Brazil, she owned her own private practice exclusive to zoological companion animals. Proença did her Zoological Medicine residency at the University of Georgia, where she developed a special interest for ZooMed endoscopy and minimally invasive techniques, collaborating to produce several publications including novel techniques in endosurgery.  She is the co-editor of the 2015 Exotic Endoscopy issue of Veterinary Clinics of North America. Proença has been actively participating in the zoological medicine community, teaching many national and international lectures, courses, masterclasses and wet labs, including endoscopy courses. She graduated in 2004 from The College of Veterinary Medicine (UPIS/FAVET) in Brasília, Brazil and obtained her American Veterinary Diploma (DVM) in 2012. 

Proença completed a Masters degree in Biological science (UnB, 2007), where she worked with free-ranging maned wolves and crab-eating foxes. Her PhD was in Veterinary sciences where she worked with psittacine birds (Unesp, 2010). Proença loves to read, to watch TV shows, and going to the movie theater. Those are especially better with coffee or wine. She is not very passionate about exercise or hiking, but she will do it because, well, because she has to. In her free time, Proença devotes her attention to her two kids, Bou and Chloe, their three furry dog babies, Pepper, Ginger, and Hazel, their two slimy cutie frogs Mint and Basil, and their talkative feathery African grey parrot Coco. She is passionate about human equality, especially gender and race, and that is evident in all aspects of her life, including her profession. She also works hard for all zoological companion animals to be equally respected and served as their counterparts, the dogs and cats. No species left behind!