Paulo Ferreira is respected as a leader in the field of physical activity, genetics, and back pain. He has over 143 publications in leading journals including BMJ and Lancet.  His works have informed 19 clinical practice guidelines in 9 countries. His research was the main source of evidence for the removal of medications from the American College of Physicians guidelines for back pain in 2017.
Apart from leading the NHMRC CRE in Twin Research, Paulo is the Director of the Brazilian Twin Registry and is one of the Senior Editorial Group members to lead the 2017 Lancet series on back pain.

His leadership is attested from his NHMRC Fellowship in 2017 and the Sydney Research Accelerator (SOAR) Fellowship in 2016. Apart from leading international consortium studies in low back pain (Oxford University), Paulo is frequently interviewed by national and international media for his works.