She graduated in Medicine from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1985), completed a postgraduate program in Neurology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (1988), earned a master's degree in Neurology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1994), and obtained a doctorate in Neurology from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2000). She holds a specialist title in Clinical Neurophysiology from the Brazilian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology (SNC), recognized by AMB and CREMERJ since 1995. She has been responsible for the neuromuscular diseases department at the Clementino Fraga Filho University Hospital of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro since 1989, where she was hired through a competitive examination in 1988, and for the Antônio Rodrigues de Mello Center for the Study of Paramyloidosis since 1989. She was a member of the Technical Chamber in Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology of CREMERJ from 1999 to 2010. She served as president of the Rio de Janeiro chapter of the SBNC from 2000 to 2006 and was a member of the examination board for obtaining the SBNC specialist title from 2000 to 2007. She was president of the XIX Brazilian Congress of Clinical Neurophysiology in 2003 (SBNC). She has been a titular member of the Brazilian Academy of Neurology since 1996, where she coordinated the scientific department of neuromuscular diseases from 2004 to 2008. In 2023, she was invited to be a member of the Clinical Protocol and Therapeutic Guidelines Committee (PCDT) for Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy to improve the Unified Health System and the care provided to its users. She was a representative in Brazil of the former European Neurological Society. She has been a member of the American Association of Neuromuscular Diseases and Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AANEM) since 1998, where she received the financial assistance award from the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology in 2007. She received the award for the best doctoral dissertation in Neurology from the Brazilian Academy of Neurology for the 1999/2000 biennium. Additionally, she received the Best Investigator Award from The European Federation of Neurological Societies in 2011. She was awarded the Investigator Award from the European Federation of Neurological Societies for her presentation on: “Baseline Nutritional Status in Symptomatic Patients in the Transthyretin Amyloidosis Outcomes Survey (THAOS).” She works in the field of electromyography and neuromuscular diseases, with a focus on research lines in Myasthenia Gravis and Familial Amyloid Polyneuropathy. She is responsible for the Center for the Study of Amyloidosis (CEPARM), a national reference center in amyloidosis. Within these lines, several multicenter study protocols in collaboration with international partners are being developed, including studies with the drugs tafamidis, ALN-2 (Alnylam), and Ionis 420915. She is part of the scientific committee of THAOS (Transthyretin Outcome Survey) and is currently the elected president of this committee. She has 58 publications in Brazil and 75 abroad, in addition to 9 published book chapters. She has been invited to give over 161 lectures at national and international events. She has participated in 22 thesis committees for doctoral and master's degrees. Dr. Waddington Cruz received the Grand Collar of Merit from the Federal Court of Accounts (TCU) in October 2023, awarded to individuals distinguished for their services in favor of the Brazilian population.

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