Maria Rodriguez Fernandez is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Her academic journey began with a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Bio-Process Engineering Group at IIM CSIC, Spain. She has held postdoctoral positions at Imperial College London and the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she made significant contributions to systems biology and global sensitivity analysis.

In addition to her academic experience, she served as a Principal Scientist in the Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics, and Metabolism department at Pfizer Inc. Her work at Pfizer focused on bridging the gap between academia and industry, particularly in the areas of pharmacoengineering and personalized medicine. Her research focuses on modeling, analysis, and optimization of complex biomedical systems, with a particular emphasis on human physiological responses, pharmacoengineering, and cyber physical systems for personalized healthcare. She has a prolific publication history, including more than 50 high-impact publications, and has successfully managed large multicentered grants.