Dr. Maria Montes-Bayón has been a Full Professor in Analytical Chemistry in the Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry at the University of Oviedo (Spain) since December 2017. She holds a bachelor's in Chemistry (1993, University of Oviedo, Spain), a bachelor's thesis in Analytical Chemistry (1994, University of Plymouth, UK and Oviedo), and a PhD (1999, University of Oviedo; awarded). In the year 2000, she joined the research group of Prof. Joseph A. Caruso at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Cincinnati (Ohio, USA) as a Postdoctoral Fulbright Fellow. She returned to Oviedo with a Ramón y Cajal contract and was promoted in 2008 to Associate Professor and in 2017 to Full Professor of Analytical Chemistry. 

 She has supervised 19 PhD students since 2007 and mentored 6 postdocs who have since built successful careers. She has given >50 invited and plenary lectures at national and international congresses and conferences, and co-authored 190 publications, including original research articles, reviews, and several book chapters (H-index = 47 Scopus and 52 Google Scholar). She has received funding from 30 international/national/regional research projects (17 of which as PI) and has been an associate editor of the journal Metallomics (RSC/OUP) since 2015. Currently, she has been elected as President of the Spanish Society for Analytical Chemistry since 2022 and National Representative of the Analytical Chemistry Division of IUPAC for 2026-2027. In 2013, she was awarded the Bunsen-Kirchhoff award, and in 2023, the Lester W. Strock award.

Her main research interests are: a) Development of quantitative strategies for determination of molecular biomarkers of clinical relevance at the single-cell level using ICP-MS; b) Evaluation of encapsulated metallodrugs for their potential use in chemotherapy using mass spectrometry: a focus on cellular resistance mechanisms; and c) analytical tools to study biomedical aspects of nanoparticles: biogenic nanoparticles and metal nano-debris from metallic implants.