Lara Vilela Vitarelli holds a degree in architecture and urban planning from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF) (2023) and spent a year abroad at the École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture de Toulouse (ENSA) in France, where she took courses and defended her master’s thesis (2022–2023). She is currently a doctoral researcher in the Architecture, Technology, and City program at the University of Campinas (Unicamp), with a period abroad at the University of Málaga in Spain (2025).
Her research focuses on urban planning and innovation hubs, with an emphasis on the categorization and spatial evolution of science and technology parks. She is a researcher at the Center for Studies on Urbanization for Knowledge and Innovation (CEUCI) at Unicamp and serves as a visiting researcher in the Landscape Laboratory (LAPASA) group at UFJF.