María del Carmen de Andrés is the Epigenetic Unit leader at the Institute of Biomedical Research of A Coruña (INIBIC). She graduated in Biology from the University of A Coruña in 1999. Her doctoral thesis was about the effect of Nitric Oxide (NO) on mitochondrial activity of human articular chondrocytes, and its implication in osteoarthritis (OA). This work led to significant developments and advances in the knowledge on human articular chondrocyte metabolism and the role of this molecule on the pathogenesis of OA.

Building on her PhD studies, she joined the Bone & Joint Research group at the University of Southampton (UK) as a postdoctoral researcher, to study the epigenetics regulation of the catabolic cytokines in OA. Since 2013, when she was awarded a prestigious Leverhulme visiting fellowship, she led the epigenetic team in the Bone & Joint research within Professor Oreffo’s team. In 2019, she returned to Spain and established her independent research group at INIBIC. Her group is mainly focused on demonstrating the potential for epigenetic and nutraceutical intervention in OA, providing a step-change in current OA clinical intervention strategies and, ultimately clinical translation for improved patient health.