Ana M. Valdes received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley, USA, where she specialized in Genetic Epidemiology. She is a Professor of Molecular and Genetic Epidemiology at the School of Medicine. Her research is focused on deciphering molecular mechanisms linked to complex age-related diseases such as osteoarthritis and cardiovascular disease and on the role of gut microbiome composition on human health.