Maria de Jesus Mendes da Fonseca holds a Bachelor's degree in Statistics from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (1984), a master's degree in Public Health from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (1996), a PhD in Public Health from the State University of Rio de Janeiro (2003) and a postdoctoral degree from the University of Minho (Portugal) (2014). She is a researcher at the Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública/ Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, department of epidemiology and quantitative methods, She is a coordinator and professor of the Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology and Public Health and vice-coordinator of the Longitudinal Study of Adult Health (ELSA-Brasil) CI-RJ In the field of Public Health and Epidemiology, she develops the following topics: obesity and sarcopenic obesity, sarcopenia, eating habits with an emphasis on the consumption of ultra-processed foods, habits and behaviors and their relationship with chronic diseases, body image, weight trajectory, social determinants of health, and psychosocial stress at work. She is a CNPq PQ-2 scholarship holder. and Scientist of Our State/FAPERJ .