Manuela Trindade Viana has been affiliated with the Pontifical Javeriana University (Bogotá) since 2022 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of International Relations. She teaches Undergraduate (International Relations) and Graduate courses (Master's Programs in "International Studies" and "Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution"). She also conducts research in the fields of critical security studies, critical criminology, and international relations theories.

More specifically, her research focuses on state violence and the transnational circulation of public security "models" in Latin America, militarization, terrorism/narco-terrorism, discursive boundaries between war and crime, drug policy, military professionalization, and security-development nexus. She is also co-editor of the Brazilian academic journal "Monções" (Qualis CAPES A2). Since 2017, Manuela has been Research Fellow at the Centre for Military Studies (CEMIS), Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University (South Africa). In 2026, she was Visiting Researcher at the Institut des Hautes Études de l'Amérique Latine (IHEAL) at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (France).

Over the years, Manuela has published a considerable number of original articles (with more than 350 citations) in renowned international peer-reviewed journals. She has been working as reviewer for the following international and national journals: Review of International Studies; International Studies Quarterly; International Political Sociology; Critical Studies on Terrorism; Journal of Latin American Studies; International Feminist Journal of Politics; The Social History of Alcohol and Drugs; Meiridians; Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional; Dilemas; Contexto Internacional; Carta Internacional; Revista Brasileira de Segurança Pública; Íconos; Desafíos; and Papel Político.