Principal Investigator

Ana Maldonado-Contreras, PhD

Training: Ana Maldonado-Contreras is a clinical translational researcher interested in understanding the interaction of diet, the microbiota, and disease. Ana received her B.S. in Biology in her hometown Punto Fijo in Venezuela at the Universidad del Zulia in 2002. Then received her MS in Microbiology in Caracas at the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas and her Ph.D. at the University of Puerto Rico under the supervision of Maria Dominguez-Bello. From 2009-2015 she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Massachusetts in Beth McCormick’s lab with the support of the Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. In 2015, Ana became a faculty member of the Microbiology Department at UMass Chan supported by the Faculty Diversity Scholar Program.

About me: I am fascinated by human ecology, specifically how our bodies host and interact with an immense universe of life forms from which we benefit from. Understanding the interconnection between microbes and health is the main driver of my career. In my spare time, I enjoy hiking, cooking for friends and family, and snowboarding in the wintertime.