With a PhD in Biotechnology from the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, and a degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Coimbra, Ana Maria Gomes is Associate Professor, Deputy Director for Partnerships and responsible for the 2nd cycle of studies at the Escola Superior de Biotechnology (ESB). Currently, leader of the Nutrition and Health Laboratory of the Research Centre CBQF and teaches in the areas of Nutrition, Biochemistry and Pharmacodynamics.
Her research focuses on the development and characterization of functional foods, the study of new prebiotic sources, of probiotic microorganisms (including new generation counterparts), their protection by encapsulation, production and characterization of their metabolites and the study of the impact of foods /extracts/probiotics in the modulation of the human microbiome, having participated in several research projects funded at Portuguese and European level, many in partnership with the agri-food industry. She is co-author of over 170 internationally indexed publications. She is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of PortugalFoods, in representation of ESB, and section editor-in-chief of the Biotechnology section of the Foods journal.